PHENOMENAL WHEAT YIELDS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 28 January 1909, Page 1

PHENOMENAL WHEAT YIELDS.

A SOUTH AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE. Too much caution, cannot be obaervod in acceptingsjaiinsupported statements as to phenomenal wheat yields, no matter from what quarter they emanate. So many of those wheats which seem to promise magnificent results in the early stages of develop-, meaf prove* very disappointing in field trial-- i -qt_ite apart from, the- authenticity- of the original claims made for them. But while this i3 apropos 1 to a recent statement published In South Australia, i't is'aot to be • supposed, as a matter of course, that ihe statement is exaggerated: 'one must,' however, exercise a' little caution.The discovery is attributed to an ongine-driver named J. T. O'Shea, living ia the Eudunda district (S.A.). Apparently he noticed some tsxtraordiimry double heads in 8 paddock last year", and collected every availab;e grain, with a view to. subsequent tests. All that he waa able to collect (5%0z.) was sown between a drilled strip of . -Marshall 'a No. 3 and Bluey, no grain being sown in the centre strip by drill. The new wheat was hand-sown afterwards abont the same distance apart as that sown by the drill. The result eclipsed all expectations. On an average the Marshall and Bhwy varieties produced eight stalks for •very grain sown, and the now variety had 16 to every grain sown; whilo, more remarkable still, the plant which last year produced two heads, this yeaT had, in some instances; as many as seven heads. Thefe heads are very distinct and easily counted. The centre head is in appearance like any bearded variety, while the additional heads grow out of two sides of the centre head, the largest being towards the butt of the stem, gradually diminishing J in size towards the end of the* head. The actual amount of wheat gathered from the s£oz. sown is said to be 59£lb. This works out at 90 bushels an acre, taking the quantity sown per acre as being about half a bushel, on which basis 'it was. sown: I '' .Mr O'Shea showed his wheat to several of the leading wheat buyers and farmers of the district, but the variety was new to all of them. A different:, of opinion exists at ./io { the original formation, of the vsiiely. Some think that it was brought in imported manures aa it was not unlike a variety of Egyptian wheat, JwhiUt others hold the opinion that i( is a aew wheat formed through natural hybridisation. In order to prove the value of his find, Mr O'Shea is keeping the whole of his gathered grain, proposing this year to sow the quantity on two acres of land.— "Sydney Daily Tel*, graph."-