0<?^. 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of JS.SJF. 859 



also defective, in that it is still obviously an indirect encoiuayenient to the 

 machinery manufacture rather than a direct one to the farmer. In addition, 

 this plan (if the farmer is iiiHuenced by the desire to win the prize, as it is 

 intended that he should be) may unintentionally encourage a practice that is 

 not commercially good. Tlic pi-iine object of harvesting is to secure all the 

 grain produced, and to do this it is sometitues necessary to so adjust the 

 harvesting machinery that it does not clean it as thoroughly as it is capable 

 of doing, therefore under some conditions the production of an inferior show- 

 sample, i.e., marketable grain with chaff amongst it, may be an indication of 

 good, i.e., profitable farming. 



8ome may think that the farmer should reclean his wheat thoroughly before 

 selling it, but fi'oma commercial standpoint it is questionable whethei', under 

 present conditions, it will pay a farmer to recleati his wiieat after it has left 

 the harvestiiig machine. It is probable that it will suit him better to accept 

 a correspondingly lower price for his product than to instal machinery to 

 reclean it. In any case it will only be very large' farmer-s who will ever find 

 it profitable to instal machinery sufficiently large to clean it in an economical 

 manner, or as cheaply as it can be done by the millers. 



From a farmer's standpoint the practice of offering a prize for the best bag 

 of wheat, irrespective of any other condition, is objectionable in another way, 

 for, as the most show}" and attractive varieties ai'e, sometimes, very poor 

 yielders, it may prove an encouragement to the growth of unprofitable 

 varieties. 



Judging Standing Crops. 



The i-eal test of good farming is the production of good crops of varieties 

 which have satisfactory characteristics. Good farming can, therefore, be 

 encouraged by offering premiums for the best and cleanest crops, which shall be 

 judged as they are standing, and the relative value of which shall be deter- 

 mined chiefly by their ability to yield well. I am sure that many societies 

 have realised the necessity of encouraging the practice of better methods in 

 this way ; but few, ver}^ few, have attempted to do so, because of the diffi- 

 culties surrounding the judging of such a class. The difficulties in this con- 

 nection are great, but are not insurmountable, as is shown by the few cases in 

 which classes of this character have been successfully judged. 



From the nature of such a competition most of the competing crops will 

 be- widely separated, and can therefore be judged only by a pre-determined 

 scale of points, which takes into consideration the factors that are indicative 

 of good farming, and also such charactei-istics of the plant as make it a 

 satisfactory and desirable variety in the field. 



The tim-e for judging growing crops will shortly be here : with the object 

 of assisting those societies who have already initiated this claas of competi- 

 tion, and also those who feel disposed to initiate it, the following scale of 

 jjoints for judging standing crops, drawn up by the late AV. Farrcr. in 1904, 

 is submitted. 



