762 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [15 Dec, 1919. 



0) 



<A 



0) 



w 



of 

 o 



en 

 o 



• IH 



o 

 o 



.■) feet liii^li against Bliie 

 Bkssom (which made a fair 

 arowrli of fine quality 

 straw) 2 ft. 6 in. ; and the 

 ;)est of tlie Droiiiii seed, 2 

 feet; down to about 9 inches 

 *'()]• i\ variety from India. 



Judging by these plots it 

 would seem \hat tliere is a 

 'ircnt variation in the ger- 

 mination or vitality of seed 

 from the best fibre selections 

 . in r'omparisnn with the other 

 varieties grown. At sowing 

 time it was noticed tl at the 

 seed of the best fibre varie- 

 ties was £mally thin, end ap- 

 parently somewhat imma- 

 ture. All the varieties 

 liein^ sown witli the drill 

 set at tbe same speed, it 

 follows that a greater num- 

 ber of the small seeds of 

 the fibre varieties were dis- 

 rributed over a given area, 

 but notwithstanding this, 

 these plots were much thin- 

 ner than the others. It 

 would, tlu^refore, seem that 

 this accounts for the varia- 

 tion in th& rate of seeding 

 recommended by- different 

 authorities, and that the 

 thin, small seeded varieties 

 have a low vitality and re- 

 quire to be sown thicker 

 than those with large plump 

 seeds. Even after the seed? 

 have germinated, the young 

 plants of the best fibre 

 varieties seem comparatively 

 weak, and in the small plofc^ 

 sown with seed from speci- 

 ally selected individual 

 plants it was noticed that 

 they suffered from the at- 

 tack of insect pests to a 

 much greater extent than 

 similar selections from the 

 large seeded variety North- 

 ern Linseed. 



