WEEDS AND WHEAT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2143, 27 July 1907, Page 3

WEEDS AND WHEAT.

There does not, to the man in the street, seem a very obvious connection between woods and wheat, yet (saj-t the ‘Dunedin Star”) the actual association of the noxious and the usefu. was demonstrated by the very instructive exhibit of the Agricultural Department at the recent show held under the auspices of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society. Hit kinship is also to be traced in ail the progressive steps that surround =’•>. cultivation in farms and gardens. 11 the mother of us all did pluck an apple in the Garden of Eden, it was probably more liko a crab than a ribstone pippin, just as peaches ana nectarines, according to Linnaeus, are improved varieties of the almond. The injunction given to our hrst parents was cultured —they were put in the Garden “to dress it and keep it ” and their descendants have been carrying out the behest with greater or less diligence ever since At 11c time, however, in human history hat the earth been so successfully replenished and subdued as in the present day. Science has come to the am of experience in all branches of flit rural industry, and the results nave been little short ot marvellous. Luther Durbank the American horiculturist has, by cross-fertiliisingbrought about almost new creations in fruits and flowers, and in England Mr John Garton, by over twenty years of patient study and untiring experimenting, has so improved the character 01 cereals in common and wide-worla . use that his name will be written on the scroll of fame among the great bonefactors of the twentieth century. To make two ears of corn grow where one grew before is to double the output, and that is an achievement that can be grasped by all, whether cultivatorsor consumers; but Mr Garton, the revolutionising Lancastrian, liai done more than that, for he has eliminated the more worthless parts oi grain and increased the food-giving contents of the husk. The genesis of the wheat plant was found among the grasses with the most luxuriant heads, and, by selecting the finest o. these primeval farmers evolved tin corn that in so many countries, ha: been looked upon as the staff of life But continual in-breeding has had the same deteriorating effect in plants as is in animal life. Then again, wheat growing, to meet the demands of the ever-increasing population, has beer extended to many climes and countries consequently new varieties of wheat had to be sought out that could flour ish under varying conditions. A< the recent show the Agricultural De partment exhibited a small sheaf o speltz wheat, which is one of the hard jest varieties known, and is very difficult to thrash because of the tenac ity with which the corn remains 11, the' ear. Mr. Garton by crossing the wild Asian wheat with some o. the finer cultivated varieties, has produced a wheat invaluable in hoi countries, where shedding of wheai in the field is common. Our Soutl Australian neighbours know to then cost what loss this means to them and they have only been able to mini mise that loss by the use of the strip ping machine that gathers the ears of corn and leaves the straw standing. None of our farmers have a good wort to say for the wold oats, which if particularly hardy, ripens. early, and is protected from its enemies by barb ed environments. But these veiy objectionable characeristics have beemade subservant to man, and by cross fertilising have produced an oat that' is known by the of Cartons n all the corn markets of the world One of the-chief aims of this ver;utilitarian'scientist has been the evolutionary processes to get rid (to as treat an extent a 9 possible) of th< eterimental features that are com mon to all grains that come into human consumption. The farme winnows the chaff from the corn, anc the miller, in the shape of bran anc Eollard, removes the offal from the ne flour. The proportions of offa to the more valued portion of cori varies considerably. In the maim faoture of pearl barley, for instance the loss is about 25 per cent, and 11 milling oats, no system has yet bee, discovered that entirely removes th< small particles of the fibrous sheatl that comes into evidence in the pox ringer. In natural conditions plant have to protect themselves from thei enemies, to guard against extermm ating influences, and to scatter seec when ripe. These provisions oeas; to be necessary under cultivation, anc the tatk Mr. Garton set himself wa ‘' to eliminate the deterimental qua. ities without deteriorating the functions of development or repro duction of the plant, while addin; considerably to the value of the seei as a human food product. He. ha . produced a variety of wheat that i ' rich in gluten, and consequent^ '. makes a big loaf; it ripens early does not easily shed its gram, anc is hardy. These characteristics shoiilc commend the Garton wheat to Xsev ■ Jjftlfcd farmers, particularly t<s tliosr BBiffhf the South Island whore. tolc ifurmners are not infrequent. Tin quality of this new wheat is said t-; equal to the finest that is importec into Great Britain, and that is saying a great deal, seeing that Mark Earn gives periodical quotations for cor.from every quarter of the globe. Mr Garton’s triumphs furnish anothe instance of the potency of brains r opening up the path of progress. B the use of photo-micrograpliy, he ha shown that cereals are self-fertilisiii; without the aid of insects or pollei wafted on the winds, that they u. not open thier spikelets until selt-fer tilisinc lias taken place, and so deep ly has he probed into the processe of nature that he has taken photo graphs of the ovary of the whoa' flower from the second hour after ier tilisation up to tho fully developed berry, forty days old. Humanity if debtor to such men. and it is no a little to the credit of onr Agn cultural Department that by mean of exhibits at local shows, lectures and the distribution of literature bear ing on all branches of rural knowled ge, the latest discoveries m scien tifio agriculture, and the most up-to date appliances . for cultivating the soil to the best advantage are bronglU directly under the notice of the farm ing community- It is to be feared that the educational opportunities afforded by the agricultural .shovu periodically held in the principal - centres are not availed of to as fill • an extent as is desirable. . To a verilarge • percentage of visitors, those shows of weeds with economic valuer of noxious qualities, of cereals adaptc- 1 to various localities, of healthy and diseased produce, and of fruits mos* suitable for export, receive but cursory notice; yet it is only by close and persistent attention to the improvement of our crops and live stock we can hope to retain our hold on tho appreciation of buyers of produce in British and foreign markets. The best will always command preference all the world over, and infer ioritv will as surely he treated with indifference.