WHEAT VARIETY TRIALS IN THE SOUTH ISLAND, SEASON 1932-33.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 47, Issue 5, 20 November 1933, Page 307

WHEAT VARIETY TRIALS IN THE SOUTH ISLAND, SEASON 1932-33.

Fields Division,

Department of Agriculture.

Nine trials were carried out in collaboration with the Wheat Research Institute in the 1932-33 season to determine the relative yielding capacities of certain wheat varieties or lines of Cross 7 (Solid Straw Tuscan X White Fife). These were all sown on farms in Canterbury and Otago. The lay-out of the trials was similar to that described in this Journal for June, 1931, pages 398 and 399, and reference should also be made to the latter for particulars of rate of seeding, manuring, and statistical examination of the results. • No attempt was made to harvest each variety at its optimum stage of ripeness. Harvesting was carried out usually when the laterripening varieties in the trial were in fit condition. Under these circumstances shaking of grain occurred with one or two of the varieties in a few trials, although in most cases this was only slight. These trials can be divided into two groups —(1) those in which lines of Cross 7 were compared with Solid Straw Tuscan, and (2) trials of standard varieties in which, with one exception, Solid Straw Tuscan was the control variety.

Type A Experiments.Trials of Cross 7 Lines. This series of trials, in which were included Solid Straw Tuscan and Crosses 7-03, 7-04, 7-06, and 7-09, was carried out on the following farms: (1) C. R. Page, Glasnevin ; (2) High School, Rangiora; (3) D. Mulholland, Barfield ; (4) A. Amos, Wakanui; (5) Boys' High School, Timaru. Particulars of dates of sowing and harvesting and results of these trials, together with one carried out by the Wheat Research Institute at Lincoln College, are given in Table 1.

Comments on Table 1. — In view of promising milking and baking tests,* the yields of Crosses 7-02, 7-03, and 7-04 in this series of trials have been sufficiently encouraging for further trials to be carried out, and during the present season some twenty-five trials in which one of these crosses is compared with Solid Straw Tuscan have been laid down at the request of the Wheat Research Institute. These are distributed over Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago. Type B Experiments.Trials of Standard Varieties. Four co-operative trials were carried out in districts where varieties other than Solid Straw Tuscan are commonly grown or have given promise in previous trials. With one exceptionLg, Experiment No. 8Solid Straw Tuscan was the control. In Experiment No. 6. Webb’s Harvester was included at the request of local farmers who

desired information on this variety. Results are given in Table 2 in which results obtained at Lincoln College are again incorporated.

Following are details and observations on the trials :—

No. 6: J. C. Hay, Waimate.— Date sown, . 14/6/32. Date harvested, 3/2/33. Varieties under trial: Solid Straw Tuscan, College Hunter’s II, Dreadnought, Major, and Webb’s Harvester,

On 24/1/32 Solid Straw Tuscan appeared to be the best variety although most affected with stem and leaf rust, while it was the only variety of which all heads were filled. Dreadnought was the least affected by rust and appeared the most healthy. Major was the earliest ripening, but looked thin. Webb’s Harvester was very backward and was affected with rust and mildew.

At time of cutting all varieties had ripened except Webb’s Harvester, which would have been a week later in ripening and which was so obviously inferior to the other varieties as not to warrant delaying the harvesting until this variety ripened. •

No. 7: D. M. Boryie, Papakaio. — Date sown, 7/6/32. Date harvested, 6/2/33. Varieties under trial: Solid Straw Tuscan, College Hunter’s II, Yeoman, and Velvet.

On cutting, all varieties appeared practically at the same stage of maturity, and quite ready for cutting. Velvet was more affected by mildew than any of the other varieties. There was no loss of grain by shaking.

No. 8: G. Stevenson, Weston. — Date sown, 21/5/32. Date harvested, 13/2/33. Varieties: Dreadnought 5/27, Dreadnought, College Hunter’s II, Yeoman, and Velvet.

The crop had an exceptionally long growth of straw. When harvested one section of the experiment was . dead ripe, while the other half was barely ripe. However, it was necessary to cut all varieties, otherwise there would have been a marked loss of grain. A slight loss of grain from shaking did occur in all varieties when cutting. Dreadnought suffered more loss from shaking than Dreadnought 5/27. Velvet was very badly lodged throughout the experiment, and this to a great extent accounted for the low yield of this variety.

No. 9: J. Miller, Maungatua. — Date sown 30/8/32. Date harvested, 17/2/32. Varieties : Solid Straw Tuscan, Solid Straw Velvet, Major, and Marquis.

When cut Solid Straw Tuscan was in good condition, while Velvet was on the green side. Major was overripe, and heavy winds during the previous week had resulted in approximately 10 per cent, of the grain being shaken. Marquis was ripe and had also suffered from the winds, although to a lesser extent than Major.

Comments on Table 2. — A feature of the 1932-33 season’s trials was the outstanding superiority of Solid Straw Tuscan. In previous seasons the varieties under trial at Waimate and Papakaio have given good results when tried against Solid Straw Tuscan in these particular districrs.

The Department is indebted to those farmers on whose farms the trials were carried out for their co-operation and willing assistance. The field work in connection with the trials was carried out under the direction of Mr. R. McGillivray, Fields Superintendent, Christchurch, by Instructors G. G. Calder, Christchurch, E. M. Bates, Ashburton, W. Stafford, Timaru ; and under the direction of Mr. R. B. Tennent, Fields Superintendent, Dunedin, by Instructors T. A. Sellwood, Oamaru, and A. Stuart, Dunedin. ,Crop Experimentalist’s Section.

Review of Empire Pasture Investigations.— Animal Husbandry section of the Annual Report of the Empire Marketing Board for 1932-33 states as follows : “ Dr. Orr, Director of the Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, recently suggested to the Empire Marketing Board that the results of pasture investigations, which have been carried out in different part of the Empire with the aid of grants from the Board, should be brought together and reviewed in a form convenient for the use of bodies and persons who are responsible for applying the information to local conditions and bringing it into general practice. This proposal was discussed between Dr. Orr, Professor Stapledon, of the Welsh Plant Breeding Station, and Professor Richardson, of the Waite Institute, University of Adelaide. As a result Dr. Orr and Professor Stapledon have agreed to cooperate in preparing this report with the help of collaborators in oversea Empire countries and the Imperial Bureaux of Animal Nutrition and Plant Genetics.”

Noxious Weeds Orders.— The Hawke’s Bay County Council has' declared star thistle to be a noxious weed within its jurisdiction. The Manawatu County Council has similarly declared prickly pear and fennel within the County of Manawatu.

* “ Date harvested” does not necessarily mean date of ripening, since generally the Crosses 7-02, 7-03, and 7-04 ripened a day or two before Solid Straw Tuscan, whereas the Crosses 7-06 and 7-09 were slightly later in ripening than Solid Straw Tuscan. No losses of grain at harvesting were reported from any of the trials. ■ Note.In this table and Table 2 differences printed in heavy type are statistically significant. Differences in favour of the variety are denoted by a plus sign; a minus sign denotes a difference in favour of Solid Straw Tuscan.

* Third annual report of the Wheat Research Institute, Bull. No. 42, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

* Differences are those from Dreadnought 5/27 which was used as a control in this experiment t Differences in yields were not examined statistically as plots of each variety were bulked for threshing.

Variety. Number and Location of Trial. I Glasnevin. 2 [ Rangiora. 3 Darfield. 1 4 Wakanui. 1 5 Timaru. 1 Lincoln. Average Difference Dates sown* .. Dates harvested ... 20/5/32 26/1/33 14/6/32 30/1/33 19/5/32 26/1/33 31/5/32 2/2/33 7/7/32 10/2/33 Cross 7-02 Difference from S.S.T. . . 22 ’4 + 2 1 38-9 — 2-5 33’7 — i-8 56-4 — 5'3 27-3 85-1 — 40 . — 2 'I Cross 7-03 Difference from S.S.T. .. 22-5 + i-8 37'7 — 2'6 32-9 — 2-7 57'5 — 40 • 28-4 — 0 6 88-5 0 ’ 5 — 1-4 Cross 7-04 Difference from S.S.T. . . 22'3 + 2-4 38-8 — 3? 34' 1 — o-6 55'9 — 51 27'8 — I'O 88-1 — 2'2 — i-6 Cross 7-06 .. .. Difference from S.S.T. ... 19-9 -j- 0'2 35’4 — 3’6 3 ’5 — 11-8 47'2 — 139 24-1 — 7-3 62 -4 -28-5 — io-8 Cross 7-09 Difference from S.S.T. . . 19-4 — Z-2 29 • 8 — 80 24’9 — 110 46 • 2 . — 15-2 23’3 — 7-0 66; 6 -24-5 — ii-i

Table 1. — Trials of Cross 7 — Dates of Sowing and Harvesting, Yields and Differences from Solid Straw Tuscan, in Bushels per Acre.

Variety. Number and Location of Trial. 6 Waimate. 7 Papakaio. 8 Weston. 9 Maungatua. Lincoln. College Hunter’s II . . Difference from S.S. Tuscan 35'9 — 18-3 38-6 — 9-8 55 5 — 15-0* 66-3 — 16-2 Dreadnough f .. . . Difference. from S.S. Tuscan . . 43'9 — 10-3 66-2 — 4-3* Major . . .. .. Difference from S.S. Tuscan 39-6 — 13-6 40-7 — 29 -of Yeoman .. .. Difference from S.S. Tuscan 33'9 — 131 53’0 1 17-5* 6l-8 <1 GJ CH 6 6i-8 — 23-9 Solid Straw Velvet Difference from S.S. Tuscan 65-6 - w 73’8 — 9-0 Velvet ... Difference from S.S. Tuscan . 32-6 — 14-4 . 40-3 — 30-2* Webb’s Harvester .. . ... Difference from S.S. Tuscan 20*0 — 33-2 Marquis .... Difference from S.S. Tuscan 46-4 - — 2?-?+

Table 2. —Trials of Standard Varieties. —Yields and Differences from Solid Straw Tuscan, in Bushels per Acre.