EXPERIMENTS WITH WHEAT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1477, 8 February 1887, Page 3

EXPERIMENTS WITH WHEAT.

That there are a great number of varieties of the wheat plant is a fact well kuown to everybody who has had expurieuce m growing that cereal. It m aluo well known tint there are wide differences be. ween some of the varieties as regards habits of growth, quality of grain, weight of yield, and suitability for certain conditions of clinvito and soil. Bnt there is neb enough known on the subject. As a rule there are certain established varieties m each district which wheat-growers continue to aow from year to year, not neceesvrily because thay are the most profitable aorta, but because they aro the best sorts with which farmers happen to be acquainted. A good many new sotts of wheat have been introduced into the country of la'e yearn, but there are no public records of the results. Considering ihe great number of varieties that exist m the world, and the comparatively small proportion of them that are known to farmers m this country, there oan be no doubt that there is plenty of room for profitable experiment) In wheat growing. As showing how great a difference there may be iv the yield obtained according to the variety, some experiments were made at Rothamsted with twenty-four kinds of wheat grown under identical conditions. The yield of dressed corn obtained varied from 28 to 54£ bußhela per acre. 1 his brings out m a very strong light what great mistakes it is possible to make iv wheatgrowing. It shows that tne difference m the yield obtained from the sort most suitable t> certain conditions of soil and climate, and the sort least suitable, may amount to as much as 26£ bushels to the acre. This is an extreme case, but it proveß the necessity of experiments being made m every coui try where wheat is grown, m order to find out the sorts which given the largest profit All cultivated plaule, like domes' fcated breeds of aoima's, have a tendency to run out, and it Is found esseritlal to counteract this tendency by selection and crossing. The improvement of Ihe wheat plant, by means of crossing varieties, is a matter which has attraoted much attention of | late years. Experiments are being made In Great Britain, m America, and on the Contineut The crossing of varieties, however, is not a new thing. A Mr Knight has the credit of having made »Lo first experlmeolsof the Bort m Great Britain. He lived m the last century, and m the records of his experiments he states that m tho yosrß 1706 almost the whole of the crops m Great Britain were blighted, and that m his neighbourhood the on'y crops of wheat not effected by the prevailing blight "were those grown from seed which had been obtained by crossing. It h possible that tho enthusiasm of the experimenter may have led him to strain the facts a little m favor of his theory, hut at the same time it is not improbable that crossing of the varie'us had imparted fresji vigor 1o the plants, Among the improvers of cereals by crossing And selection, Mr Patrick SSbirreff, a Scotch farmer, who began his experiments early m the century, has perhaps done more practical good than any other individual experimenter. Like the crossing of breeds of animals, the omssin^ of cereals often leads to unexpected, and sometimes disappointing, results. An effioial record of experiments made m the United States givoa an account of the results obtained from crossing a Black Sea variety with the sort known as Golden r>rop. A head of the former eort was Impregnated with the pollen of the latter, and the fruit of the crosß was sown the next spring and cultivated with the utmost care. The first year the several plants showed great uniformity if character, and were m a general way, intermediate between their parents The selected product of these plants waa eown the second spring, and as the plants grew luxuriantly, the experimenter began to feel very sanguine about the results of his works. But as the heads began to appear, he was disgusted to observe tho utmost diversity of form and character. However, as tho grain ripened, a few of the more promising heads wore selected and sown the third year ; and continuing this process of selection over a number of years, the experimenter oonßiders that he haß succeeded m fixing tho character of severa} varieties, 'ihe sway of inherit anco Id them, he naya ie no longer d's* putef], and they come true from seed A Fro <>! < xperlmenter, M. Vilmorio, sayß tti&t he found four or five years' selection necessary, on an average, ro make e.\ch < eort obtained fromoroe&lng, even and fixed,