IMPROVING WHEAT

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 12, 14 July 1933, Page 8

IMPROVING WHEAT

HOW SCIENCE HELPS

The wheat research work at present being carried out is reviewed in the report of the Council 'of Scientific and Industrial Research. .■■■ .• •.■

The work on last season's crop is still in progress, says the report. The new crossbred wheat known as cross 7 has, during tho season, continued to demonstrate its good qualities, and following a; further trial in twenty-five different localities, plans for which are now being made,, it will bo issued through the Pure Seed Station at Lincoln, and , made available to growers on a commercial scale.■■ Another crossbred wlieat, cross 17, is approaching tho stage whon it will bo able to give a definite opinion regarding its suitability for providing a wheat of improved quality, its parents being Tuscan and a Marquis hybrid. A very large number of crosses havo been made ia recent years, but so far none of these show a great deal of promise. A new featuro of the crossing work, however, has been the greater utilisation of wheats- originating iiv India or the' East.' Tho breeding work has been givjjn much assistance' by the Pelsheuke test, whichj in. association with the Distensometerj has enabled quality determinations to be rapidly' made when comparatively few grains .of. wheat are available.' i': "'■'•'• ; ': The value of the laboratory has received special recognition from, the flourmillors, who, in their desire to improv'o the quality of flour in a number of mills, have requested that Mr. West's services be made .available for instructional' purposes for a: period, of three months. Millers who have viewed certain, improvements in technique devised by Mr. West at the laboratory ,wero so impressed with the results secured that they felt that the adoption of these throughout, tho milis,.of the Dominion .will readily enable improvements in flour quality to be effected, ■ Tho investigations carried outty the institute 'oil the Jumbuck variety of wheat, the virtues of which were originally brought to the notice of tho institute by Mr. K. K. Ireland, one of the millers' representatives on the. committee, has shown that this variety possesses distinct advantages for growing in North Island districts, particularly in tho Rangitikei,-Manawatu, and areas further north. In the less windy districts of Canterbury, it will also grow successfully, but on ; account of its liability to .suffer from winds it is unlikely to displace, Tuscan, over the greater portion of this district. The institute is now, engaged, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, in making improvements in the quality of the; seed of this variety. Jumbuek', is : giving 'a baking , test; of of between thirty-five and thirty-nins points, one of the highest in New Zealand, and compara,ble with, the best Canadian strains of Garnet and Marquis. . The work of the institute has gained the confidence of all;, those interested in the wheat industry, as shown by the increasing calls made upon its services for tests and advice.