A WORLD RECORD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 March 1941, Page 9

A WORLD RECORD

v CLAIMED FOR WHEAT CROP. | j (By Telegraph—Press Association.! INVERCARGILL. March 16. What may be officially recognised as a world record yield of wheat has been grown on four acres of sharp river flat, near Winton, on the property of Mr. T. Hamilton. A small paddock yielded 114 bushels to the acre. If the Department of Agriculture certifies to this crop, it will supplant as a world record that distinction already held by another Southland farmer, Mr. James Grant. Bayswater, whose yield a few years ago. was 112 bushels. 1 Mr. Hamilton’s crops of Cross 7 ■ wheat was threshed from the stook. L He has for some years been one of the ■ principal wheat-growers of Southland and averages from 50 to 80 acres annually. be stationed in the Indies, cannot be . compared with the Navy of Japan, but is a useful force for harassing an in- . vader and protecting the trade routes, ! and the fighting qualities of the Dutch seamen would be more than a match for the Japanese in equal combat. In circumstance of numerical inferiority , the Indies Navy must depend to a large ’ extent on its submarine fleet (the size of which is surprising) and its destroy- , ers. Attention, is being paid to torpedoboats. with which the Navy has been newly provided. These vessels, which ' are being built in large numbers at Sourabaya dockyard, are fitted with torpedo tubes and anti-aircraft guns. In favourable conditions they could do much damage to an enemy fleet, although admittedly at high cost to themselves. IN TOUCH WITH BRITAIN. Plans are based ,< bn the unlikely as- , sumption that the Indies would have ' to meet an attack without assistance. Reserves of munitions have been built . up and local industries are turning out ! shells and bombs, small arms ammuni--1 tion. and mines, which were formerly purchased oversea. The Indies do not. however, think that they will have to stand alone in a crisis. Japanese emi phasis on the status quo has probably been the main factor in preventing any formal Anglo-Dutch alliance in the Far East with arrangements for the joint defence of the Indies and British Malaya, but it is difficult to find any- ' one in Netherlands Indies today whe does not think that Britain and the ; Netherlands would stand together in 1 the event of a challenge to either in the Far East. Although there may be no staff conversations on the spot, it cannot be overlooked that Dutch naval ’ and military officers are in close touch ’ with the British defence ministries in London. British and Dutch interests appear to be identical in Malaysia, a ' territory from which America draws ! important raw materials, including rubber and tin. If and when American 1 warships use the Singapore naval base ’ Hollanders believe their next call will 1 be Sourabaya.