116 Journal op the Department op Agriculture, 



visited a few days ago, the total supply did not exceed 10 cans cream 

 per week, each can of roughlj^ 10 lb. butter-fat, whereas in a good 

 season the output is 5000 lb. butter per week. On the other hand^ 

 the north-eastern districts of the Cape give every promise of a record 

 output, and this has been verified by recent reports from these areas. 

 "Another interesting feature is that the slump in the wool market has 

 been the means of inducing farmer's, who have hitherto been in the 

 habit of practically confining all their energies to the production of 

 wool, to now giving serious attention to the development of the dairy- 

 ing industry, no doubt with the object in view that it is not advisable 

 io have " all eggs in 02ie basket." 



With regard to the cheese industry, owing to the fact that the 

 cheese market in England has been decontrolled, our surplus cheese 

 from here must now compete with that from the other ])ominions 

 and the open market, consequently cheesemakers are somewhat 

 dubioU\S as to what price they will pay for milk. 



The butter market is still under control, and creameries which 

 have a firm offer from the Imperial Government for their surplus 

 supplies of butter are in a more favourable position to know exactly 

 Avhat they can afford to pay to their cream suppliers for the raw 

 material. 



THE SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE AND EXPERIMENT 



STATIONS. 



ELSENBURG. MULDERS VLEL 



Seed Wheat in the Western Province. 



Change of iShed. — It is a mistaken theory that a change of seed 

 from one locality to another is conducive to higher returns or that it 

 is necessary in order to prevent deg-eneration. So far no evidence is 

 available to show that wheat necessarily degenerates or "runs out" 

 when grown continuously on the same ground, and on the other hand, 

 numerous cases are known where the same variety has been grown for 

 twenty and more years with excellent results. 



Pure Seed. — A coramcn practice to-day is that of mixing two or 

 more varieties of wheat when planting, irrespective of whether the 

 varieties have similar maturity, quality, and colour of grain. Several 

 reasons are advanced in support of this practice. The most usual 

 explanation is that this system provides the best insurance against 

 loss from infection with rust. Another explanation is that it facili- 

 tates harvesting operations in varieties such as Gluyas Early, which 

 are liable to lodge if these be sown together with a wheat that has a 

 strong erect straw. 



Provided the varieties are properly chosen, no advantage is to be 

 gained by mixing the seed. Pure seed of the right variety will yield 

 as well as mixed seed, and the resulting crop will moreover command 



