H.—29.

APPENDICES.

I. REPORT OF THE PLANT RESEARCH STATION, PALMERSTON NORTH. The activities of the Station have been well maintained during the year (1931-32), and a large amount of valuable work has been performed, as is indicated in the appended reports of the individual Sections. The work has been carried out partly in co-operation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. A jj Cockayne, Director.

AGRONOMY SECTION. J. W. Hadfield, Agronomist. I. CROP CERTIFICATION. The certification of seeds has been extended during the 1931-32 season to include (1) cocksfoot, (2) Montgomery red clover, and (3) Kentish wild white clover, while the basis for certification of New Zealand white clover has been altered from one of "age" to one of "type." Other crops subject to certification are (1) perennial rye-grass, (2) potatoes, (3) brown-top, (4) wheat, (5) beans.

Rye-grass. There has been a considerable increase in the quantity of rye-grass handled during this season. The following table allows comparisons to be made of the acreages entered in the last three seasons : —

The testing of rye-grass seed by screened ultra-violet ray, for determination of type, has been introduced by the Seed Analyst, and should to a large extent replace the method of plot-testing hitherto adopted. With the ultra-violet-ray test reports are available in a very short space of time, and a highly satisfactory standardized technique has been developed. A standard of purity with regard to weed seeds has been adopted during the past season for lines of mother seed rye-grass. Only a few lines have failed to reach the required standard, and these have been regraded to the permanent-pasture class. Potatoes. A further increase in the quantity of potatoes finally inspected and tagged was experienced in the 1930-31 season. The figures, together with those for the two previous seasons, are given below : —

1929-30. 1930-31. 1931-32. Crops inspected .. .. .. .. . . 363 347 302 Crops rejected on account of rogues .. ..84 23 11 Crops rejected on account of virus.. .. ..88 26 30 Crops passed field inspection . . ... .. 191 298 261 =52 per cent. =85 per cent. =76 per cent. Brown-top. Twenty-five thousand acres of brown-top was certified as free from red-top, and a large area was stripped, producing nearly 200,000 lb. of seed. The excellence of New Zealand certified brown-top is now well recognized overseas, and practically all this seed was exported. It is satisfactory to record that there is still a demand for certified brown-top, despite the introduction by the United States of America (our main purchasers) of a very high tariff on brown-top. On the other hand, there has been a decline in the quantity of uncertified seed exported during 1931.

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Percentage Increase Class of Seed. 1929-30. 1930-31. 1931-32. of 1931-32 over 1930-31. Acres. Acres. Acres. Per Cent. Mother .. .. .. .. .. 1,074 2,300 110 Permanent pasture (eligible as mother).. 2,383 3,092 3,700 12 Permanent pasture only .. .. .. 279 1,000 260 First harvest .. .. .. 64 1,197 1,800 64 Total passed .. .. 2,447 5,642 8,800 ! 55

Variety. | 1930-33. j 1929-30. 1928-29. Tons. Tons. Tons. Aucklander Short-top .. .. 390 176 85 Dakota .. .. .. .. 113 174 96 Aucklander Tall-top .. .. 73 50 14 King Edward ...... 46 30 2 Epicure .. .. .. .. 37 13 Other varieties .. .. .. 99 68 51 Total .. . .. 758 511 248