HILL'S PROLIFIC WHEAT.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 371, 14 May 1861, Page 4

HILL'S PROLIFIC WHEAT.

Me. Cowan, of Yankalilla, lately sent to the office of the Farm and Garden a very fine sample of wheat in the ear. It was exhibited at the last Committee meeting of the Adelaide Agricultural and Horticultural Society to the members present, who expressed themselves highly pleased with its appearance. We wrote to Mr. Cowan for some particulars respecting the wheat, and in reply he has furnished us with the following iniormation :-—

The variety in question was produced from a few grains which a Mr. Hill sowed in his garden, the produce of which was again grown and distributed as Hill's Prolific wheat. The seed from which the sample now before us came was procured from Mr. May, near Finiss Vale. The yield per acre is not yet ascertained, as the crop was handreaped and has yet to be threshed; it is, however, estimated to average 30 bushels to the acre, but about ten acres of this crop are thought likely to yield nearly 400 bushels. Mr. Cowan states expressly that these are merely estimates, but promises, if desired, to furnish an accurate statement after the thrashing is completed. It is he says, a fine healthy wheat, and neither black rust nor smut has been seen in it. We have shown the sample to several judges of corn, by all of whom it has been admired. We have also taken the opinion of one of our first millers on the quality of the grain, and he pronounces it a fine sample, thin-skinned, and likely to make a good quantity of flour, but from the dark color of the grain he thinks the flour would not rank as the finest quality. The sample sent to us was evidently cut before it was fully ripe, some of the straws having still a greenish appearance; the grain is therefore scarcely so plump as it would otherwise have been ; the grains are, however, large and weighty and brownish in color. The ears are about five inches in length and tolerably well filled (one which we rubbed out yielded 80 grains) ; they are similar in appearance to the ears of red straw wheat. The straw is very strong and of a white color. Altogether it may be called a handsome-looking wheat, and we think it is likely to be, as its name indicates, a prolific variety.