SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
The Making and Improvement of 
Wheats. 
By HUGH PYE.* 
(Continued from page 210.) 
(IL) 
T has been noted previously that wheats suitable for the dry areas 
with a 10-in. rainfall need to be those that mature early, tiller 
very moderately, have little flag development, and short to 
medium length straw. 
Some interesting experiments were carried out by Mr. A. 
E. V. Richardson relative to the transpiration ratio for some 
of the wheats, and published in the Victorian Agricultural Department’s 
journal. 
Yandilla King needed 209 tons of water to each ton of dry matter, 
whilst Huguenot needed 248 tons of water. 
When it came to the production of grain, Yandilla King used 660 
tons of water, or a 6.4-in. rainfall. Federation required 750 tons, 
Huguenot 1,081 tons, and Kubanka 1,188 tons. In countries possessing 
a more moist climate there would be a variation in this respect. 
rr) 
ior | 
f) 
One of the reasons the plant-breeder uses the varieties obtained from 
the older dry countries of the world is, that the quality of drought 
resistance has been implanted after generations of growth in them. By 
utilizing these varieties, the plant-breeder “gets there” quickly, and 
all he has to do is to develop this quality, and combine it with other 
qualities suiting the environment and methods of harvesting. 
It may be detrimental to create a multiplicity of varieties, but Aus: 
tralia is a new country, and we must experiment, even using each State 
as a huge experimental system; for, after all, the test of a wheat is not 
only what it yields at the experimental station, but its average yield 
over wide areas. A variety that has excelled soon supplants a less pro- 
lifie variety. 
Knowing from a wide correspondence throughout the Commonwealth 
that the farmer of to-day is appreciating more the work of the practical 
scientist, and calling him to his aid in solving his difficulties, it is right 
that farmers should be anxious to get a deeper insight into the part 
plant-breeding is doing for the whole agricultural community. 
The cost of living, higher taxation, the increased cost of production,, 
the decrease in the virgin wealth of the soil, the necessity of giving a 
higher education to his children to mect the strenuous future, the pres- 
sure due to custom in regard to social amenities in keeping his family 
contented on the farm, all are having a far-reaching effect in spurring 
ae on, and wresting from his farm greater productivity and increased 
wealth, 
* Cerealist, Dookie Agricultural College. 
376 
