WHEAT DISTRIBUTED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 138, 23 March 1935, Page 6

WHEAT DISTRIBUTED

THE CROSS 7 VARIETY. ASHBURTON COUNTY TRIALS. THE RESULTS ANNOUNCED. The distribution of Cross 7 wheat seed in the Ashburton County was carried yesterday at a meeting of the Ashburton committee convened by Mr E. M. Bates (Ashburton representative of the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture). Mr James Cair, of Metliyen, a mem ber of the Wheat Research Institute, presided, In addition to Mr Carr, Mr F. Frampton (Wakanui) represented the farmers and Messrs F. L. Smith and F. W- Seldon the grain merchants. There were applications from. 60 farmers in the Ashburton County for 1721 bushels of Cross 7 wheat, and only 500 bushels were available for allocation.

The conditions governing the distribution of the wheat were: (1) Wheat not to be grown on' land which grew wheat the previous year: (2) not to be sown in fields with any other wheat; (3) must be entered for certification the following year; (4) preference should be given to men who have grown wheat for certification; (5) wheat must be grown on suitable productive land; (6) preference should be given to men who have their own mills. Trials were carried out in the Ashburton County with Cross 7 by the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture for the first time last season, and the results of the experiments have just come to hand. lour faims comprising .various types of country were selected and in each case Tuscan wheat was sown for comparison of yields. The results are as follows, the figures being bushels an acre:— Cross 7. Tuscan J. Ruddenklau (Springfield) 18.6 21.1 C. A. Campion (Higlibank) 25.9 26.0 D. Spence (Sherwood) . 14.0 13.7 R. Ruddenklau (Lyndhurst) 21.9 27.3 Mr E. M. Bates, who carried out the experiments, stated that the experiment at Sherwood was on light land.