96 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



Thus the work of single ear selection in New Zealand 

 may be said to be fairly launched, though the improve- 

 ments, ranging in the neighbourhood of 8 per cent, are 

 not to be compared with the improvements of 16 to 35 

 per cent, realized in Sweden. 



The growing of many hundreds of pure strains at the 

 same time and the harvesting of these separately so that 

 no grain of one plot becomes mixed with others, involves 

 a great amount of work, both manual and supervisory. 

 Much special machinery has to be procured for drilling, 

 harvesting, and threshing. It is the pleasure of the 

 writer to have to acknowledge the initiative of the 

 Director and the broad mindedness of the Board of 

 Governors of Lincoln College in starting and maintain- 

 ing this laborious, time-absorbing, and expensive under- 

 taking. 



March, 1919. In the harvest just concluded good 

 evidence of the value of some of these selections has been 

 obtained. Many crops of Hunter's Al have produced 

 over 70 bushels per acre, and in two noted examples have 

 yielded 88 and 89-5 bushels. The popularity of the 

 strain is proved by the fact that a survey of the fields 

 in Canterbury showed that out of every 5 crops of 

 Hunter's, 4 were of the pure strain. The strains of 

 other varieties have now been distributed and grown for 

 two seasons by a number of farmers. They are gener- 

 ally satisfactory, but not so markedly superior as in the 

 case of Hunter's. A purple straw Tuscan is next to 

 Hunter's Al the best selection so far made. 



