‘WAR DIARY. ARMY HEADQUARTERS, INDIA. […] I.E.F. “D”. Volume 52. PART I. (From 1st to 15th November 1918.)’ [‎98r] (204/558)

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m
^ gTOUnd ^ meticulous
Provision and distribution «j seed.—At, the request of the Administrator
India was even ua ly asked to supply 1,700 tons and the type pro™
to Oh ef PditieToffip T 1CU ? el r°P menfc Syh « mfi . ^ted 26th Jult
ha.hdaa, promised that seed gram would he available by September sbinment
from India (mde telegram dated 23rd August 1917, from Director of lo^l
Kesourees to Administrator, Agricultural Development Scheme). Tonnage'
however was very short and it became impossible to provide the imoorted -ra?n
arrival of wLarartt 1 ^* 1 - T ^w iag tablets both tire dates of
dsHbution It iilfl th i,° U f distributing centres and the areas selected for
hiid b at the tJ l f e r l ii a ; 5 per cent °' the f01al wheat didn °t come to
Januarr A t W a distributing centres at Baghdad until nearly the end of
fdfilf J'w tK r Amarah and Bac l ubal i the seed requirements were not
fulfilled before January was ended. In the case of Basrah, Falluiah, Samarra
and Bughailah delivery straggled on until February. This was not due to any
failuie on the part of the authorities to appreciate the seriousness of the position;
but shipping at the time simply was not available. 1
unfortunate 5, i,er *^‘ _After the Se6d ^ been eTeatually S0Wn we Here a ^ ain
. Most of the Indian seed advanced on loan had been distributed in the
immediate vicinity of Baghdad. The reasons for this were two-fold.
In the first place, as far as existing records showed, reliance could be
placed on the Euphrates inundation canals which water this district to ensure
a P entrfu supply of water when most needed. Secondly, all the machines for
milling the gram harvested existed or were to be erected in Baghdad and thus
transport would be reduced to a minimum.
The spring rise of the rivers did not run on the usual lines however, and a
wholly abnormal condition of atfairs left the canals unfilled, where in previous
years tnere had been water in plenty. On the Mahmudiyah Canal alone, 10,000
acres tailed, where the seed did not catch the rainfall it was imperative to
irrigate within a week of sowing. This was not always done (in many places
i could not be done), and in most cases from four to six weeks lapsed before
the seed got water.
1 he results at Nuqtah emphasise this point. There 120 acres were sown
dueler supervision, ploughing being done by artillery caterpillar tractors with
\
ploughing tackle hastily improvised to meet the emergency. The seed was some
ot the best to be delivered, but received no water till five weeks after sowing.
-Uns ciop failed entirely ; a fair growth showed but withered away from lack
at ,he , cro P was about to mature, floods destroyed, both
Indian seed ^ Ut S ° me tbousaads acres > many of which were sown with
-E'xpermmts*—-The bulk of the seed sent from India consisted of choice
Jvaracm. Five strains were sent apart from this in the following quantities:—
1 . Rohtak
2 . Muzaffarnagar
3. Lyallpnr
4. Sind
5. Lyallpur College
100 tons,.
96 „
107 „
221 „
• 72
Simla asked that carefully controlled sowings shojild be made with these
and that report be made upon the results with a view to selecting the wheat
most suitable to Iraq. Arrangements for such experimental sowings were made
with the gardens at .Shateh Sa’ad, the Dairy "Farms at Kut and Baghdad and
also at Amara, but owing to late arrival, the seed had to be rushed m to the
ground as soon as it was delivered.
The experimental work at Shaikh Sa’ad alone, completed under the super
vision of 2nd-Jjieutenant Traser, has been scientifically carried through, but
even here the experiment was vitiated by the fact that comparative plots of Iraq
wffieat were not sown side by side with the Indian.
There were sent for experiment to Shaikh Sa’ad :—
Maunds
seed.
Variety.
Percentage of
barley.
Weevilled
grain.
Percentage of
germination.,
27
Lyallpur
1*5 percent.
1*5 per cent.
89 per cent.
28
Rohtak
• • • • • #
3'0 „
7'5 „
94 „
27
Sind
Nil.
6-0 „
81-5 „
30
Muzaffarnagar ' !
"I
2*5 per cent.
8-5 „
66 ,,
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