THE SELECTION OF SEED GRAIN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXII, Issue 9624, 15 March 1910, Page 5

THE SELECTION OF SEED GRAIN.

AN IMPORTANT MATTER

SOME USEFUL HINTS

The seasons slip by with astouishiug rapidity and it will not be very many mouths before sowing fcimo is with us again, and the quantum of the belr.otiou of the seed, grain is one that has to bo discussed in the meantime. Anion™ the grains of most interest to farmers in (bis district; is the oat. It is held by many farmers that locality has a strong influence on this particular cereal, and this .should, perhaps, bo one of the first considerations in selecting seed for the uaxl sowing. Experience Jias .shown, so it is stated, that the best results are obtained from s'aed introduced from an earlier climate, and from better soils than those in which it is to be sown. Having satisfied himself on this point, the farmer liiv-s next to study its characteristics. This is a matter of considerable difficulty, but the selector i« amply repaid, for any trouble he may be put to as to the relative value of the choice made will often make so much difference in the value of crop returns as to nearly pay the rent of the laud on which they grew. Grain may bo very excellent for millin" purposes and yet not be very suitable for sowing. The miller's chief considerations are uniformity, colour aud weight of sample. To him it matters little what the character of the crop was from which the gram was obtained, or the number of quarters per acre it would grow, so long as tiie sample is well developed and fully matured. 'prolific crops. Tiie farmer iv quest of seed corn lias to penetrate deeper into the antecedents of the sample before him. His requirements are not met even if tiie corn ho buys is of good weight aud nu if ovin !y developed. Uniform ity ami heavy weight are not indicative

of ruoiificacy iv tiio crop, nor ;u'o they signu of i r s reproducing c:p;ibihties. They htive been proved to bo the opposite, for t lie best milling .samples are, obfainoa from light crops, and never from the; rich-headed eight; ro ten quarter per acre crop. The soil may be oi:' the poorest, and the crop iv unison with its condition, yet the weight of the oats from them may bo good, though the quantity will bo small. There i,s an essential difference between the grain from a stunted ear ajui the grain from a prolific ear. The prolific ear develops the grain.-: iv pairs, and in certain varior-ies in triplets; whereas the stunted ear develops the gtaits singly, with the result in the latter case that there are nc "bosom pickles,'' none of the small grain;-; which mark the prolific, ear, and iv this circumstance iiea the diiVereuoo that must exisr. between

grains from prolific and from stunted ears. Tha graius from stunted ears ani yetioraliy large, and in the selecting of seed a mistake is nuulo in going iv for big seed, for almost every seed has had ou it tin"! abortive leaf that taker? the place of the bosom pickle m tiio grain from the, proiiiie ear. Prize parcels are very apt to have this defect, and .such parcels should not be bought for Kccd if quantity per acre i:\ required. .Like produces like, and tho progeny ()i: sneh would bo large seeds owing to the ah:-ence of a fally-devel-oped bo»om pickle, bat the yield per acre would bo small, as the *sed is from parents that only produced single seed, whiles the. others. thonq - !i not si!oli a line, looking sample, are from twin-bearing strains. As in 111e live stock department pood breeding is necessary to the maintenance, of quality and fertility, so it; is equally necessary in the. plant life of the farm. Ped'.greo in plants is quite as iiuporfcaut as iv animals, and just as cattle or horses do not always carry their pedigree on their backs, so the' seeding properties of oats cannot always be estimated by the appearance of the sample.

GOOD, USEFUL SAMPLES

Irregularity in size is a feature, of the sample taken from the crop of prolific ear, and tiic scars on the larger grains in the sample are a sigu that twins havo predominated in the crop. Ifc is, of course, possible to make tho grains from a prolific crop uniform by dressing; but investigations have shown that the removal of the- small pickles does not improve the sample for sowing purposes, although the weight per bushel is increased. Crops of oats showing extra prolific ear-bear-ing as well as the host of results in the threshing have been got by seeding seconds raid the small pickles wifli tlie refuse seeds of weeds abstracted from the sample. When such aro used for seed, tho farmer was making his selection' from the best of ears. If it is desired to produce grain of a uniform quality and size, resorting to thick seodiug will give the result, as it naturally operates against prolific reproduction, and is only another proof o!i deterioration instead of: an improvement for seeding purposes. These aro some points worth the farmer's consideration when the duty of seed selection occupies his thoughts; but the most successful way of building up a strain of oats was not in tho manner of tho Show exhibitor, but in selecting heads in the harvest time. Head selecting in the harvest time will improve any variety grown on tho farm, and this, perhaps, is the best method of improvement, as the variety most, suitable for the climate and soil of one district may not give the same results in another. The broad result of these observations is that the conditions of growth should bo inquired into before the purchase of seed and oats is effected, and the purchaser should satisfy himself that the change of soil and climate proposed should be conducive to its prosperity in the new locality.

§ ITRfF HHHS F ■ MPWQ

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