CERTIFIED SEED

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 19 (Supplement)

CERTIFIED SEED

ACREAGE RETURNS INCREASED. “PEDIGREE" GRASS AND CLOVER. “One of the most recent developments in connection with pasture work is that of selecting the most permanent and productive strans of grasses and clovers, and there is little doubt that this selective work, and the subsequent certification of the good strains, is the most forward move that has been made in pasture research work over recent years, states Mr. J. M. Smith, fields officer Department of Agriculture. “It would be no idle statement to say that in connection wth perennial rye, that mainstay •of our high productive sward, the difference between the production from certified seed as against the average uncertified seed would be at least 751bs of butter-fat per acre, and these same remarks apply if perhaps to a lesser extent, with the certified white clover.

“Certification is only the beginning of a better seed movement. The various grassland workers at the different farming institutions throughout New Zealand are engaged on selection and plant breeding within the certified lines, and it will be only a matter of time when we will have pedigree glass and clover seed which will gradually displace the cull seed, just as pedigree stock are ousting cull stock to-day.”