8 March, 1907.] Harvest Returns of \Vhcat Varieties. 163 



IIEPORT OX THE HARVEST RETrUXS OF WHEAT 



VARIETIES. 



XORTHERX GRAIN EXPERrMEXTAL ElEEDS. SEASON 



I 906-7 . 



/■'. E. Lcc, Agricultural Supcriiitciid.iit. 



In onler to recall the attention of the reiujer to the imi)ortan;'e of the 

 harvest returns of the wheat \arieties undt-r review, some little explana- 

 tion is necessary regardinj^- the ronstitutinn of the experimental wheat 

 fields and the ohjectives of the work in hand. 



The season to which these returns refer is the second on the northern 

 wheat experimental fields, the full term of which is seven vears. In the 

 first vear the whole area (10 acres) was sown down in wheat, oats, and 

 fodder crops, the complete report of which appears in the Journal fc 

 March. 1906. That portion previously under fodder crops was sown 

 with wheat \arieties last season, the remainder of the field being fallowed. 



The Objectives of the Experiment. 



The main object, broadlv speaking, of the whole experimental work is 

 the search after wavs and means bv which the average yield of wheat for 

 the State mav be improved. There are three distinct and separate 

 channels through which this is being attempted. \iz., improved methods 

 of cultivation, the intelligent use of artificial fertilizers, and the intro- 

 duction of new and impro\ed varieties. The results of the two or even 

 three seasons are hardlv sufficient to establish more than general prin- 

 ciples, and I must therefore ask the wdieat farmer to display patience in 

 following the development of the trials projected. The work of the 

 first season largelv confirmed previous experiments with artificial fer- 

 tilizers, inasmuch as it showed the superiority of the suj)erphosphate over 

 other forms of phosphatic manures, and further emphasized the inutilitv 

 (up to the present time) of the addition of nitrogenous and potassic 

 manures to the wheat .soils in the north. The trials of improved methods 

 of (niltivation were naturallv indicative of nothing in particular in their 

 first vear, but with the approaching season, three separate metliods of 

 fallowing (ordinarv bare fallow, rape fallow, and sub-soil tallow) wdl 

 be tested side by side. That the result will be watched with the keeneist 

 interest bv northern wheat farmers may be anticipated, and perhaps more 

 particularlv so because it is proposed also to test the capabilities of the' 

 " Soil Packer," a new implement, which is said to have given a great 

 impetus to wheat farming in the dry areas in America. Mv experience 

 leads me to believe that the most satisfactory, permanent, and economical 

 .solution of the problem of improving the State yield of wheat lies in the 

 direction of better cultivation, therebv promoting better storage and con- 

 servation of soil moisture. This will not necessarily mean a new equip- 

 ment of implements, but the altered conditions, in my opinion, will 

 graduallv tend to more concentration of effort ; in other word.s. the present 

 large areas put under crop will graduall\ lie reduced, and the same 



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