SOWING WHEAT.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume V, Issue 487, 16 May 1877, Page 3

SOWING WHEAT.

TO THE EDITOB. Sir, — The time has come round for farmers who intend to sow wheat, therefore I take the liberty of addressing a few lines .to those who intend to sow wheat, One of the first points I would urge, get the land properly prepared and free from weeds, and if at all possible give' it a few bushels of lime to the acre, this will give strength to the straw and improve the quality of the wheat. The point of most importance is to select good seed if spring or wiuter wheat. There are various kinds, ac. cording to circumstances, which should be selected : pearl, Hunter's yellow, and white lamas, are the most, prolifio for winter sowing, for spring sowing yellow Tuskan is the wheat I would recommend, it always yields well and

is generally a good crop. If ■ ifc cannot be gotthis season in consequence of tbe damage to the crops, then good clean Adelaide wheat should be selected— all should be treated with bluestone in the following manner? 3oz. of bluestone dissolved in one .pint of hot water to the bushel of wheat, when cold the wheat should be laid on a floor and the mixture sprinkled on it and turned till all is wet-; as soon as dry it is -fit for flowing. . I give the result of a trial of inferior seed by a farmer in 187<1. A few. poor, thin, dwarfed grains of wheat v/ero planted.'wh'ieh came up very well, and grew into better looking ears than moat full - crops of the season j they produced, however, a due average of tailing and chick wheat, though much of the corn was bold and well filled, and would have sold at a medium market price. From this crop in autumn, 1875, I. selected - and planted about nine of the worst grains, all of which grow, yielding an average of twenty-five ears each,- a total of- 1250 grains — 139 grains for each of the parent grains. Only two* thirds of these were of marketable quality, the residue being like their progenitors, tailing corn of small value. In 1875, at the same time as the foregoing, I planted twenty -six of the best grains, the produce of the same plot ; of these seven failed' from wire-worm, and only nineteen matured ; these produced seventy-six heads of corn, and yielded an average of forty six grains each a total of 3,496 grains ; 134 grains to each of the nineteen plants which survived ; the 134 from the good seed, weighed 8-per cent, more than the 139 from the bad, and the quality waa 7 per cent, more in value, made an advantage of 15 per cent, in favor of the good seed. The straw was one third more in quantity and 25 per cent, more in value. From this it would seem that all shrivelled or light grain should be discarded from seed, and nothing but good seed seould be sown to ensure a good crop. And when the crop is ripe and cut it should not be left in the field more than one day ; if the season is rainy it should either be put in stacks and thatched at once, or put under cover in a house. The best wheat I have got this season was grown by natives on the coast, it was stacked on the day it was cut, 'and thatched at night, and not one damaged pickle in it of over a thousand pecks. There is no wheat I know will make belter flour than the wheat grown in the Province of Auckland, and millers will always be prepared to give a full price for such wheat, but inferior wheat never can bring tbe highest prices. The quality of the wheat will always test its value. — I am, &0,, John Lambj Waitemata Mills, 7th May, 1877.