Agriculture.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1553, 17 June 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

Agriculture.

RESISTANCE OF GRAPE-VINES TO PHYLLOXEEA IN SANDY SOIL. The immunity from the ntUoks o£ Phylloxera enjoyed bj grape-vines when planted on aaody boU has long been known, and has been attributed- to vanoni causes. M. SaintAndi6, of Montpelher, Fiance, discusses this subject in the Utttagtr Agricole for 10th May, 1881, and believes that neither the mobility nor the angoloiity of the particles il •and, nor the abuno* of cavities, nor the dhemioal composition of sandy soil are suffioient reaiom. Nor ii the preienoe of a ■nfltma&ean onnrtnt ol watt* in sandy soil an admissible reason, einoe it has been proved that the quantity of water oontained in sooh soils at different depths and at different seasons is always smaller than that oontained at the same period in other soils where the presence of Phylloxera renders the oolttue of the grape-vine impossible. He believes, however, that the oiroalation oi water in the soil is a matter of the first importanoe in regard to the presenoe of Phylloxera, and that there exist! a olose relation between the resisting power of the vines and theoapillary oapaoityol thesoil. By this latter terra he means the quantity of water whioh o»n be mechanically retained by a soil completely saturated with it. Where thin capillary dapaoity of the soil is very small, the grapevine enjoys absolute immunity from Phylloxera attaoks; the more it inoreaies the more the plants suffer. Sandy soil was .found to possess the smallest oapillary eapaoity, varying from 23 to 35 80 per cent., and in sooh soil the grape-vines are not only never attaokad by Phylloxera, bat the insect even disappears from infested plants when these are transplanted to saoh soils. When the oapillary oapaoity is above 40 per cent., the vineyards in France are rapidly disappearing under the attaoks of the insect. Between the two limits above given, the plants suffer more or less. Exaot figures cannot be given, as much depends on the resisting power of the different varieties of grape-vines and on the mode of cultivation. American resisting vines can be successfully cultivated in soils the oapillary capacity of which attains, and even surpasses 45 per conk Whether- the diminished capillary capacity has a direct influence on the vitality of the Phylloxera, or whether through it the roots of the plant are enabled to resist the attack of the insects, is at present undecided, While there ia some plausibility in the theory advanced by M. Saint-Andre", we believe there are sufficient reasons .to account for the diminished virulenoy of Phylloxera in sandy soil in its mechanical action upon the insect. Our own experiments with both Phylloxera and many other insects in Band, prove conclusively that it is more difficult for such small, soft-bodied insects to make headway or to exist in sandy soil, not only because of the mechanical action of the particles adhering to all parts of the bodj, but because of the mobility of these particles and the absence of cracks, interstices and galleries which are formed in loamy or clayey soil, either by the penetration of roots, the effects of contraction during drought, or the action of the insects themselves. — G. Y. MUey, in Farmers' Review.

Selecting Sbed Wheat. — We are gratified, says the -Rural New Yorker, to see that other journals are beginning toplaoebefcre their readers the importance of selecting wheats which bear three instead ot two grains to a epikelec. We have long been of the opinion that there is room here for a great increase in the yields of wheats, and it, seems a matter to which little if any consideration had previously been given. We find the following in the N.Y. Times, the agricultural editor of which carefully examined our many varieties during tne past teason: "There k is whoac and wheat. Two fields alike m every respect may vary greatly in yield by reason of the kind of wheat grown. One may be very short in the head and the other twice as long; in one the spikelets may be very looeoJy placed on the rachis or stein, and the otner may have them more crowded. In some kinds of wheat the spikelet has throe grains, frequently the central floret is tmpty, and instead of three gruins there are but two in each epikelec. This make a difference of onethird in the yield of tho crop ia favour of the completely filled espikelet. But let us go further. We find in one head, which U abort or loosely put together, bub six or seven spikeletd on each Bide, and in another as many ai twelve or even more. Ttia makes another great difference in favour of the better variety of wheat. We then count up tho grains, aad in the one head we find 24 or 28 grains and in the other 72, or even as many as 90 in extra-large and weilfilled spikes. It one, then, yields 15 bushels of graiu per acre, the other would yield 45. And this cause of difference is extremely common, and any farmer can know how it Is himself by merely examining the wheat in different fields, or the different heads in the same field. We take time and space only to observe here the importance of making this characteristic) of the wheat plant the principal basis in selecting seed rather than the size of the grain, although this is also an element not to be ignored Let the seed be selected in the field from the- longest, most compact, and best- filled heads, and let this method be pursued each year. It will lead to a great improvement in varieties of wheat."