H.—34,

22

Peas.—Three hundred and twenty selections of field-peas are under observation for further selection : 260 pure lines, comprising thirty varieties, of garden-peas are now in their third year of trial. The best of these will be put under yield trials next season, and multiplied as rapidly as possible for distribution through merchants who are growing on contract for export. Linseed selection, in co-operation with the New Zealand Cattle-cake and Oil Co., is receiving attention, and certain work with onions, in co-operation with the Marshlands Onion-growers' Association. (2) Multiplication and Distribution of Selected and Imported Lines of Seed. The stage has now been reached when it becomes necessary to organize this most important aspect of the work. Several lines were distributed last year, and further lots of wheat and potatoes will be available again this season. It is a necessary step preparatory to certification. Several areas have been sown with Montgomery red clover, and further supplies of this and also a quantity of Kentish wild white clover are being imported for next season's sowing. These areas will be under very close observation, the produce therefrom carefully tested, and, if satisfactory, distributed for seed-production under certification. A similar step has been taken in connection with a variety of lupins suitable for stock-feed. (3) Certification. During the past season certification has been undertaken in connection with potatoes, wheat, perennial rye-grass, white clover, and brown-top. Potato-certification. —This is the third year of operation, and there has been an increase from 180 crops last season to 420 for this season. The necessary field inspections and sample trials have entailed a great deal of work for the officers of the Fields Division. It is very pleasing to report that both growers and merchants show a full appreciation of the benefits to be derived from the use of certified seed. There has been, however, a weakness in connection with the grading, and, while this may not be entirely overcome, new regulations now being enforced are likely to go a long way towards easing this difficulty. Before acceptance not only is the crop inspected at various stages, but a sample of the seed planted by the grower is collected. This' seed is brought to one centre and grown under a comparative-yield trial, the result being that we are now, for the first time, in a position to indicate the relative cropping-power of each line entered for certification. This is likely to be a distinct advantage to everybody concerned. It is considered that cropping-power is a far more reliable guide in determining relative values at this stage than would be a statement as to the percentage of virus disease present. Wheat-certification. —Wheat-certification is undertaken in close co-operation with the Wheat Kesearch Institute. Last season 12,740 bushels of seed wheat were sold to merchants. The present season has not yet closed, and figures of actual delivery are not available, but orders received amount to over 14,000 bushels, and deliveries are likely to be proportionately higher than last season. Perennial Rye-grass Certification. —This has been confined almost entirely to Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay districts. A total area of 2,447 acres has been inspected and passed in the field, and practically the entire area harvested for seed. With very few exceptions, all this seed has been machinedressed and sealed as certified permanent pasture, although most of it will ultimately be passed as " mother seed." It is unfortunate that the price of certified seed has reached such a high figure as to hinder its wider distribution to growers in the South, who will, we hope, grow large areas for seed under certification and eventually bring down the price to something more reasonable. There is, however, no doubt that the economic value of the persistent strains of rye is of great importance, and certification affords a means of controlling with a considerable degree of accuracy the distribution and production of these strains. Moreover, the prospects of an export trade are very promising, provided constant supplies of high-class seed, efficiently machine-dressed, are available for export under a carefully supervised scheme of certification. White Clover.—The certification of old-pasture white-clover seed has been extended considerably, and a very desirable feature has been the inclusion of a fair quantity of seed from Hawke's Bay. Seed is now about to be machine-dressed, and actual returns are not available. The standard adopted so far has been one of age, and all certified seed is the produce of pastures five years old or over. A small amount of seed was accepted last season, and under trial has given sufficiently encouraging results to warrant continuation of this standard till a better technique has been evolved by the Agrostologist. It is obvious from the trial that some certified lines are far superior to others, and it is hoped to arrange to have these superior strains distributed as widely as possible with a view to bringing certified seed up to this standard. When this has been attained the prospects of increasing our export trade are very promising. The strains may never attain the persistency of Kentish wild white, but they will be infinitely superior to the Dutch seed imported into Britain and used by the farmers for the want of something better at a reasonable price. Brown-top.—Very extensive areas are being harvested under certification for export. Machinedressing has hardly commenced, and no actual figures are available, but indications are that very little uncertified seed will be exported by merchants after this season. Our certification amounts to a statement that the seed is free from red-top, which is an undesirable species for lawns and golf-courses. As in all other seed, a purity and germination certificate accompanies each line. There is in New Zealand very little red-top, and in a few years it is hoped to have mapped out large areas from which all the brown-top seed will be accepted without the expense of field inspections.