SEED, WHEAT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3067, 1 May 1917, Page 8

SEED, WHEAT

; SERIOUS PROBLEM ARISING. ' .The diffiiutty, experienced'by many farmers iq Beourinfc good seed wheat this seasort was discussed by - tho -Springs Qpunty Efficienoy Committeo week. Mr,-'R..-E. Alexander, Director of the Canterbury Agricultural Oolleeo, was preßenV and said that the matter needed! tho" attention of the National Efficiency,"'Board. A. price had been for All wheat. Ko'.-pubjio-f intimation had .■been made; - thatf-.seed wheat w»s ; exempt, tho result being that farmors sold their wheat' at thQ, fixed pride, and BatUTally'inillefs W bought tho best parcels- first. -Many■ farmers, now found that they ..coulcVnot got 'seed, or could only get inferior samples. This difficulty might not havo.beon so acuto under nonna| conditions; though oven in normal times a widespread anxiety was expressed by the farming community in regard to tho increasing difficulty in obtaining; pure seeds. Tho good old strains of wheat had been lost, added Mr. Alexander, and oats and barley were in much the samo -position. Lincoln College had undcr.taken somo work in. wheat, and had recovered a pure strain of Hunters, but their efforts wore useless unleßs backed up, i.o.y unless the seed was kept pure. This was a difficulty at all times, !hut this year, owing to the fixing of ,a,maximum price, many farmers who grew College Hunters sold to the millers, as they did not «co tho forco of selling in small parcels when they could not oharge anoxtra price. Much of this improved wheat had thcrefofo hcen lost.

In order to secure- tho best seeds for solving it would be necessary to encourage farmers to preserve good strains. This could easily bo done by compensating tho farmer for his outlay in tho form of a bonus. Tho question .was oiot purely a farmers' question, ifcVas of national importance. No one cbuld deny that tho returns from farm crops, grasses, and roW, as well as cereals, could be materially increased .by sowing the best and purest seeds. With this objeot in view, said Mr. Alexander, ho would suggest that the Efficiency Board be asked to advisa tho Government to adopt a system for. improvement and distribution of seeds, somewhat similar to that in operation in Sweden. Sweden was not tho only country,adopting tho system—he simply mentioned it' as the pioneer in. the work. In Sweden farmers were encouraged to grow pure seeds: (1) Tha seed was supplied front'a central station; (2) crops were inspected by the' 'Government; (3) seeds from certified crops, i.e., crops kept pure by farmers, ■.were labelled and tagged by the Government, and so commanded a higher price. Numbers .1 and 2 could easily be carried out in' New Zealand. To encourage the farmer to keep the seed pure, it might bo necessary to offer a bonus of so much, a bushel, say Gd.,' for cereals for seed sold to farmers or exported for seed. Other seeds could be dealt wifh in a similar manner. . The justification for the expenditure would bo the increased Teturn from all orops. No one could deuy the established fact that good seeds were the best producers. Objections might bo raised to the bonus on' the grounds that too many wonld apply for it. This could easily bo met by increasing tho strictness of inspection, and was really ,an argument in favour of the scnemtr. Suppose, for the sake of argument,, the speaker, said, that 100,000Trushcls j of wheat were bought'and sold each |

year for seed. A bpmi.s* of (Jd. per bushel entailed an expenditure, of £2500. Tho resultant incrcaso in yield from sowiug this special seed should be at least one bushel per acre—as n matter, of fact experiments had,-, proved that tho increase would bo iiriteh greater than this—but ono bushel increase on 200,000 ' acres it'ss. i>er bushel would give a return of £50,0l)l) : (ho was supposing that a fanner bought now seed every third yoar),_