WHEAT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 878, 7 February 1879, Page 2 (Supplement)

WHEAT.

V rrt gro«<) loss ha« been sustained by tlie farming community through the fate heavy gales of wind. Th« wheat and oat crops lmvn suffered severely, in many instances losing from 110' to 30 per cent. oE grain-1 nor has tin* destruction been alone confined to ripo-orops. green, oats and wheat having also lost a considerable percentage. The (luestiou has boon raised by thoughtful and experi-enced-men—clow can this vt»ry s«vious toss liu reduced- or Avoided-'.' It lias been pointed out that troe-phuding would, to a great ex< tent,, protect our' grain-' Holds from the effects of north-west and south-west gate*., but on tho wliolu our farming population* seem- inclined to prefer the lbs* of their crops to the bimulit to bo ohtaiuud from shelter belts of gums or other trees. Irrigation, wherever practicable, has also been held up- a* a means of assisting our soils to so mature their grain productions as in some measure to assist to preventing this- wholesale destruction. Yet them is uo move in this direction even where tJm means have been- at hand for years past. Tho adoption- of the steam plough- in- the thorough- iwHvtion of soils has not as yet found general favor in ffew Zealand i probably from- tho fact that our agriculturists have hitherto been contented with the results obtained from their lands, and because they liavu not given any attention to tho necessities of the soik. tha climate, and the grain. As a general; rule farmers are contented to buliovu that manuring will renew alt poor lauds, ami nature will do tho rest: hence their seeming indilTereuco in tho matter of two-shelter, irrigation, drainage, and aeration. NW, it i» highly probable that by attention- to three of these important physical changes, allowing that irrigation is impossible from tho position of tho lands, that plants, ho they wheat, oats, or barley, would be so much improved in their respective progressive developments that they would be able to resist iiv a great measure the action which tempests now have upon them. There is, however,, a species of wheat which will cueist the action of heavy winds, even- when fully matured, but tho difficulty of obtaining it for New Zealand- is very great. The Hon. t\r. Holmes, of Awamoa, gruw it many years a:;o at Mount M'aeedou. Victoria, and has oD'cred LillV for a bushel of the old Seed if procurable. That certain conditions of the soil produce certain grain results is a fact that any farmer is willing to substantiate, and as an example of this may bo cited a crop- of wheat (purple straw) produced by Mr. .I'ohn Ktiir. of .Shag Valley, some twelve or thirteen years ago. The grain was raised on a piece of rich iutorvalo maiden soil close to Hung River. In all its stages, from the springing of the blade up to tho maturity of the grain, it exhibited a strong, healthy, and vigorous habit. The straw was of great length, the wheat pickles few in number, of a fair color, plump, hard, and: exceedingly diiliculb of separation from the husk. The uiK'sfciou is—To what source were these eil'cctw attributable '.' Tho soil no doubt contained a largo amount of woody fibre or ti:;nino. tt must also have contained- aft the other material required for perfecting the grain, ts this the natural habit of purple straw, under tile most favorable conditions for its production ? That .is, does this wheat naturally produce a greater equivalent of straw than of grain'.' Again, in tho djueenstowu, district, Lake County, where the soil is chicHy composed of drift schist sand ami decomposed vegetable matter, the grain—-Tuscan, or white velvet—yields a plump, heavy ear, a hard grain, fine color, and is ftraity set, requiring close thrashing to separate it from the linsfc. VVhence this superiority of these products to those of the coast, if not duo to the soils friMii which- they are produced ? In the firstcase, wo have a superabundance of tigniue in tho jdnnt: in- Che second, an equally matnrwi crop produced from.a nearly mineral soil, tt in highly probable that the results of tin." seiioud example are produced from, first, a high** temperature, and secondly greater aur;*tio«— the first being* partly a product of th« tast, and partly the resutt of natural onuses. It is to this point that our roast farmers must turn their special attention, and from it commence their operations towards the improvement of thek lands. To this end it will bo necessary to subsoil cighttmn inche* every five years—an operaMori which will produce aeration, and fcrtoi? within reach of the crop those food materials wlkioh have been added to- the land in the way «f manures, but from their greatuv gravity tore sunk to the subsoit, and have thus be«o fast to the superficial fertility of the soil. It is evident that the steam; plough is the best nwans by which this- end may b» attained. .It luw ,feeen found that grain grown- on doop-ptougli*i! lands stands u,v better,, and is-cjot so much a(2Wt*d by the striwig winds wlik'h .tangle, lay and shake crops, as they do. on sWtow lanits, as the roots of the wheat plant penetrate very deeply. 'Ehis- good etieet must fee attributed to tho superior? condition di soda s« treated, in giving the plant root aeeess to all the maUirial it requires for its healthy condition, and at raising the temperature. The agricitltmnsßs of t'imterbury, particularly those of the 3»4ains, would do- well to give tUU matter tl*«ir serious consideration, as without shelter, irrigation,, drainage, and aeration, they will tia»i it almost impossible to cultivate with any «ertaia prospect of success any more than can, th« people of Otago. wherever it is impossible h>appty these means,