Seed Wheat. 



3 



It will be observed that some 

 of the farmer's samples grade 

 up better than the perfect sample 

 tabulated on page 10. This is ex- 

 plained by the fact that the per- 

 fect sample was the entire pro- 

 duct of the plants, large grains 

 and small, the harvesting having 

 been conducted with special re- 

 ference to securing every single 

 gram. On the other hand, the 

 small grains had been already re- 

 moved from some of the samples 

 collected from farmers as they 

 were being sown. It will be 

 seen, therefore, that it is impos- 

 sible to compare such samples 

 with those graded from the three 

 years' experiment cited from 

 Vol. VIII, with any other object 

 than that of securing a rough 

 result. 



About fifty of the samples 

 tabulated on pages 6 to 9, show- 

 evidence of having been more or 

 less graded preparatory to use as 

 seed-wheat. The others are as 

 they came from the stripper and 

 cleaner, or thresher and cleaner. 

 In other words about three- 

 fourths of our farmers use wheat 

 for seed without removing the 

 small grains and the inferior and 

 useless portions. 



Much as this is to be regretted, 

 something of the kind must have 

 been predicted by anyone who 

 has observed the customs of our 

 wheat-growers, especially if he 

 had also discovered how com- 

 monly the fallacy about the good 

 properties of small and shrivelled 



f rains is upheld in this country, 

 t is however useful to have these 

 tabulated figures, derived from 

 adequate and careful examina- 

 tion, as a weapon to combat this 

 error. It is probably too much 

 to expect of ordinary human 

 nature that the advocates of this 

 fallacy will retract their utter- 

 ances ; a few facts such as are 

 recorded on later pages may, 

 however, silence them and cause 

 them to turn their love for para- 

 doxical statements into some 

 other channel. 





Practice oj our Best Growers. 



The evidence of previous grad- 

 ing and cleaning is apparent in 

 the table on pages 6 to 9 in 

 those cases where the three final 

 figures are all very low, thus show- 

 ing that the smallest grains have 



Medium. 



Poor. 



Very poor. 



