MANAWATU WHEAT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 22, 22 December 1932, Page 6

MANAWATU WHEAT

CROPS EXTREMELY GOOD. CHANGING FARMING PRACTICE. “Crops of wheat in the Manawatu district are extremely good and very promising. The areas now under crop are large and growing rapidly, ’ a “Standard” reporter was informed today by a prominent research worker who has been closely at this centre the diseases' of cereals. He stated that wheat crops were flourishing in the Rangitikei, Sandon and Feilding districts, and areas had' also been sown down in the A\ airaxapa and Hawke’s Bay. Surprisingly enough, tliero was even a crop at Tiritea, close to Palmerston North, and it was reported to be doing very well. SURVIVAL OF LINE.

Tli© main variety being sown in the Manawatu, it was stated, was- Jumbuck, which had in the first place survived by mere good fortune. It was well favoured by conditions in the district, to which it was adapted. This variety was originally imported from Australia and grown with a number of o tli el's by the Department of Agriculture on its experimental area at Marton. However, with the promuience which grassland fanning was beginning to receive just after the Great V ar, most of the wheat lines were allowed to die out. Jumbuck was, fortunately, kept and selected by a miller as a promising wheat. It is stated to liavo the highest milling value of any in New Zealand, and to bo practically equal in quality to hard Australian-Canadinn wheat. GOOD AVERAGE YIELD. Yielding the good average of 40 to 45 bushels or a little higher to the acre, the growing of this wheat was stated to be a very payable proposition in this district, where it appeared to have a great future. It is understood that South Island growers are somewhat perturbed at. the steady_ development of wheat areas in the North Island, considering that in time it may jeopardise tlieir business in this part of the Dominion.

An interesting feature of the growing of this wheat, it is pointed out, is that it is more or less typical of the present trend of agriculture. During the periods of high stock and produce prices grassland farming was extensively practised, and the plough was discarded. Now farmers are beginning to realise tlie value of their arable land, and wheat is being planted extensively. Just after the War labour was not available, or, if available, at a high rate of wages, while the high values for meat and wool did not exactly encourage wheat growing. The recent expansion in the direction of wheat growing in this; district has been made under conditions in close co-operation with the Plant Research Station, and the possibilities of disease are kept to a minimum by efficient methods of control. This season’s crop will lie harvested in January or February, and it is anticipated that _ the average yield per acre for the North Island will be 45 bushels. OTHER CEREAL CROPS.

Malting barley has been grown to but a vw.y little extent m the North Island, being confined mainly to Marlborough and certain parts of Canterbury and Otago, but it is believed that in future quantities will be sown in the Manawatu. Tli© removal of the duty on the importation of feed barley from Australia lias ended activities with that class of cereal in New Zealand. Maize cannot be grown in this district, it was stated, as it is not hot enough. There is only a limited amount of oats grown, but that is mainly by reason of the declining demand for oats and chaff, due to the diminution in the number of horses in use in tho cities.