2i52 EXPERIMEl^TAL FARMS 



4-5 EDWARD VI!., A. 1905 



ploug-hed a few weeks later about seven incLes deep. In the following spring it is 

 prepared as before and cereals are again sown. It is not, however, the practice to 

 BOW the same cereal twice in succession on the same piece of land. 



SELECTION OF SEED FOR UNIFORM TEST PLaTS. 



In order to obtain the seed for the uniform test plats in the b^t condition, and 

 as nearly as possible in a state of absolute purity, selected head^ are gathered by hand 

 from each plot just before the grain is cut. About eight pounds of heads are harvested 

 in this way. During the winter these selected samples are carefully threshed and 

 cleaned by hand; and the grain to be sown the next season is thus brought to a very 

 high standard of purity. This method has been used for several years with wheat 

 and barley; and is being continued with these grains. In oats, however, the selection 

 of heads is not usually carried out unless the grain in the plot shows signs of being 

 mixed. It is much more dif&cult to select the heads of oats ; and the plots are always 

 injured more or less while the work is being done, on account of the growth of the 

 oats being very thick. 



In all cases, when the seed for the plots is not obtained by hand selection in the 

 field, the crop from the plot is thoroughly screened and carefully hand-picked before 

 being sown the next season. 



WEATHER. 



Spring opened late, but the rather unusually cool weather during the month of 

 May gave ample opportunity for the root growth of cereals wherever the seed had ger- 

 minated welL On some soils, however, the crops made poor progress during this month. 

 June and July were favourable months, but August and September were wet and 

 rather cold On the whole the season was a good one, except for the ■unusual severity 

 of rust on cereals. Late-maturing varieties and all plots sown rather late suffered 

 most, wheat being in some cases badly shrivelled in consequence. 



SPRING WHEAT. 



The following varieties of spring wheat were added to the plots this season : — 



Riga. — See 'Description of Cross-bred Varieties of Wheat.' 



Doivny Riga. — See ' Description of Cross-Bred Varieties of Wheat.' 



Pearl. — This is a beardless wheat with large, round, red kernels. It was obtaiaed 

 from Sweden. It proved late in ripening and suffered severely from rust. 



Saumur. — Obtained from Franco under the name of Baiimur de Mars. The ker- 

 nels of the imported grain were rather large, red and soft. It gave a very poor yield 

 this season. 



Two other sorts, Pithiviers and Red Prolific, obtained from France, proved entirely 

 unsuited to our conditions. 



Several varieties have been dropped from the uniform plots this year. Only one 

 of these, however, is of importance : the variety known as White Connell. A careful 

 study showed that White Connell is an impure strain of White Fife. It was, there- 

 fore, rejected. 



All kinds of wheat were affected by rust this season, but the injury was most severe 

 in the case of those varieties which were late in ripening, whether the lateness was due 

 to a delay in sowing or to the habits of the varieties. The results this year serve to 

 emphasise most strongly the importance of early sowing for wheat. 



The sowing of the wheat plots W3,s begun on April 27, but owing to unfavourable 

 weather, was not completed until May 2. 



All the plots were one-fortieth of an acre, except in the case of Pearl, wh.ere the 

 amount of seed on hand was only sufficient for one-eightieth of an acre. 



The seed was used at the rate of li bushels to the acre. 



The yield per acre is expressed in ' bushels ' of 60 pounds. 



