196 



Need for Use of Improved Seed. 



[June, 



an officially certified milk record, and it is evidence of the 

 farmers' recognition of the practical value of the certificate 

 that while 640 certificates were applied for in 1916 the number 

 applied for in 1920 was nearly 18,000. It is noteworthy too, 

 that of the cows whose yields were certified by the ]\linistry 

 last year, 800 gave over 1,000 gallons each and two very 

 exceptional animals 2,000 gallons each. 



Although the rate of progress now being made cannot be 

 considered as otherwise than satisfactory, milk recording is 

 by no means as generally adopted as it should be, and in 

 order to encourage the formation of new Societies or the 

 development of existing ones the Ministry makes grants 

 towards the expenses of a Society provided it complies with 

 the Ministry's Eegulations. These grants are based on the 

 number of herds in the Society, and amount to ^£3 10s. per 

 herd per annum for a new member and for a member who 

 has been recording under the ^Ministry's Scheme for over tw^o 

 years. The total grant payable to a Society may not exceed 

 one-half its expenses for the milk recording year. 



****** 



In the Agricultural Statistics (Part II) which have recently 

 been issued, attention is drawn to the fact that during the 

 Need for a years no appreciable increase can 



Mor'e General Use ^'""'A '^'"'^f f w', °^ 



„ _ , the prmcmai crops m hjugland and Wales, 



of Improved ^, ^ ^ ' ^ • i 

 IT • £ r* J Ihe returns lor individual vears are so 



Varieties of Seed. ^ ^, \, , 



afiected bv weather conditions that no con- 



• 



elusions can be drawn by comparing one year with another, 

 but over longer periods unfavourable seasons tend to be 

 balanced by those more blessed by nature, and by comparing 

 the average yield of crops over fairly long periods the influence 

 of the weather can be more or less eliminated. 



Taking the average yields over periods of fifteen years, the 

 changes during the past 35 years are small and irregular, and 

 there is practically no indication of any real or substantial 

 change in the average rate of production of the most important 

 crops. In the case of wheat there is some small evidence of a 

 higher yield which may be due to the increased attention 

 which has been given in recent years to improved varieties of 

 seed, though it is not safe to assume that the rather larger 

 yields obtained in the later years are attributable to improved 

 methods of cultivation. The latter, taking the country as a 

 w^hole, have probably not changed sufficiently to affect the 



