Indigenous Varieties Research Articles

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IN an article on Lord Inchcape's task in the Sunday Times of October 22, a former finance member of the Government of India, Lord Meston, makes an alarming suggestion. Speaking of things “useful, but not essential,” he says “many of the research institutes and the like will come under the shears.” The illiberal spirit which inspired our domestic wielders of the axe may thus be carried by one of them to India-a country which, more than any other, perhaps, has benefited by the application of science to “useful” purposes. The plant breeders there, alone, have literally added millions to the country's wealth; new wheats and cottons yielding 20 to 30 per cent more than the indigenous varieties have already been successfully introduced. It must not be forgotten that, in India, the prosperity of agriculture is a fundamental element of the solvency of the Government, for there, the State, as owner of the soil, takes one half of the rental value of the land. The sum thus raised approaches a moiety of the whole taxation of the country. It is to be hoped that such a suicidal policy as that indicated by Lord Meston will not be advocated by Lord Inchcape, though as a quondam member of the Geddes Committee he may be inclined to repeat its mistakes.

Agriculture in India. 1

IN his report on the condition of agriculture in India, Mr. Coventry is able to state that the progress recorded in earlier reports has been welf maintained, and the beneficent and productive character of the Department's undertakings made much more apparent. Sustained efforts are being made in the cotton tracts to improve the quality and increase the quantity of the staple. In Madras, the improvements have taken two lines—the separation and selection of the best indigenous variety and the introduction of the exotic Cambodia. Similar improvements are also noted in the Central Provinces and Bombay. The well-known work of Mr. and Mrs. Howard on the improvement of Indian wheats is being carried on and has entered a new phase by the establishment of seed farms where the new varie-ties can be grown on the large scale for distribution to the growers. The sugar industry, however, is in a critical condition, the native product failing to com-pete with sugar from the West, but it is hoped that the industry can be remodelled on scientific lines.

The handbook of British Ferns, comprising scientific and popular descriptions with engravings of all the indigenous species and varieties, with instructions for their cultivation. By T. Moore, F.L.S. &c. Second edition. London, 1853

" The handbook of British Ferns, comprising scientific and popular descriptions with engravings of all the indigenous species and varieties, with instructions for their cultivation. By T. Moore, F.L.S. &c. Second edition. London, 1853." Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 12(72), pp. 442–443