The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-06-10
BREEDING NEW WHEAT.


In an article on breeding New
Wheats," in the Worlds Work for
May, Mr.. w. S. Harwood says:
"The work of wheat-breeding began
many years ago on the great Vilmorin
estate in France. M. Henri Vilmorin
carried on extensive experiments in
the creation of new breeds, more than
thousand new wheats having been
tested by him.
''Ten years ago similar work was be-
gun at the state institution in Mime
sofa, not only to Great new breeds of
wheat, but to carry them forward
through a series of years until enough
wheat of a superior variety should be
accumulated to enable the farmers to
make the final test themselves. This
work has been carried on at no expense
to the farmer, for all the results are
for the benefit of the public.
"To create a new wheat, the pollen
from the flower of one wheat must be
artifcially transferred to the stigma
of another wheat. Wheat is a self-fer-
tilizing plant. Left to itself it will
reproduce itself throughout endless
centuries. Great care is necessary in
the work, and trained men are essen
tial. AS soon as the pollen is trans
ferred-which is done about four
o'clock in the morning at the hour
when the wheat forest open-the head
of wheat is incased in a tissue sack, so
that the work may not be interferred
with by any pilfering insect or bird.
Two of the best-known varieties are
selected, one for the father, the other
for the mother of the new race. When
the harvest comes it may be that the
new wheat has some of the poor, and
few of the good, characteristics of the
parents; or the reverse may be the
case
"From the single head which results
as the first harvest only a handful of
kernels is threshed out. This handful
is of immense Importance, for these
kernels may become the source of a
mighty race, destined not only to sup
plant the old wheats, but to add enor-
mously to the wealth of the world. But
the last results are slowly won, for the
first harvest is very meager, and the
second and even the third are small.
But after a number of years enough
wheat can be garnered to SOW the
twentieth of an acre; and then comes
tangible results. To breed q new
wheat requires infinite pains and pa
tience. It has taken ten years to bring
the new wheat varieties at the Mime
sofa Experiment Station to the farm
| test.
From the hour of the creation of
the new wheat in the gray of sum-
mer morning, throughout it's life, a
careful record is kept of every event
in its history in a book, which is the
record of the wheat's life.
| selection plays an important part
as we'll as breeding. At every step on
| Iy the best wheat kernels and wheat
stalks are preserved; detectives are re-
jected No effort is spared to give the
new wheat the best possible start in
! life. In some ways the selection may
be considered more important than the
breeding itself. During these expert
ments nearly five hundred wheats were
thrown away as defcients. Out of the
entire number bred less than a dozen
were retained A number of these
kept for future trials were especially
prolific, registering as high as eight
to ten bushels an acre above the old
wheats planted alongside of them and
receiving exactly the same treatment.
''It seems fair to say that the in
crease of the new wheat over all old
varieties will be at least two bushels
an acre. In the three States of Min
nesota, North Dakota and South Da-
kota there are on an average about tf-
teen million acres of land planted to
wheat. When the new wheat is in use
over this region an increase of only
two bushels an acre will make a crop
at least thirty millions bushels larger
than the old varieties would have
yielded"