10 Feb., 1916.] Seed Wheat. 75 



foliage. Tlie lieads are well developed, square and compact, with 

 broad, smooth, cream-coloured spikelets, somewhat crowded towards 

 the tip, giving the top a club-like appearance. The chaff is smooth, 

 but possesses slight awns towards the summit of the head. The grain 

 is soft, white, and mealy, and not of high strength. The grain is 

 easily milled, and it belongs to the weak flour group of wheats, though 

 the colour of the flour is excellent. In Departmental variety tests the 

 yields of Dart's Imperial have usually stood out prominently, and con- 

 firm the opinion that this variety is a good prolific standard type for 

 most of the wheat areas. 



FEDERATION. — This is, without question, the most popular and 

 prolific variety of wheat in general cultivation at the present day. It 

 was produced by the late Mr. Farrer, Wheat Experimentalist, of N'ew 

 South Wales, from a cross between Purple Straw and Yandilla. 

 Yandilla is a cross between Improved Fife and Etowah, an Indian 

 variety. The production of this wheat Avas probably the greatest of 

 Mr. Farrer's many triumphs in wheat breeding, for none of his many 

 successful crossbred wheats have enjoyed such a wide measure of 

 populai'ity as Federation. Indeed, during the last six years the golden 

 yellow characteristic ox old-time Australian harvest fields has been 

 gradually changed to a dull bronze through the ever-increasing popu- 

 larity of Federation wheat. This popularity has been won by sheer 

 merit, for Federation, when seen in the field for the first time, is 

 ■decidedly unattractive in appearance, especially when grown side by 

 side with the shoAvy wheats of the Purple Straw type. Most farmers 

 in growing it for tbe first time have expressed great surprise at the 

 yielding capacity when the wheat was taken off, for the yield invariably 

 exceeded the expectations based on pre-harvest estimates. As a matter 

 ■of fact, Farrer's main aim in producing Federation was to produce a 

 variety suited to the Australian methods of harvesting with the stripper. 

 Federation is a short, erect-growing variety of moderate stooling 

 capacity, with broad, semi-erect, light-green foliage. It has short, 

 upright, stiff' straw, unaffected by some of the most violent storms. It 

 may be regarded as a variety in which there is a maximum of grain to 

 the minimum of straw. Its chief feature is its extraordinary prolificacy. 

 It was not intended for nor recommended as a hay wheat. It is essen- 

 tially a grain yielder. It possesses a bold, square, beardless, compact 

 bead, with a peculiar and characteristic bronze cast, broad, well- 

 developed, SMiootli spikelets. As might be expected, there are numerous 

 strains of Federation on the market. In many, the original squareness 

 and blocky nature of the head, characteristic of the varietv when it 

 emerged fresh from the breeder's hands, have to a large extent disa])- 

 pearcd. Federation is susceptible to fungu^^ diseases — esiieciallynist 

 and flag smut, and, to a lesser extent, " take all " {Ophwholus fjraminh). 

 Were it more disease resistant and earlier in nialuring, it would be 

 ideally suited for the more arid areas. The grain is very liable to 

 •suffer from bleaching, especially in a showery harvest, owing to the 

 fact that, unlike many of the older wlieat varieties, tlie car stands 

 upright when ripe, and allows rain to readily i)enetrate the ear. Its 

 grain is soft, Avhite, and plump, and yields a good percentage of fl«uir 

 of creamv-vellow colour. Thougli the strength of tlie flour is con- 

 siderably* lower than Comeback aiul Bobs, it is higluM- than the Purple 

 I~>traw wlieats. 



