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RESEARCH WORK AT CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, LINCOLN. Chops and Pastures. Distribution of Certified Seed Wheat. —The College has continued its activities as a centre of distribution to farmers of certified seed wheat. An arrangement has been made with the Pure Seed Station whereby the latter institution produces nucleus lines of pure disease-free seed of any variety for which there is a reasonable demand. These lines are then passed on to the College, which grows bulk seed for distribution to farmers, who in turn will produce certified seed. Herbage Plants. 023 Cocksfoot. —The commercial distribution of the College-bred strain of cocksfoot (C 23) has been undertaken by the Farm Advisory Department, and more than 2,000 lb. of seed has been sown this autumn under the Government certification scheme for pedigree cocksfoot. A further improved strain of this cocksfoot is undergoing propagation and test in plot trials. This strain is built up from eighteen plants from two good families produced by six crosses of C 23 offspring. Phalaris Tuberosa. —In 1936 and also during the past autumn plots of this grass were established both on the College farm and on the light-land farm at Ashley Dene. The establishment of these two areas of Phalaris tuberosa on the two different soil types is designed to enable an investigation to be made into the possibilities of this grass for pastures under Canterbury conditions. Subterranean-clover Investigations. The College is taking an active part in a scheme to encourage farmers to grow subterranean clover on suitable light land in Canterbury. For this purpose a field day was held, and a pamphlet describing the most successful methods of establishing and managing subterranean clover has been prepared and distributed to over two thousand farmers. Commercial firms interested in all aspects of Canterbury farming have given financial support to a scheme for establishing a series of trials with subterranean clover on the foothill country of Canterbury. These trials are necessary before we can recommend the widespread utilization of subterranean clover under the climatic and soil conditions of the foothill country. Strains of Subterranean Clover.—Twelve strains of subterranean clover obtained from Australia two years ago have been under observation for two seasons now. The best of these are Romsey (late), Tallarook (late), Bass (late), Mount Barker (mid-season). Other strains, particularly the early types, have been almost a complete failure on light land at Ashley Dene. The Grasslands Division of the Plant Research Bureau has co-operated in establishing a comprehensive strain trial on the College's Ashley Dene property. Establishing Subterranean Clover.—A series of J-acre plots in duplicate has been laid down at Ashley Dene for the purpose of investigating the establishment of subterranean clover when sown with other species. Manurial Experiments. Experiments on the effect of lime on the growth and botanical and chemical composition of pasture which were carried out on an area fairly representative of Canterbury pasture-land have shown the necessity for heavy applications of lime in order to maintain high-producing pastures. The dominance of weeds such as sorrel and the low yield of rye-grass in the absence of clover on the unlimed plot was in striking contrast to the association of dense clover and high-yielding rye-grass on the limed plot. The hay-yield on the limed area was 36 cwt. per acre, as compared with 19 cwt. on the unlimed area. The differences in chemical composition of the pastures on the two plots were in keeping with the botanical analyses, the calcium content of the samples from the unlimed plot being very low. The effect of lime on lucerne is also being investigated. Quantities of lime ranging from J ton to 2 tons per acre have been used. No results are yet available, but marked differences in growth are to be seen. Sprouted Wheat por Seed. The value of sprouted wheat for seed purposes has caused some inquiry during this sowingseason. The germination of severely sprouted samples is shown in the following table :- —

The laboratory germination capacity, which showed a decrease as the seed was dried out, gave no indication of the very low field establishment. However, by machine dressing, these very severely sprouted grains may be removed from a line of wheat. The following table shows the germination

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Laboratory Germination Laboratory Germination p . ,, « • .. Grou P- after Six Days' Drying, after Thirty Days' Drying. Field Gemmation. Green shoots over \ in. long .. 90-0 57-0 4-0 Green shoots J in. to in. long.. 90-0 59-0 7-0 Shoots under J in. long .. 95-0 80-5 11 • 0 Shoot just visible .. .. 97-0 94-0 24-0