772 AgncuUurai; Gazeue of y.S.W. [Nov. 2, 1U2U. 



Xo. 2 Grade. — Minimum tost weight jKn- bushel, 5811). : maxinium moisture 

 content, 13-5 percent. ; maximum percentage of dauiaged kernels, 4 percent. 



No. 3 Grade. — Minimum test weight per bushel, ")6 lb. ; maximum moisture 

 content, 13"5 per cent. ; maximum pex'centage of damaged kernels, 7 per cent. 



Wheat of the five grades of each class must be sound, cool, and sweet, free 

 from live weevil or other insects injurious to stor^-d grain, and any commerciallj 

 objectionable odour. Wheat of grades Premium A, Premium !>, and No. I 

 must also be bright in appearance. As explained above, most of our shipping 

 wheat would come under the description of No. 1 Australian White Wheat. 



Setting the Grades. 



it is just as important to see that a representative sample of the grain to 

 be tested is taken as to test the grain to determine the grade to which it is 

 to be allotted. Samples of 1 or 2 oz. in weight are of no use for this 

 purpose, and under the proposed grading system it will be specitied that 

 samples shall be at least 4 lb. in weight, and shall be truly representative of 

 the bulk of the parcel to be tested. Should there be any i-eason to su.spect 

 that the moisture content is higher than that allowed, a sample of at le^ust 

 1^ lb. shall be enclosed in a clean, air-tight container, for the purpose of 

 having the moisture content ascertained by a moisture tester. 



Wheat which when freed from dockage contains more than 10 per cent, of 

 other grain will not be entitled to a grading as wheat. The dockage shall be 

 determined by means of sieves or other approved mechanical means, and if it 

 exceeds 1 per cent, of the whole, such percentage shall be deducted from the 

 weight of the grain. Dockage shall mean sand, diit, weed seeds, weed stt^nis, 

 chaff', straw, grain other than wheat, and any other material which can be 

 removed readily from the wheat by use of appropriate sieves or other approved 

 mechanical means, and shall be calculated in terms of percentage based on the 

 total weight of the grain, including dockage. If less than 1 per cent., the 

 dockage shall be ignored. A fraction of a percentum shall also be ignored. 



The test weight per bushel shall be determined by an appioved testing 

 apparatus, and the method of use is to be approved and described. 



What has the farmer learned in these fifty years . . . ? He has 

 learned that the soil is not a sullen, lifeless thing, only nseful as a standing 

 place for his crops, but that it is rather to be likened to a farm animal and 

 valued accordingly. . . . Practically all that we know regarding the 

 bacterial life of the soil is a harvest of the last fifty years. The formation of 

 humus in the soil, the solution of plant food from the soil minerals, the 

 conversion of nitrogenous materials into forms which the crop can utilise, 

 and the gathering of free nitiogen from the air — these are the great 

 functions of the soil bacteria. Much nsmains to be learned of their nature 

 and th(;ir ne(Hls .... but wliat we know already is coming into 

 common farm knowledge: and having its effect on rarm practice. — Dr. K. H. 

 Jbmkins, Connecticut, U.S.A. 



