Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1904-12-17
SEED WHEAT.
Expert Advice to the Farmers ON
Important Questions.

Important Questions.
Prof. I'll. L. Bol!ey. head of the de-
partmert of botany and zoology in
the North Dakota Agricultural coll
eye and experiment station, makes
the following statement bearing on
the use of wheat from rusted crop
for seed:
Many farmers of this state and of
western Minnesota are in doubt as to
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 statea as whole. Rust has shri-
veled the grain in many parts OF the
state. but one need not fear to use
wheat which has grown in rust in
infected crop, provided the grain is
not too much shrunken and is not
otherwise injured by moisture or
other conditions. Rust does not
attack the crop by way of the seed
as smut does. 1t depends upon
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 season.
''There are, however, localities in
which the rust attack was so
severe tina. most wheat is badly
shriveled. Is such grain fit for
seed? If one has a wheat of good
pedigree, fine yielder, he certainly
ougut to use some Of it for seed re-
gardless of how badly it was attacked
by rust; for rust does not come
every year and the farmer cannot
afford to loose 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, nor
mally formed ones of the same pedl-
gree. But, it may be necessary for
many farmers to SOW lightweight
wheat next spring. Before giving
any argument or processes for max
ing use of such seed let me here i'm
press the thought that it is of the
utmost Importance to use the plump
est, best colored seed wheat available
TERMINATION OF LIGHTWEIGHT WHEAT.
"Bright- colored and otherwise
uninjured lightweight wheat from a
rusted crop terminates freely under
good soil conditions; and, if the
average weight of the grains OF a
sample are above one-half the nor
NAL weight Of sound wheat will pro-
badly produce a stand when the
usual amount of seed is used to the
acre. Such seeds produce thin
stalked narrow leved plants with
weak vitality 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 lightweight
grains are likely to die if the soil
happens to be either poorly drained,
heavy and cold, or very droughty
following the termination date.
"There are, perhaps, few farmers,
even il the hardest rust districts,
who have failed to raise enough
heavy wheat for seed purposes. If
there are no full-weight grains in
the crop, I can hardly recommend
it's general use for seed, because it
shows that there was no rust-resis-
'tant wheat in that field, and because
it will De hard to screen out enough
heavy grains to insure stand of
strong plants. If lightweight
, rusted wheat has been subjected to
much wet, has been heated, or wealth
cred, it ought not to be used for
seed. Shriveled rusty wheat never
properly natures. It easily become
soft and, in the presence of moisture,
loses its growth power much sooner
than plump, hard wheat.
CHANGING SEED WHEAT.
"Our experiments have also proved
that it does not pay to continually
change seed wheat. A farmer can
not breed up a good pedigree of
,k~ dino rrboof ,,,1oco ho