SEED WHEAT
TREATMENT WITH MERCURIAL DUST. Interviewed today concerning the publicity that had been given recently in the Press to the results of a trial conducted on the germination of seed wheat treated with a mercurial dust for the control of smut disease, Mr R. B. Tennent, Director of the Fields Division, Department of Agriculture, made the following statement: — "The Department of Agriculture is at present preparing a full report on this subject, but in the meantime wheat growers should be aware of the following facts: In all trials undertaken to date, mercurial dusts have not reduced germination when the seed has been sown in the ground. The poor results which were given publicity resulted in laboratory tests where the seed was grown on absorbent paper, a method known to give adverse results with dusted seed. It is to be pointed out that mercurial dusts described under various trade names invariably do not affect seed wheat when sown, in the soil, and the Department of Agriculture is firmly of the opinion that mercurial dusts are the best form of treatment available for application to seed wheat."
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 August 1939, Page 3
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186SEED WHEAT Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 August 1939, Page 3
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