SEEDS from Otago Central

Korero (AEWS), Volume 3, Issue 9, 4 June 1945, Page 3

SEEDS from Otago Central

/Tio counteract enemy practice of layTo counteract the countryside, ing waste to the countryside, destroying crops, and either ruining or removing all seed able to be seized, seed shipments have followed allied invasion armies in all theatres of war. Quantities of seed, for instance, landed in North Africa were moved to Sicily, and, as progress was made, into Italy and gradually northward ; thirty days after American troops first established themselves in the Solomons vegetable gardens had been sown —the men had begun to grow their own food. On all fronts, too, large quantities of seed for quick-growing crops have been needed for camouflage. Much of the world’s seed-supply has been blocked by war—beet-seed from Germany, cabbage-seed from Denmark, and Holland, cauliflower-seed from Holland, onion-seed from the Canary Islands, clover-seed from France and Hungary. In the early days of the war the position was made worse as the more important seed crops take two years to produce. Countries of the United Nations, where possible, had to expand seed-production hurriedly ; stocks were pooled, and distributed where most needed —mostly to Great Britain and to Russia. Such cargoes have saved much shipping space ; it is estimated that ilb. of seed (such as cabbage-seed) is the equivalent of 6,000 lb. of food. To meet civilian needs, to supply all home and overseas forces stationed in New Zealand, to send large quantities of fresh, green vegetables to overseas troops in the Pacific, and to keep local dehydration plants working to capacity, this country had to increase extensively the acreage of ground under vegetable cultivation. “Victory ’’gardens, the establish-

ment of Government-controlled gardens, and closer co-operation among marketgardeners helped to meet the problem ; in 1944 more than 26,000 acres were growing vegetables. Demand for seeds, of course, rose proportionately, but in spite of the use of greatly increased quantities New Zealand was still able to export Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States nearly 11,000,000 lb. (mostly pea-seed, but other vegetable varieties as well). Moa Seed Farm, a few miles from Roxburgh, Otago Central, one of the largest properties producing vegetable and flower seeds in New Zealand, harvests every year between four and five tons of parsnip, beetroot, onion, and carrot seeds, as well as some garden peas and large quantities of sweet-pea seeds and tulip bulbs. Here in the summer are to be seen fields leaping with colour ; rows on rows, their distance measuring into miles, of sweet peas high into the air, altogether between one hundred and fifty and two hundred varieties ; blocks planted with parsnips standing up to 8 ft. high and looking, in their apparent abandon, as unlike parsnips as parsnips ever could look. Everywhere is colour —massed and lavish, but not garish. Two land girls (in wide hats) work there, and for the harvesting, girl students from the university. There are two draught horses, fine animals, drays, and quarried stone buildings, open gates and dusty paths and drives, farm implements are under the trees, round them pine-needles, blue-gum nuts, and green grass. Scent from the wild acres mixes with the smell (hospital-clean) of Australian gums. Over all vibrates that Otago Central sunshine ; behind rise the hills.

In 1917 the Government in office began the Moa Seed Farm for repatriated soldiers ; later it was worked under Government subsidy by five men ; and in 1929 about 35 acres of the original, larger holding were taken over commercially, by one of the two present partners. The work, nearly all of which is by hand, is hard and exacting, the hours long. Mother, or stud, seed plants have to be continually inspected, any not up to standard (the rogues) ruthlessly removed to keep the strain pure ; and, in addition, there are unending field trials to improve quality. No root crops are allowed to go to seed until the second year ; the first season they are examined carefully, those not perfect in colour, shape, and type removed, the remainder planted again the next season. (Those which do seed the first year are called bolters. It seems that a seed farm, with its studs, rogues, and bolters, has some affinity with horse-raising.) Rotation of crops from year to year is important not only so that the good taken from the soil by different crops will be renewed, but also to prevent the rearing of self-sown plants among those grown from selected seed. Because of cross-pollination (by wind and insects), which would ruin the purity of individual strains, only one variety of each vegetable

is grown- -if more were to be handled a much larger aiea of ground than 35 acres would have to be available to enable the different types to be too far apart for the pollen to be carried. As well as the usual popular sweet-pea types, many winter varieties are grown, most of the seed of which is exported to Australia, where the varieties favoured in New Zealand do not flourish because of

the different climate. Sweet-pea seeds are sold usually in packets of ten for 6d. and there are between five thousand and nine thousand seeds to a pound. Great care must be taken to make sure the more than one hundred and fifty varieties do not become mixed or mistaken —even to the two partners they are as alike as peas in a pod. Bags, named and numbered, are used to keep the many varieties, which ripen at different times, separate. Surprisingly, in a district which depends for its growth on irrigation as much as it does on its rainfall, no artificial watering is done at the Moa Seed Farm. In its place is regular and constant hand and tractor hoeing, which, the partners say, is much more effective. Seed-harvesting is done mostly by handthreshing, although there are usually two or three hand-pickings first to gather the earlier ripening seed. For hand threshing the plants are thrown on to horse-and-tractor-drawn sledges and vigorously hit with flails. Seed which collects in the bottom of the sledges is later sieved to remove leaves and other matter ; and later a blower separates the unformed and kernel-less seeds which are lighter and blow away, leaving the seed pure and clean. Both flowers and seeds are constantly being improved by seed-growers all over the world. One recent improvement,

according to an article in Life is a marigold without a smell. In 1933, after years of search for a marigold whose foliage did not have the strong smell that so many people dislike, a seed-grower in the United States received some seeds from a missionary in China who said they would produce odourless marigolds. Sure enough they did, but their flowers were small and scraggly—all except one freak which had a pretty bloom. If odourless marigolds could produce a pretty freak,

the grower decided, then pretty, though smelly, marigolds might produce an odourless freak. Next year he planted 30 acres of marigolds, set his staff to smelling each plant. After five weeks of sniffing, one weary nose found an odourless marigold. Crossing this with the Chinese odourless, the grower combined the advantages of the two species and brought off a big seed coup. Perhaps the two partners at the Moa Seed Farm could get into touch with this missionary in China about onions.

Teleprinter in New Zealand Newspaper Office

A Creed teleprinter, the first in either a metropolitan or a provincial newspaper office in New Zealand, began operation recently in the office of the Northern Advocate, Whangarei. Teleprinters—machines used for the receiving of telegrams and cablegrams —are common in all the large newspaper offices overseas, but newspapers in New Zealand—with the exception now of the Northern Advocate— lhave to rely on pneumatic tubes from the post-offices or runner boys for the delivery of all press messages. The installation of a teleprinter means that messages are available for “ subbing ” the minute they come off the machines, eliminating the unavoidable delay in delivery from the post-office. Sub-editors are able to read the news as it comes in an endless ribbon from the machine, and editions can be held to the last minute for important messages. This saving of time is important to evening newspapers particularly.