Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1901-03-28
WHEAT FOR SEED,
Bulletin of Fargo Agricultural Col
lege Giving Some Facts in
Relation Thereto.
HEATED AND BURNT GRAIN,
Valuable Suggestions in Relation to
Storage and Treatment of
Seed Grain.


The weather conditions last year were
such as to damage the wheat to great
er ar less extent in nearly all portions OF
the state. 1t was Il great damage to
the milling wheat OF course, but the in.
jury did not stopat that, for examination
ofseed wheat here at the experiment
station this past winter has demon
strated that the great bulk fseed wheat
in this state is damaged to q greater or
less extent This damage is due to q
variety of conditions, nearly all depen-
dent upon the wet weather. This station
has received hundreds of samples OF
gram for examination. and many of the
letters accompanying the same gave the
conditions which The grain has UNDER
gone. so probably we are in better con-
dition tojudge OF the actual condition
of things than an individual farmer, and
perhaps what will be said in this article
| will be OF value to many OF the grain
growers OF this state.
A large amount of wheat has been put
in the bin more or less damp and has be-
come ''heated;" it the stored grain was
only slightly damp this heating has gone
on. although it may not have felt warm
to the hand, The grain will be damaged
by this heating even ii it is we'll shovpled
because only II ri ght amount of heating
Injuries the termination. In some cases
the grain has staid soft aud remained a
comparatively good color, but the heat
ing or Preventative action has taken
place and thus lnjnred the terminating
qualities. Some samples which the sta
ton has received were reported ''as not
heated at all. but Ut il evident thatsome
heating must have Occurred for the grain
was not sprnuted. but Yet half OF it fail
ed to gerininatc in good condition. Other
samples "hrated slightly but kept shovel
ing gave poorer record than the pre-
ceding. Another sample which was
said to have been ''hpated slightly in the
bin. but not bin burned" resulted III
only one third giving good growth. But
these are only instances among hundreds
in which the grain was heated, but in
which the gerninator showed 10 be one
third dead, all somewhat weakened or
entirely dead.
Ii the wheat is sprouted in the shock
or in the ST ack it is damaged for germi-
nation. but generally not quite so badly
as though it had been heated. A certain
per cent;'ge of the sprouted grains will
give weak growth. In most of the
spr"uted samples received the sprouted
grain does not run much above is or 20
per cent. Some OF the heated or bin
hurnt samples, ii they have not become
musty are difficult to tell from the sam
pies that give n high per centagp OF
termination. They sometimes retain
Their amber color. On the other hand
some samples that have been received
which We're from 20 to 80 per cent off
color, gave good termination RESULTS.
Any one Wishing to test his own grain
can easily do so in either OF one or two
ways. One way is to get shallow box
or dish. ill j.. with moist soil or pure
sand aud SOW the grain at a uniform
depth in the dirt, Ray one hall an inch,
at the end OF five or six days a count
should be made of sprouts above the
ground Those which have not vet ap-
peared can be counted az not terminated
f"r as rule they will not make any ap-
pearancp in the field.
Another way is to put the seeds be-
tween two pieces of damp cloth in q
shallow dish covered from the light
having the ends OF the cloth 80 arranged
that they will dip into water and thus
keep the seeds moist. In four OF five
days he seeds will have made sufficient
growth so that those which are spr0ut-
ed can be determined with sufficient ac-
cur;Icy. This il better than the soil test
irasmuch as the percentage of the weak
and the percentago of thps,rong growths
can be secured. They should be kept Al
a temperature of from 60 TO 50 degrees.
Ii on examination it is found that,
none OF the sprouts are OF norma
strength, it is unsafe to sow the grains
1t would do little good to add more
seed. for it would simply make large
stand Of weak spindling plants. Ii bad
weather conditions follow seeding time
comparative crop failure may result.
Ii, on the other hand, should rs per
cent be comparatively strong the rest
nearly or quite dead due to spronting in
the field, good crop may result ii a
proper extra amount b. Rown
because OF the preparation for expert
mental work to be done in the field this
coming season. this department will be-
unable to make any more termination
tests before seeding, but we will always
he glad to give any advice upon seeds az
heretofore. This can be done with com.
parative accuracy, as the station has
learned almost exactly what to expect
OF snmple Of wheat before it is put into
the germnnator. II. L BoLLBx,
Botanist North Dakota Experimental
Station.