FACTS FOR FARMERS ON PEDIGREE WHEAT AND BARLEY.

Waikato Times, 20 January 1874, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS ON PEDIGREE WHEAT AND BARLEY.

Professor J. Buckman, F.GLS., F.L.S , &c, contributes to a recent issue of the Field an articlo on the subject of pedigree grain, which will be interesting to fanners in New Zealand, inasmuch as the means of improving crops of wheat and barley mentioned iv the article aro as applicable to such crops when grown in this colony, an when grown in Great lirltain. At all events the article is worthy of being read by our farmer?. Professor Buckmnn says : — " The pedigrees of animals harp been banded down to us for very many }ear&, and the history of Shoi thorn stockto say nothing of other broods — sufficiently points to the facti that somo induced variations are handed down from remote periods, and ouch ocatnro, so to speak, has the marki upon it of its own true pedigree. Pedigree stock ha 3 the highest capabilities ; vurying, it is true, in this respect, but still the mnrks of descent are as patent to the initiated as are those of tho peculiar sort or breed, and these marks are so constant as to bo perpetuated from age to ngo. " Now, though unimuls are confessedly large creatures, and our crop planta small, yet tho interests involved in the latter are even greater than tWse of the former, uud hence it U equally important that these two should be educated, so to speak, to their highest capabilities ; we therefore address a few lines to our readcitton pedigree plants, especially m grain producing species. Nurserymen have long known the facts connected with the production of the most approved strains of fruits and flowcia, and hare even acted upon tho plan of preserving paitioulur weds iv order to produco some of their best ayd most improved strains ; but until lately the farmer has been slow to reeognwe tho fact that equality of seed, bus a groat deal to do with his results, much less that a t-ecd could bo arrivod at of greater size, weight, and alue, and tending to a larger crop with but thin sowing, as the result of what a stock-breeder would call judgment in Helcelium. That this la to has been fully determined by Tar ions experiment! on planti iv this direction, but it if to Captain Hallett that we owe a heavy debt of gratitude for having shown tho matter in its clearest light, not only in a theoretical, but in % practical point of view — so that Halletts Pedigree Grain lias become established in tho seed markets both, at home and abroad. " Now, as we had grown somo of Captain Halletts seed with t lie best results, we determined the first time vre journeyed to Brighton to give him a call 5 and, curiously enough, before knowing hit farm, on taking % walk to the Downs in July of this year, we saw on either side of our path some fields of barley which we recognised as the Pedigree Chevalier. T lie crop was very heavy and the ears seemed to averago over thirty seeds to each. Tho plants bad stooled out so eiuir.tiou3ly as to make it a very thick crop indeed, though on tracing it to the ground, it was seen to have been sown very thinly. Well, on making enquiry, we found that this crop belonged to Captain Hallett, nnd, as his house was not far off, it was not lon» beforo we were enjoying a much-de-sired ramble over tl c farm with the worthy proprietor himself. We should say that the farm is peculiarly a chtlk dovm one ; its toil of medium quality and "apabilities ; it it open down without fences, and very much exposed ; and yet here were the largest crops of the flne«t grain of bol h barley and wheat that we have seen this year. Indeed we then saw the iollowmg postulates verified, which we now quote from a paper read by F. F. Flatlet!, P.LS, of Brighton, before the British Association for the advancement of Science at Exeter, August 19, 1809, in Section D, Zoology and Botany, on the Law of tho Development of Cereals : "1. Every fully developed plant, whether of wheat, oats, or burley presents an car superior in productive powor to any of the rent on that plant. 2. Every such plant contains one grain, which, upon trial, proves more productive than any other. 3. The best grain in a given plant is found in its best ear. 4. Tho superior vigour of this grain is transmittible in different degrees *o its progeny. 5. By repeated careful selection the superiority is accumulated. 6. The improvement, which is at firit rapid, gradually, after a long ■dries of yeart, is diminished in amount, and eventually so fur arrested that, practically speaking, a limit to improvement jn the desired quality is reached. 7. By still continuing to select, the improvement is maintained, and practically a fixed type it the remit. " And wo further add an illustration of the value of selection : 'I A plant of tbia barley, grown in 1869 from a single grain, consisted of fifty ears. The record against ono of those, No VIII, is, •• An extraordinary ear ; all of its grains *re short, plump, thin-skinned, and beautiful ; while there is a general tendency in all the other cars to produce elongated grains of not so good a colour and with thicker skins." Of theso fifty uars the grainn irom each of the best ten were planted in a Separate division, while the collected gi n'us f1 om all the remaninig forty ears occupied an cleven t h division. The grains of each division were again divided into two claßsuo, making in all twenty -two divisions, and a specimen ear and sample of the produce of each of these w«-ie arranged side by side, so that all could bo seen at a glance. An eminent maltster oould scarcely bcli ;ve that all the grains camo from one grain in the pretious jear, and at once selected as the best that from Class I, giains of Ko VIII em. the one which -had 1 sh6wh such marked aupenouty the ytar before. That tho maltster was right the following r<;nult» show. , Alt the plants were taken up with *heir toots at the saim- time, labelled, and locked, 111 metal cased.

ppmoniacftl possession is not in tboae days, or, at least, In Ibis country, ft very usual compkiut; >ct a Germau pastor *a tho Purtcrthftl Jins not only met with & case but d ieooverofl the right tieatmrnt for it. A girl in that plaoc, desmbeJ as being ordinarily of a moat amiable character, fell Baddenly under Satnnic influence, to tbo diemay of the neighborhood, and more enntciaUy of the cnriti\ 'ft young gentleman recently imported fiom Emm, full rather of z«al than knowledge.' To lis entrcatus that ihe demon should bo exorcised, hi« ■upnrior at first ploadnd disbcliot in tbo genuine nature of the ta3e ; but a^ mnUrr* grew «hm, tlie pastor consented to delirn- girl a.i I nansli from nucii nn unwelcome guest S arting, slick in l.iuid ai.d amu'o in pocke k , lie found his patient calm and quiet, and, after some friend I talk, he expressed his hope of effecting a speedy cure by means of a most holy relic. On hia eolcrany producing the amulet the dovil broko loose in her in tho most violent fashion , whoi upt n. his reverence in good round terms explained to her that her chilJish £<lly w«a exposed ; for, had ehe been but an agent of Satan, she would hare known that the reho was nothing but a counter from the pastor's cardbox carefully wrapped in a piece of cloth. He completed tho cure with a sound caning; which was rory ungallant but probably effectual — Pall Mall Oazttte. A writer m a scientific paper aa>§ : — ' By the way,spoaking of waterproofs, I think I can give travellers a hint or two. Good tweed can be made entirely impervious to rain, and, moreover, I have learned to make it so j and, for the benefit of your readers, I will give the receipe : In a bucket of soft water, put half a pound of sugar of lead, and half a jwund of powdered alum ; Btir this at intervals, until it becomes clear, then pour it otf into another bucket and put the garment therein, and let it be in for twenty-four hours, and then h*ng it up to dry without wringing it. Two of mv party— a lady and gentleman— hare worn garments thus treated "in tho wildest storms of wind and ram, without netting wet. The ram htnga upon tho cloth in globules. In short, they were really waterproof. The gentleman, a fortnight tgo* walked nmo miles in a storm of ram and wind such as you rarnly see in tho south, and when he slipped ofl his overcoat, Ins undernare was as dry as when be put it on. This v, I think, » secret worth knowing ; for cloth, if it can be made to keep the wet out, is, in every way, better than what we know as waterproofs. To dream of a small stove around your neak 13 a sign of what you may expect if you get an extravagant wife.— To see apples ma dream hotokens a wedding, because where you find 'apples you may expect to find pears.— To dr«am that you are lame betokens that yju will get into a hobble — When a joun? la,dy «l reams of a coffin it betokens that she should instantly discontinue the use of tight stays, and always go warmly and thickly shod m wet weather.- To dieam of fire is a sign that— if you aie wise— you will see that the lights in your house are out before you go to bed. The St Peteisburg paper? publish news which shows a veiy troublesome state of matters in Khiva. Turkoroau insurgents had seized tbe capital o£ Khokan, and taken away the Khan's treasure, carrying it off to the mountains. The "xhan had beheaded forty of r.he insurgent <lelegat;?s who came with offers of peace. This had caused a ficsh outbreak. i A Sao Francisco milliner has invented a hat which will ; probably sell well, in casis where blushing is not so upon , taneou/as it might be, or used to be. When the weatcr bows or lowers the head abruptly, a tiny pair of steel clarr.p* compress the arteries on each side of tho temples, sending the blood it once to the cheeks.

Tho ship was email, their fellow-passengert were uninteresting, t'.io iroyago was long ; aud when, having crossed the Uthmtu, they had once more embarked on tbe other •ide, and were 6teaming la New Yorl, Liwrtnca r«-iui\ a d himMlf that evca if to ehould find tho clhj to € 1n»1 n» Inddon treasure, ha would not undergo tin toil of (h<* jotting Rg»in> while the email «utn, ho could cocmneud chouM chew any inclination to morcffse and multiply. He would be satitGed with if, and leavo the cold m i*a erivio. On thoir arrival at KVv YnrL, thiy wont to the post -office, ! with a vßffuo liopp of Ending IctU-re. ' It would ho like Plarcnoe, they thought, to hove wiittcn acain on thr c'inivw And she had done so Iheio wn6 no! hiurh new a\n her coinuiumcatjon, which was full of Lopo and joy m the prospect of her husband's return, and contained man/ afibctionuto assurances of welcome to Ln»renoe Daly. She pave a droll description of Mr 9t Quontin's humiliation uuder the lerelJmg rule of t'lo gout, of his unwilling oivihty to her, and the haste with which he U&d departed, accompanied, sorely against <he grain, bv Miriam, as soon as he could extract nn adminsion from Mr Martin that it would be safe for him to travel. 'Iho St Quontins were in Paris, and Miuaui only less nupnticnl than Florence fur Walter's return At length the term of the long oompanionohip of the friends had arrived. The la?t words hnd been npoken, the last hand-clasp exchanged, and Lawrence Daly, feeling ren forlorn, was standing on the levee, watching Urn lessening form of tiie Cunard steamer as she ploughed the blue water, long after lie had ceaaed to distinguish Walter's figure on the dock. The levee had been much crowded, but it wns getting clear. The people who had had bii3iiiei>a to do there had done it, aad gone away ; and the people who had no business, nnd therefore stayed longer, grown tired of loafing and looking at ehtpg, and listening to f-tcam-hiseea, were eoniE;. Through the lessoning throng, am mi came towards Daly, unobserved b\ him, an his );aze still followed the whip, and stood by his side, silent, for a few moments. Then the man touched Inm lightly on the »nn, and ipoke to him, nnd Lawrence Daly, turning hi* head sharply lound, saw Deering.

'arsut qmwn in 1862 Produce 1863 Number of i.'lass of busuiiption I Weight per Ear. Grain?. ' of Sample. I Bushel, lb. tfoTVUI ... Class T^fTusfcas growu 56.32 Ultho 1 Class U . T)itto 54 20) other ears) Class ill .. | Pitto .. .. 52.50)