WHEAT VARIETIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 May 1941, Page 3

WHEAT VARIETIES

LINCOLN COUNCIL REVIEW POSITION SUMMARISED, , g OLD AND NEW STRAINS. p The most recent issue of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce Bulletin, ' printed from material supplied by Lin- ; coin College is of particular interest at the present time because it reviews the very latest available information on old and new wheat varieties. This is • of interest in view of the fact that the Wairarapa has been asked to double , the area normally grown in wheat next ■' season. 'S It is to be expected that the biggest part of this increase will be obtained ’ from the growing of wheat by farmers experienced with this crop and on ’ soils known to be satisfactory for certain varieties but it is likely also that, r in order to satisfy the request for such e a large increase in area, many will r grow wheat on soils not normally regarded as first class wheat land. It is. ” therefore, of particular value to study k the conclusions reached in this Bulletin in order to ascertain how far they j can apply to local conditions, and for the information of past and prospective growers a brief summary is pre- “ sented below. • There can be few instances, if any, i’ where a new variety has had such spectacular success as that which has attended the introduction of Cross 7, which in the course of five years has t come to occupy approximately 40 per . cent of the Dominion’s total wheat area. This variety is now about equal , with solid straw Tuscan in popularity . whereas previously the latter held un- . disputed first place, being grown on / 70 per cent of our wheat lands. The y qualities that have enabled Cross 7 to . displace Tuscan are principally the . fact that it outyields its rival on all but possibly the lightest Tuscan couni try, its greater resistance to lodging , and finally its much superior baking , qualities. As a heading wheat Cross . 7 is in the first class and the growing . use of header harvesters has contribut- . ed to its rapidly growing popularity. In recent years, too, Cross 7 has also competed successfully with Hunters and although this latter variety may still outyield its young rival on the richest wheat country the newcomer’s resistance to shaking and lodging and its suitability for heading are enabling it to gain ground. Of the very recently introduced wheats Tainui is of particular interest and the comments made in the Bulletin confirm our own Wairarapa experience of it over the past two seasons. A feature of this wheat is its extremely rapid maturing character which makes it especially suited foliate sowings. It is interesting in this connection to record here, reports from other sources which claim that Tainui is proving particularly suitable in dry land where the early spring sowing, which would be necessary for Cross 7, is so often impracticable in even a normally wet season. It seems I likely too from Wairarapa experience that Tainui will be a very useful wheat on some of the very light Wairarapa soils, as it can normally be expected, from early spring sowings, to be well matured before the onset of severely dry weather. Although a little weak 1 in the .straw, Tainui yields very well and one crop of eight acres produced over 60 bushels to the acre in the Wairarapa last season.

A further new cross, which has just been released, is Fife-Tuscan which is described as indistinquishable in appearance from Tuscan itself. In a series of trials extending over five sea« sons, however, Fife-Tuscan has never yielded less than Tuscan and has averaged 10 per cent better. Its lodging resistance is said to be better than Tuscan but not so good as Cross 7 and in resistance to loose smut it is superior to Tuscan and much superior to Cross 7. It is expected that this whe. will largely displace solid straw Tuscan. We can summarise this Bulletin for Wairarapa conditions but saying that for our medium to strong country, for early spring sowing, Cross 7 is our best wheat except that on the strongest soils, in sheltered situations and where the header will not be used, there is still a place for Hunters for winter sewings. For lighter country, solid straw Tuscan is recommended or Fife-Tuscan if it substantiates the claims made for it. Where a short season wheat is required because of necessary late sowing or because the country dries out severely early in the season, then Tainui should be used.