THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1911. PLANT-BREEDING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10431, 23 September 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1911. PLANT-BREEDING.

It is gratifying to find tlhiat the Agricultural Department of New Zealand is paying attention to the important work of plant-breeding. In other countries .this work lias been taken up as a business ,by priviate individuals, and such mien as G&ailton and. Luther Burbank liave done mudh to improve the quality of cereals and vegetables. In New Zealand we hlave no one devoting himself to the raising of improved plants, and we rely entirely on those iwhich are produced in other countries, regardless - of the fact that these plants are bred for certain cfcaracterijsiticis that may not fit them for our special conditions. Seeing that, the individual ,hlas> failed, to rise to the occasion, it seems quite neo essary thiat the Government itself ehoulid attempt to work in a darecition that will lead to the general improvement in these crops on wthfioh the New Zealiand. farmer is dependent. In the United States a great impetus Jras now been given to plant breeding through wibiat is known as the Adams Act. This Act annually devotes a sum of nearly £200,000 to the furtherance of re/search in scientific agriculture, and, a large portion of this sum is to be utilised, in plant-breeding work on tihe American experimental stations. On the Continent tihe necessary money is granted' by various Governments to the institutions 1 under Government control, such as the Boyall Plant/breeding Station of Hoh.enh.eim; iwhile special grants, generally

tliirouglhi the agricultural societies, nre made to semi-pirivate institutions that are carrying out ptliailWbreeding ■work .wiiiicih. it is considered is of valu'e to .the nation. For dinstaaice, the fiamous Sl'avof station, comprising an area of 25 acres, receives £4OOO aiinuaJJy from the Swedish. Govermnneht. Some smsous ago a beginning was xruadie .by tlie Agrioulturial Department to inaugurate plantbreeding at the experimental farms. At li/uakura this* work is- progressing with, every indication of success. There- the main'work has been along the linos of breeding native phormium itor fibre production, and oata for ruist-r esi&tanee. So far as l pJiormaum is concerned several very promising types liave been evolved in wiiiicii tihe characters aimed at—a'ncreased leaf and fibre production—appear to have been secured. Wiia regard to oats, a really promising type of oat derived from singleplant selection of that variety know<n as this Argentine lias been developed. Hhds selected oat during ' the past two years has remained quite imimiune from rust .attack while all' other varieties grown in olosie prox-(imit-y rusted badly. Other oat tfbrms have been seleoted out, some of which, derived from the Algerian, eJjow considerable increase in productivity. THius. it will be seen that the work on Ruakura is already beginning to show most encouraging (results. The methods followed apr, proxiimate closely to those of Dr iNli'lsison, of the far-famed Swedish pliant breeding istation of Siavof, the work of w2i&ch is having a profound influence on. tihe agriculture of Sweden.