The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND. TUESDAY, SEP. 25, 1866.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 894, 25 September 1866, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND. TUESDAY, SEP. 25, 1866.

BPECTESIUR AGENDO. "Givo every man thine ear, lint few thy voice : Take each man's censure, bat reserve thy judgmext. This above all,—To thine own self be true And it must follow, as tho nii-lit tho day-. Thon canst uot thon be false to any mtiru

A coKsrwEitABLE breadth of land has this season been set apart by our farmers for cereal crops. "We trust that every success will attend their efforts at grain growing, and that neither tho caterpillar nor any thing else will prevent tliein reaping heavy_ crops. AVo desire to call the attention of our country settlors to tho great importance of having lirst-class seed, and to place before them tho result of certain experiments iu grain growing made by Mr. ilallett, of Brighton, England. The attention of grain-growing countries was especially called to "the systom pursued, by Mr- liallctt through the last International Exhibition at London. We will now describe that system, and its results. Mr. Hallett is a practical farmer, .before he turned his attention specially to wheat, the improvement of his stock was his hobby'. He was constantly endeavouring to improve the breed ofhis cattle, and like every other person desirous of having first-class "ows or sheep, ho knew that he must attend very carefully to the breed ho kept, to thenpedigree, and their treatment. Seeing the vastlmprovement to be made in animals by attending to these things, he begaju to think that the same principles and laws would bo found to exist iu connection with grain. In short it seemed quite as feasible to have thorough-bred wheat as thorough-bred stock, and to make an effort in this direction. A breeder of prize stock is careful iu the choice of the animals he uses ibr his purpose. Every one is not the same to him. lie selec'-s prime lirst-class cattle — the best he has —to breed from, and descended from lirst-class stock. But no matter how thoroughbred or how excellent soever may bo the parents, if both they and their progeny aro neglected and receive improper treatment, tlicy must of necessity deteriorate. Careful attention to diet and 1 so forth only will keep tho .stock first-class, Acting upon the conviction of his ownmiiul in respect to "the feasibility of greatly improving the fyield and quality of wheat by carcfuf selection of seed and a proper system of culture, Mr. Hallett commenced operations and pcrsevcrsd in thorn until he had perfectly succeeded, both oil a large and t small scale, and got what ho calls pedigret wheat. In 1557 lie planted only From ears ! i : ; inches long, containing -17 grains. Ii: ISoS his ihiest ear was G| inches long, containing 79 grains, and there were 10-ea.r-s \ from the finest plant. The best stool from 1 these 79 grains, sown in tho same way, bore 22 cars in J Su9, the finest of which measured 5 7:[ inches, and contained 91 grains. In ISGI [ the finest ear was SJ inches long, containim - 123 "Tains, au d the number of ears in the finest single plant was 52. These resulti I wero brought about in live years by care fully selecting tho grain sown, and thus constantly improving- the breed, - so to speak, of the wheat. By thii ' means pedigree was as carefully at tended to in the grain as in tho breeding o ! the short horns, or Southdowns, and witl 0 like results. In addition to the selection o ; the grain to bo sown there was care an< ? thought used in the manner of sowing. Ex pei'iuieuts proved that a grain of wheal t requires at least twelve inches square, there ;. are persons who say a grain of wheat, i allowed full liberty, will fill a space o > eighteen inches square. The best of scei B like tho best of cattle, must have prope . food, or they will degenerate. It cannot b( in good condition and yield so largely as i would if it is deprh ed of a full share of nou rishment by being sown too thickly. To ch this is precisely similar to keeping mor< stock on pasture than it will p.ropci'ly feed Mr. Hallett therefore took good care to spy 5 his seed in such a manner as to give it plentj of food and scope. Eaeh_ grain M'ii: ' sown in dibbled holes twelve inches apart This saved a largo quantity of seen as well as secured tho above-named advan tages. These are, in Mr. Hallctt's words '•'Tho length of the ears lias been doubled " their contents nearly trebled, and the til " loring power of tho seed increased eight " fold." Tho average yield in England wa 30 bushels to the acre, taking the improve nient noted above as made in 1-SyO, tin .average yield would bo about SO bushels t( : tho acre. These results flowed froui tin careful selection and planting <>f one seed At first the experiments were carried on ii the garden, afterwards the seed was sown ii fields, and the demand for " pedigree wheat' for seed became very considerable. Of course the common sense: and rationa a principles here enunciated are applicable t( \ other grain than wheat. In fact, whatcve: 1 we grow or breed, we must naturally expeci s only to have a large and healthy progeuj <■ from large and healthy parents. jDwarf aui i" poor seed will entail its character with i.te ] offspring, and seed of a mixed cliaracte: will naturally yield an indifferent and un . equal crop. Now in barley growing, t< i which our farmers are giving their attention ' the principles of selection and proper -culture are especially applicable. Tho mnlstei : requires grain of as nearly precisely tin same character as possible. Every grair , should malt in the same time, but too -o'fter. a considerable quantity is not malted, anc so great loss accrues. This arises from the fact that the barley is of a mixed character. aud the whole crop does not ripen together.

Jut it Ims been found that it barley be sown [ in Mr. Ilallett's principle, tins difficulty and. oss is removed. For when a sample of >arley so sown was mailed it was found that ivevy grain Vegetated simultaneously, lit vill bo wise, therefore, of our country riends to endeavour to obtain aud to raise 'thoroughbred" seed, by careful selection ind growing, and so insure in future years he Certainty of good seed, as a first step totyards securing good and abundant crops. Attention to culture must also be given, or the best pedigree seed. will, deteriorate and become of an ordinary quality.