CO-OPERATIVE FIELD EXPERIMENTS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 3, Issue 5, 15 November 1911, Page 388

CO-OPERATIVE FIELD EXPERIMENTS.

SOME WHEAT TESTS.

A. Macpherson.

Manurial and variety tests with, wheat were conducted on . the farm of Mr. K. McKenzie, Geraldine. The land on which the. experiments were carried out was a sharp loamy soil with sandy clay subsoil, on the flat, near Geraldine. In 1906 the land was in English grass, in 1907 in wheat, in 1908 in turnips, in 1909 in wheat, and in 1910 in green oats with rape fed off. On the 2nd May, 1910, the land. was ploughed to a depth of 7 in., on 25th May it received one stroke of . the tine harrows and one stroke of the . disc harrows, and on the 26th May was tine-harrowed three times. On the 9th June the wheat was drilled in and harrowed, the crop being rolled on the 30th September.

Variety Test

This test was carried out in the same field as the manurial one and adjoined it. The land received the same working. The varieties of wheat were sown and harvested on the same dates as the manurial tests. Six varieties of wheat were sown without fertilizers in plots of one-tenth of an acre each, the seeding being at the rate of 1| bushels per acre.

All varieties ripened about the same time, and. were subject throughout their period of -growth to the same - unfavourable weather-conditions as the manurial tests. Small birds did very little damage. ' Bordier was slightly affected with Hessian fly. De . Noe. shelled out . badly . with the high winds, quite 50 per cent, being shaken out. . Bordier also shelled out, but to a less degree. All the other varieties stood the high winds well. The Pearl variety produced the best straw. • • .

Manurial Test.

The area consisted of six plots, each one-tenth of an acre. The seeds and manures were drilled in under favourable conditions. The soil throughout' was. uniform, in character;. The seed sown was Velvet Chaff, the; seeding being at the rate of. 1| bushels per acre. The scheme of fertilizers;' was designed by the- Chief. Agricultural Chemist. An early spring was followed by exceptionally dry and. windy weather during summer. Consequently yields below the unmanured, or standard, plot have to be recorded in all manurial plots, showing that, through the. want of moisture during the growing period of the plants, the fertilizers applied under, such weather-conditions did injury, and lowered rather than increased the yield of grain. With, the exception of one or two winds during harvest time, which shook out the overripe or easily shelled varieties, the weather was good for a safe ingathering. Birds did very little damage.. All plots ripened about the same time, and were harvested on the 21st January, 1911.

Twenty years, ago the flocks of Germany included 25,000,000 sheep ; today they represent a bare 5,000,000 :: this, while the consumption of wool has. increased, from 50,000 tons in 1873 to 200,000 : tons, absorbing a fourth of the world’s total wool-production.

H.M. Minister 1 at Buenos. Aires, in. reporting on the condition of. agriculture in Argentina, in 1910,. states that the year was an unfavourable one both for 1 crops, and cattle,, owing chiefly to 1 drought. The shortage of the rainfall, which, has. been severely' felt; in the: southern districts, for 1 three years, or. more, extended more: into; the south-western camps of the Pampa, where immense damage was done to lands cultivated for a large part in a poor way by emigrants who had no funds wherewith to face a bad season.

Plot. •... Variety sown. . Grain-yield per ■ Acre : Bushels. . Plants, and Stalks to a . Square Yard. Plants. Stalks. 1 De Noe .. 16-76 58 . 302 2 Pearl 41-46 91 284 3 Red Chaff 38-46 80 269 4 Solid-straw Tuscan 42-46 105 . 360 5 Bordier .. .. .. 35-16 76 246 6 Velvet Chaff ■ ,. .... ... 42-16 80 230

Following are the results :-

Plot. Manure applied per Acre. Cost of Manures per Acre., Grain. Plants and Stalks to a Square Yard. Yield per Acre: Bushels. Gain or Loss by Use of Manures: Bushels. Plants. Stalks'. s. d. 1 Loss 6-2 1 J cwt. superphosphate J cwt. superphosphate 1 4 1 4- 35-96 35-96 Loss 6-2 106 226 2 | cwt. superphosphate 2 7 41-26 Loss 0-9 123 269 3 1 cwt. superphosphate 5 3 40-46 Loss 1-7 84 241 4 No manure .. 42-16 80 230 5 1 cwt. superphosphate, J cwt. sulphate of potash, J cwt. seedgypsum 9 6 37-96 Loss 4-2 107 298 6 1 cwt., superphosphate, J cwt. nitrate of soda, J cwt. seedgypsum 9 9 37-10 '.Loss 5-0 118 315

Following are the results:-