SEED WHEAT.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 164, 27 May 1873, Page 2

SEED WHEAT.

The present- is an appropriate season for offering afew remarks upon t&e selection .and preparatiou of wheat for seed purposes. ' Aa to the first object — the selection — the tart ""Wliat n 'man sows that shaVl bo reap,** used in its literal sense affords an excellent maxim for the farm to go npon ; for although, before now, we have heard of good crops being raised from rusted or shrivelled seed, we imagine there are few who would lie disposed te try what could only be cousider an extiemely, nob to say foolish, experiment. To swear by the text we quote above id by far the the w iser course, for even were it not believed to be essential to the success of a erojj that the very finestseed should be sown, there would still be much to recommend the adoption of such a course. It is an undoubted fncfc that the decaying seed affords the fiist food for the young plant, and a fine seed, containing abundance flf' flour, must necessarily afford more nourishment, give the plant a better start, aui support it more liberally until the^thne when it shall be able to search more deeply for its sustenance. On this ground alone we would submit that it is wiser to sow a good plump Bced than a loan one, which has been starved itself, and will, in its turn, starve the plant of which it will be the parent. Then the difference between the value of a good sample and a had one is so trifling— two or three shillings per acre— that a farmer, if the corn of his owu production came under the latter, would be permy-wis* pound foolish not to make an outlay from which he would possibly derive a twenty-fold return ; and, at any rate, if his crop did not tnm out well, he would not have to blame hiinsolf for having sown bnd seed. But independent of all this, wo believe that " like produces like," and tint it is na absurd to expect healthy and fruitful progeny from a sickly seed as ib would be to expect it from a weakly and ill-conditioned animal. There is no apparent reason why the rulo should not apply in the vegetable, as it undoubtedly does in the animal, kingdom ; therefore the fdimei-'a first object shovld b& to get a clean dry

seed of the previous sen son's growth, and the finer and plumper tho bettor. Of tho qiiiiliLy^of the seed itself, » poetical farmer can easily judne for himself v by inspection. He can also see that it is live Ironi weeds, those which are not removable by threshing mnclrinery being the most objectiouable ; indeed, their presence in a sample is a most fatal objection- to- ii« being ireetl, unless they can be removed from it by 9oine means or other. Another and most important point to- bo considered — and this can only bo ascertained by inquiry — is as to the locality and nature of tho ground upon which tho seed proposed to be used was grown ; and agricultural tradition, and the experience of most farmers is favorable to this being as opposite as possible to> the character of that upon which it is intended to place the seed. A farmer will be more certain to secure this condition by dealing direct with another farmer in a district remote from his owu rather than by buying the grain from second han Is — the miller or merchant rarely having any interest in . ascertaining the nature of the land from which a sample he has purchased may have been produced. The seed having been selected, the next essential is to steep it in some liquid which has the power of destroying tho spores of the parasitical fungi which, though not externally visible, may still be present upon the grain, and, if sown with it, may produce disease in the enauing erop4 However satisfied we may feel that seed is clean the safe-?' guard is so chenp, and has been found so efficacious as a preventative, that it is nover wise to neglect it. The bluostone- > solution is the one usually adopted. Tlic quantity of bluestone used is one pound to eight bushels* of wheat — twoounces to the bushel ; but no evil results will follow from tho use of cvou a larger quantity. Each pound of bluestono has to be dissolved in two gallons of hot water, which of course must be allowed to cool before it is applied ; this maj be done either by pouring it on the grain in large tubs or troughs, or by spi inkling it upon it when spread out upon>a lloor. The wheat will be ready for sowing in two or three hours, but it is better to apply the solution a day or twobefore the seed is required for use. — Canterbury Times.