Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-05

| T. Patterson or Indiana sad IN substance
that the wheat culture of this country is
| slowly but surely moving southwark, due
| probably to natural causes not yet eX-
| planned. The great wheat regions Of the
extreme North are gradually failing as such,
| though every effort to keep up the lands
aud Il e all conditions favorable is dill
! gently rcsorted to. There is no mistaking
the indications. For decade or more Of
| years crops have annually been growing
! lighter along the northern border OF the
| wheat belt, on an average, and heavier
| along the southern border. and the south
ern border is moving further and further
! towards the equator.
| There is nothing very wonderful IN this
! apparent phenomenon when one has studied
the history of wheat. History gives no
! dates when wheat WAS first cultivated
| by man, for the most ancient records at our
| disposal mention II as tEen nothing new.
The actual place of its origin remains
| somewhat in doubt. but ali best authorities
agree that it must have been native of
either Persia or India-possibly both. Thus
| we see that wheat is native of warm
| countries, and in all cases where it has been
| carried to higher ATTITUDES it has been forced
| there by the efforts and ingenuity Of man.
| By continuation of his forcing through
| selection and otherwise, it may now be cul-
| tivated a long way north Of its natural
! cline, but, as IN the case Of all plants so
forced, its constant tendency is back to-
ward the natural conditions which gave it
| an origin. This clearly explains why
wheat culture in this country IS
slowly but surely moving south
| ward The Old varieties cultivated as
Northern varieties are running out as such,
ana are becoming southern varieties, and
unless new varieties forced into an endur-
ance of Northern conditions are speedily in
| troduced, profitable wheat culture must
eventually cease to have an existence at the
| North.
! 1t has worked exactly that way in the Old
| World. The wheat countries Of Europe de-
serving Of that name are the southern
countries-France leads them.
We can well remember when winter
| wheat could not be grown in this country
| north of Springfield, III. All the wheat
| raised above that point was sown in spring,
| and so inferior was it as to quality that no
| great amount was sown But finally varie-
| ties forced into an adoption of unnatural
| conditions We're introduced and then winter
wheat was grown in the extreme northern
states, giving that section the name of being
| a great wheat country. In obedience to
| natural laws, that forced wheat is getting
! back to its original character, and as a
matter of course, is moving towards its
natural habitat so far as relates TO climatic
conditions.
Once we get good variety OF wheat
established in Texas there will exist 10
| kind of danger of its ever running out. The
! Northern varieties that we are now sowing
! do not at once give results so good as would
varieties long sown here, and hence changed
or reclaimed, as it We're, from their forced
| Northern characteristics. In long time
| those characteristics would be thrown of
| naturally, but we might greatly hasten that
| desirable attainment by careful selection
of seed. Professor Patterson shows how
! this kind OF thing may be made to work, by
referring TO wheat culture in Colorado He
| says:
| CProfesSor Bowen has grown wheat in
| Colorado at the rate of eighty bushels to
| the acre, and in his experiments the chief
| factors were thin seeding and the selection
| OF the seed by hand. While the enormous
| increase in the yield thus obtained is worthy
| Of the first consideration, the great saving
| of seed must not be overlooked. Seven and
| oGe-haE pounds of this carefully selected
| grain sutiiced Professor Bowen for the
| Ion
foot apart each way. This seems like an
| unreasonable statement, but the Colorado
| state experimental station is authority for
| the same.
Here, then, is mapped out an important
work for the enterprising Texas farmer TO
| do. He should at once begin the selection
Of seed wheat from his own field Pick out
by hand the biggest, finest and best heads,
with large and plump grains-best in every
| respect. Lay them away carefully for the
next falls sowing. If he can find but half
4 dozen heads presenting every desirable
characteristic, so far SO good. Sow the
| grains of these heads in patch away off
| from the main wheat field, and next year
| again select the very best from the result
If few of our farmers would pursue this
| COuISS WIN uuS CdEc luC llTSb lliLIS any
body knew about it some one among them
would pop to the surface with a variety of
| Texas seed wheat for 50 lie, amply qualified
TO make Texas the gre test wheat country
in the known world.
That's exactly what Texas will be at no
distant day, mark our word for it, young
man, for you'll live to see it. Texas will
have the wheat production of this country
all her own way. As already shown North
ean wheat culture is rapidly running out,
while here it is rapidly coming in. Little
as has been thought of it, statistics show
that Texas has long been beating the North
ern states in wheat, and beating them
badly. The average yield of wheat in the
so-called wheat regions of our state has
been largely above that of the states I'd
North figuring most conspicuously as wheat
states This year our yield has more than
doubled theirs.
OF course it is TO be presumed that they
will revive their now failing wheat culture