GROWING WHEAT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 76, 6 May 1914, Page 11

GROWING WHEAT.

CULTIVATION, MANURING, SOWING. Professor Lowrie, formerly director of Canterbury Agricultural College, will be remembered as one of the most capable agriculturists ever connected with our New Zealand fanning institutions. An article written by him when in New Zealand is worth recalling and will no doubt be read with interest at this season of the year. Wheat, as the bread corn of civilisation, will always hold a place of high importance among the world's farm crops, though as the result of the opening up of new coimtries where, as far as conditions allow, it has been made the pioneer's main crop—of ten, his only crop—the position of wheat in highlyfarmed countries has become less projninent. There is that about the cultivation of wheat which recommends it to the pioneer—-it adapts itself better than most crops to wide and primitive methods of culture; it is among the.sim 1 plest and least expensive of crops; and it 1 requires less skill, experience, and capital than is. demanded by many other crops, or in the practice of mixed farming. Accordingly, the immense developments in facilities for transport have brought it about that a considerable proportion of the world's wheat is drawn from countries where crude, traditional and ignorant practice still obtains, while in highly-farmed countries most attention is'given to live stock, and the many and various crops necessary therewith as adjuncts. But that is not to say that wheat-growing will be likely to go on diminishing as a part of high farming, on the contrary, wheat will continue to be grown as a useful change crop on suitable land, but the area devoted to it will fluctuate directly as the price ruling in Mark Lane, except in-so-far as it is arbitrarily governed by fiscal laWs or special economic conditions. During the last few years New Zealand has produced of wheat just about sufficient for local consumption, as the prices ruling for mutton, wool, and dairy produce, have turned the farmers' energy in favour of stock and forage crops, and that the more readily, as the hurry at harvest time, the long hours necessitated, the difficulty and worry in securing labour sufficient* and suitable, work together to make a farmer pass wheat unless compensated by considerably better returns. The firmer tone in Mark Lane, and the exceptionally high prices in our local market, brought the more into relief by the recent drop in wool, will, however, tend to turn attention again most to wheat, and an extended area under this crop may be anticipated this year, even though it be recognised that» but a small surplus will suffice to bring prices down promptly to export value. Further, on good land in Canterbury, even with land values high, wheat at a low price, and labour uncertain, the case for wheat was never weak, even while sheep were proving so exceptionally profitable, for the crop ever responds well to good cultivation, and generous treatment, and is among the most certain, year in and year out. Grass left down too long* becomes sheep foul on these good lands, and forage crops rotated too frequently suffer, so that an occasional wheat crop as a change to the land, while providing a useful supply of straw, and a re : munerative return in grain, is a xiseful means- of utilising residues of manures, and distributing labour and horsepower. PEEPAEATOEY CULTIVATION.

Wheat can be taken almost anywhere in a rotation, though, of course, the success of the crop is modified by the crop preceding'- it, and the cultivation necessary in the preparation for the seed.varies widely according to its position on a rotation. It likes a firm, compact seed bed—in fact, a seed bed with a good tilth, but well consolidated, " is always a fundamental condition of success. Accordingly, the cultivation <•of ploughing immediately preceding the crop should be shallow, ; say 3in -to.'lin, deep, though if the' land has beep ploughed deeply 6in or 7in for the \)X&-. ceding crop, such as rape, so much the better for the wheat to follow it. Jn autumn the seed bed should not be made too fine; so long as there is a fair tilth to receive the seed the presence of a fair amount of small clods is an advantage, as, crumbling through the action of frost, they prevent the surface setting too hard in the spring, and they offer a certain amount of shelter in the winter. The very heaviest yields of wheat are obtained after a summer bare fallow, as might be anticipated from the effect of the repeated workings given to the land in encouraging nitrification, in mellowing the soil, in retaining moisture, and in thoroughly cleaning the land of weeds. But the practice is too expensive in these days of forage and. fallow crops, where the rainfall is adequate, and is only likely to be resorted to when necessary to clean land very foul, or infested with noxious weeds.

After peas, beans, or other nitrogenrestoring crop, wheat is ever found to thrive well. • After peas it will often suffice to give the land a double cut with the disc harrows set with deep cut. Pea stubble is generally loose or relatively free, and ploughing is therefore unnecessary, and only to be adopted on land too stiff for the disc harrows .to work. This discing should be dono as soon after harvest as practicable, that the 'seeds of weeds may be germinated to be cleaned with the scarifier preliminary to sowing. The effect of following a leguminous crop on the character and quality of the grain is very marked as well as on the yield. This year, two farmers had seeds from the college farm, a few bags from a field after peas, and the remainder of their parce\ from a held after kale, but of the same variety each made enquiry whether two varieties of wheat had not been sent to them instead of only one.

After potatoes wheat invariably does well, as the working of the laud which potatoes necessitates leaves it in excellent condition, and there is further available a considerable residue of the manure applied, lu this case, as after peas, ploughing even shallow has no advantage over the disc harrow in preparing a seed bed, and generally when the tops