Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1904-12-09

GET Pure SEED WHEAT.

GET PURE SEED WHEAT.
How to Secure Good Seed Whea1
From a Rusted Crop.
| Prof. H. L. Bolley, head Of the de
dartment Of botany and zoology in tn,
North Dakota Agricultural college ani
experiment station, makes the follow
ing statement bearing on the use 01
wheat from rus.ed crop of seed:
MANY farmers of this state and ol
western Minnesota are in doubt as tc
what they should do to procure seed
wheat for next season Every farmer
ought to study this seed question be-
cause it means much to him and to the
state as . whole. Rus, has shriveled
the grain in many parts Of the state,
but one need not fear to use wheat
which has grown in q rust infected
crop, provided the grain ia not too
much shrunken and is not otherwise in.
jured by moisture or other conditions.
Rust does not attack the crop by way
Of the seed as smut does It depends
upon the weather and soil conditions and
upon the wind borne red spores which
are carried from plant to plant and
from field to field in the growing sea.
son.
There are. however, localities in
which the rust attack was 90 severe
that most wheat is badly shriveled. 1s
such grain fit for seed3 If one has q
wheat of good pedigree. 3 fine yielder.
he certainly ought to use some Of it for
seed regardless Of how badly it was at.
tackled by rust; for rust does not come
every year and the farmer cannot afford
to lose q fine strain Of wheat. As in
breeding cattle. pedigree in wheat
means more than all else.
my experiments. however. have.
year after year, taught that light
weight grains of wheat which are
shriveled or shrunken, no matter what
the cause, cannot produce as much
grain as heavy, plump, normally formed
ones of the same pedigree. But, It
may be necessary for many farmers to
sow lightweight wheat next spring.
Before giving any argument or pro.
cess for making use of such seed let me
here impress the thought that it Is of
the utmost Importance to use the
plumpest, best colored seed wheat avail.
able.
TERMINATION OF LIGHTWEIGHT
WHEAT.
Bright. colored and otherwise unin.
jured light. weight wheat from rusted
crop terminates freely under good soil
conditions: and, If the average weight
Of the grains Of . sample are above one.
half the normal weight Of sound wheat,
will probably produce stand when the
usual amount Of seed is used to the
acre. Such seeds produce thin.stalked
narrow.leaved plants with weak vital.
ity and slight powers Of stooling. The
large number Of grains bushel may in
part make up for the loss in living and
stooling powers. Plants from light
weight grains are likely to die if the
soil happens to be either poorly drained,
heavy and cold. or very droughty fol.
lowing the termination date.
There are, perhaps, few farmers,
oven in the heaviest rust districts, who
have failed to raise enough heavy wheat
for seed surposes. If there are no full.
weight grains in the crop. can hardly
Its general use for seed, be.
cause 1t shows that there was no rust.
resistant wheat in that field, and be.
cause It will be hard to screen out |
enough heavy grain to insure q stand |
IF strong plants. If lightweight rus,ed
wheat has been subject to much wet,
has been heated, or wes.hered, it
ought not to be used for seed. Shriv.
eled rusty wheat never properly ma.
lures. 1t easily becomes soft and. in
The presence of moisture, loses its |
growth power much sooner than plump,
hard wheat.
CHANGING SEED WHEAT.