596 



J'Hinial of Agriculture. 



[lo Oct., 1908. 



while the valuable assistance of Mr. Pye will be sufficient to- insure the 

 success of the same work at Dookie. It is not intended that the new 

 wheats thus created shall be handed on to the farmer until they have 

 undergone a searching test over a large area, under ordinary field con- 

 ditions at one of the Government farms. The best, and only the best, 

 will be put on the market, and farmers securing a small portion of these 

 new wheats, later on, will be safe in the knowledge that the'y have beeoi 

 well tried before being recommended. New wheats are not created in 

 one season, and it may be a year or two before the new creations are sent 

 out. I can only counsel patience to those who are desirous of securing 

 a small amount for trial purposes. 



Systematic Testing of the Milling Properties of Victorian Wheat. 



Associated with the scheme for the improvement of the yielding pro- 

 perties of wheats, provision has been made for the systematic testing of 

 the milling qualities of all varieties grown in the State. Arrangements 

 have beeui entered into for the erection of a miniature flour milling plant, 

 capable of turning out a commercial grade of flour. During the coming 

 season bushel samples of every variety grown in the State, and from a 

 wide range of soils, will be collected and subjected to the milling test 

 with a view of ascertaining which are the most serviceable varieties for 

 flour manufacture, and also to note the effect that the soil and manure 

 have upon the milling value of the grain. As far as is known no such far- 

 reaching scheme as outlined has ever been carried into effect in any country 

 in the world. 



The New South Wales Agricultural Department has done magnificent 

 service through the agency of the late Mr. Wm. Farrer, and Mr. F. B. 

 Guthrie, in making known the yielding and flour making properties of 

 wheat ; but the experiments have not, so far, embraced such wide objec- 

 tives as the schema it is intended to conduct in Victoria. It may be 

 further added that the flour obtained from the milling test will be sub- 

 mitted to manufacturing bakers to be turned into bread, so that nothing 

 will be left undone to make the investigations of the highest value to the 

 farmer, the miller, and the baker. 



The subject is, to me, of such absorbing intere.st, and the possibilities 

 of bringing about an increase in the monetary return from wheat growing 

 of such powerful importance to the State, that the delegates representing 

 wheat growing centres have the right to know the steps which are being 

 undertaken by the Department of Agriculture to insure a permanent im- 

 provement in the State yield of wheat. So far as enthusiasm and skill 

 can go, the Wheat Improvement Committee will leave no stone unturned 

 to probe the whole nuestion to the bottom, with the hope of establishing 

 sound facts for the future guidance of the Australian wheat farmer. 



