1 Dec., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 409 
quantity of the smallest and an equal quantity of the largest and best 
developed grains, extremes as far as size of sved being aimed at. The weight 
per standard bushel thus selected was as follows :— 
Largest seeds... on ... 63°0 lb. per bushel 
Smallest seeds 0a ... 40:5 lb. per bushel. 
These two samples were each divided into four lots and sown the same 
day, side by side, on eight plots of ground. The soil of the field was a clay- 
loam, and not manured, but was in good condition of tillage. During the trial - 
it was noticed that the larger grains vegetated more rapidly than the smaller 
ones, and made better growth, and the result at harvest was as follows :— 
Propuce Per AcRE OF DRESSED GRAINS. 
Quantity per Acre, 
From From 
Targe Seeds. Small Seeds. Difference. 
Bushels, Bushels. Bushels. 
Plot 1 40 ae an “x on 43°3 3L" ; 11°6 
tp 4 att oy a Bes a 34°2 4 25°0 9:2 
Me S met un an pi x8 35°0 OTD 75 
cry ae! 45°83 33°3 12°5 
Averapel W.-Mnere set 39°6 29°4 10°2 
From this experiment it will be observed that the larger seeds contained 
a good quantity of good food stored away in the endosperm for the young 
plant, and in that food was a good percentage of gluten well developed, as the 
weight per bushel conclusively proves. : 
Tn order to show readers what can be effected by annual careful selection 
of seed, we may mention that Major Hallett succeeded in four years in 
inereasing the size of the ear of wheat in the following ratio :— 
Length Containing No. of Ears on 
in Inches. Grains. Finest Stool. 
1857 Original ear Set oa Ie SAS ot REGIA, hy: 
1858 Finest ear ab te ai 3 ra es 79 4 10 
1859 Finest ear ot i Des ve 91 ne DD 
1860 Ears imperfect from wet season at ea fis 89 
1861 Finest ear 84 123 aN 52 
Thus by means of repeated selection, coupled with thin seeding—l1 bushel 
to 6 acres instead of the usual 2 to 3 bushels per acre—the length of the wheat ear 
was doubled, their contents nearly trebled, and the tillering power of the seed 
increased fourfold. 
STACKING WHEAT. 
Tr is much to be deplored that many farmers will not take the trouble to stack 
their wheat properly. They go to any amount of labour in producing & crop ; 
they exercise every care in their selection of seed-wheat, in steeping the seed, 
and generally in doing all in their power to secure a crop; and then, when 
that end is achieved, they proceed to build their stack on the ground, regard- 
less of the fact that, by capillary attraction, moisture is drawn up into the 
wheat to its manifest detriment. Not only does the damp extend some. feet 
up the lower portion of the stack, but the warm steam permeates the whole 
structure, and subjects it to the influence of mildew. 
With the warm, moist weather of January and February, the evil is 
accentuated by the production of insect life ruinous to the grain, such as 
weevils. In the old country, stacks are built on regularly prepared permanent 
platforms raised two or three feet from the ground on: stone or brick pillars. 
