36 CEREALS 



strictly pedigreed in that I can trace them all back, strain 

 by strain, to the individual original selections. 



44 In picking out the best ears attention is paid to the 

 usual points : (i) The plants must be thoroughly satis- 

 factory, well grown, stooling normally, and not lodged 

 in any way. (2) The largest and best-formed ears are 

 roughly picked in the field from the selection plots, and 

 are subsequently handled in the laboratory. (3) As much 

 as possible we give preference to perfect ears, i.e., those 

 carrying no empty shells. (4) Ears are measured indivi- 

 dually and the number of spikelets counted; a record of 

 this is kept throughout; only those most satisfactory in 

 this direction are retained. ^5) The ears are hand- 

 threshed, and the grain examined and counted; the best 

 again are retained. (6) Finally, the grain of individual 

 ears is always hand-graded before sowing. 



" After picking out the best heads for next year's 

 selection plots we run a stripper over the remaining 

 plants, the grain from which goes into what I have called 

 ' Seed Plots,' extending over \ acre, i acre, or even at 

 times 2 or 3 acres, according to the area occupied by 

 individual varieties in the selection plots. In the year 

 following these seed plots supply our farm seed; and in 

 the year after that the grain is available for seed to 

 outsiders. 



" By these means our farm seed supply is constantly 

 being renewed by more recent selections. The result has 

 been most satisfactory; all our wheat is sold for seed 

 purposes, and we are never in a position to meet all 

 demands The seed has gone all over Australia, and 

 varieties which have been grown without change on the 

 farm for between seventeen and eighteen years are still 

 some of the best on the farm." 



There is also a wheat research station at Parafield. At 

 this station a large and constantly increasing number of 

 cross-bred wheats are made and kept under observation 

 in what are known as " Cross-bred Plots." Last season 

 sixty-eight new crosses were made. In addition to this 

 are the " Breeding Plots," in which hand-selected seed 

 of local and foreign wheats are grown in small plots and 

 made use of for crossing purposes. 



