1918.] The Fifth Indian Science Congress. ciii 
place, neither demands on the part of the agriculturist an 
expenditure of money or labour greatly in excess of tha 
which he has been accustomed ‘to devote to the cultivation of 
for the future; but the improved varieties of crops which are 
being distributed on such a large scale in Madras, the Central 
Provinces, the United Provinces, the Punjab and Bengal are, 
hed but we have not yet reached that stage of develop- 
nt. 
__48 so much emphasis has been placed on plant breeding 
during the past few years it will be interesting to enquire just 
What are the probabilities of improvement in this direction. 
About eight years ago Dr. Hopkins of the Illinois Experiment 
Station Sent a circular letter-to various Agricultural Authori- 
ties in Europe, including such well-known men as Hall, Von 
Seelhorst, Schneidewind and Wagner, pointing out that, ac- 
cording to reliable statistics, J Bes 
—< cereals had increased in Europe by about 100% within 
he past century and enquiring what proportion of this in- 
Soi could be attributed to each of the following four fac- 
(1) The use of im d seed 
prove : a 
(2) The use of plant food in commercial fertilizers and 
stable and green manures. 
