CROSS 7 WHEAT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 137, 22 March 1935, Page 7

CROSS 7 WHEAT

DISTRIBUTION OF SEED. PROVISION FOR NEXT YEAR. (Special to the “Guardian.”) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. The chief aim in the distribution of Cross 7 wheat is to obtain a large supply of pure seed for farmers in 1936. This point was emphasised yesterday by Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf (director of the Wheat Research Institute) at a meeting of the institute. The committee set up to consider the distribution of Cross 7 seed wheat had adopted the principle that the distribution should proceed in such a way as to secure the greatest amount of pure seed for next year, said Dr. Hilgendorf. The amount of seed available was 2800 bushels, and if that was distributed at random in small lots it might very well become so impure as to endanger the future supply. That was especially the case for Cross 7, since it was almost indistinguishable from Tuscan. The seed should be sent to districts where Cross 7 was likely to do as well as the standard variety, so as not to spoil its reputation, and to districts where a good yield could be expected to assure a larger bulk of seed for next season.

The committee had divided the wheat growing area into districts, and apportioned the wheat available to them in proportion to their suitability to its growth. The total applications amounted to about 9000 bushels, compared with about 2800 bushels available, and a great many applications could, therefore, not be granted. A certain number of applications were granted because of the known suitability of certain farms to its culture. Local committees of farmers, merchants and the Department of Agriculture were set up in the chief centres outside Christchurch and requested to apportion the remaining supply for the districts.

The result of this season’s harvest of the trials of Cross 7 against Tuscan had not yet been worked out in full, but as far as they had gone they were confirming the results of previous years.

In reference to plant breeding, Dr. Hilgendorf said that the latest sowing since the institute started work was followed by the earliest harvest. A large number of hands was employed to deal with the crop, and most of the threshing and the fermentation, tests (1120) had been completed. The most interesting results of the yield trials were: (1) The equality of Cross 7 with Tuscan; (2) the inferiority of Hunters and Belgian; (3) the good performance of the Portuguese lines. The Belgian wheat was a farmer’s introduction and its poor performance combined, with its great tendency to shake and its very low baking score indicate that it should not be encouraged on a commercial scale. The Portuguese varieties, with their high yield and very high baking score deserve careful consideration, although they show a tendency to lodge. It is proposed to hold a conference with representative wheat growers from various districts to lay the facts before them and gain the benefit of their opinion as to the best steps to take for further trials.

A cross between Tuscan and hybrid Marquis has been carried on for five or six seasons because some of its lines showed moderate promise. This year’s trials however, showed that it could not equal Tuscan in seasons such as the last, and so the cross has been abandoned. Four other crosses, having reached the fifth or sixth generation, have been tested in yield trials, and the best of the lines are being carried on.