Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-12-15

News and Views Of Interest In vart-
Ous Lines 81 Agriculture
M N - Nrnnn1


Washington. ID. C.-Durum wheat,
which has hitherto been exploited In
this country simply as the 80 called
''macaroni' wheat. Is now receiving at
tention from the bureau OF plant indus
try as a bread wheat. La "A report On
It's commercial status just made by
Messrs. Carleton aud Chamberlain the
continued success Of milling and bak-
Ing operations with this wheat Is cited
as demonstrating that durum wheat
has not heretofore been given its prop
Or rank. They are Of the opinion that
Ii should properly be considered AS a
wheat OF the highest class. ranking
with hard spring and hard winter. but
should be graded on its own merits and
kept absolutely distinct from either OF
these. These investigators affirm that
% long as durum wheat Is grown
where II Is well adapted IL will always
possess certain special qualities OF
commercial value not existing to so
great a degree I'm other wheats:
Ftrst.-In the strictly semiarid dis.
tricts it usually ripens earlier than 9TH
O. spring wheats. This allows the
wheat q greater. chance to escape insect
and fungous pests and thus insures q
plumper. hner kernel.
second-rreedom from rust and
smut 10 stiii further insured by the
natural resistance Of this wheat to the
attacks Of such fungi. The Importance
OF smut resistance In the fields of the
northwest II manifest to those who are
aware Of the great damage 20 wheat
from this cause In that region.
Third-Hard spring and winter
wheats are known 10 produce a harder.
better grain In the drier districts and
In dry seasons. Durum wheat. being
particularly adapted 10 such conditions.
always furnishes an excellent hard
grain without q corresponding decrease
- yield.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. this drought
resistance and hardness Of grain u o
| corresponding increase In the quantity
and quality Of the gluten.
Fffth.-In analyses OF nour aud bread
Il 70 shown that the sugar content Of
durum wheat II considerably greater
than that Of other wheats. Even q
small percentage Of difference In this
respect In Of great importance to the
baker during 4 years operations.
Sixth.-The extreme dryness Of the
durum wheat grain In a good seaso
gives the -four a great power OF absorb
ton, which. other conditions being
equal, allows the baker to obtain more
loaves from the same weight of -four
and In some cases would thus give this
wheat a great advantage over other
wheat iour of less absorption.
Inoculation of Land.
The yeast cakes" of the department
Of agriculture, otherwise small pack
ages of nitrogen gathering bacteria
which are particularly favorable to the
growth Of certain crops, continue to be
a matter of interest. 1t has been for
some time known that small organ
isms that serve the purpose Of collect
ing nitrogen sometimes live on the
roots of clover and various leguminous
crops and that where these organisms
are plentiful bigger and better crops
and fertility of soil are assured. IL
they do not originally exist In soil
where these crops are to be grown they
can be artifcially introduced. The bu-
reau Of plant industry has devised the
method Of growing and propagating
these organisms and sending them by
mail to farmers for application to the
soils. The little package of bacterial
germs In connection with some chemi-
Gals that accompany 1t IL added to wa
ter, producing after q short time q
milky solution (due to the growth Of
the germs), and this solution Is used for
wetting the seed. The roots Of the
plants produced from this seed will
bear the characteristic "tubercles" Of
the nitrogen gathering bacteria.
The bacteria already sent out by the
department are being heard from with
gratifying results In many instances.
Where q stand Of clover has been hard
TO secure and where c0wpeas. vetch
and similar crops would not grow In
oculation Of the soil has solved the
problem of getting a start with these
crops, anu uckd8 DoVn DcSohC hAAcu
with the b~enefcent germs. When C
the germs are secured In soil this soil
can be used to continue the work in
ether fields by scattering small guam
titles Of II with seed.
Methods u ADDIyfng Water 90 LAsa.
We are asked to associate irrigation
with the thought Of our arid and semi
arid western lands. But It 10 a sug-
g~estive fact for the other part Of the
country that one Of the finest irrigation
systems Of the world La found In hu-
mid climate-in Italy. In the valley Of
the Pc.
A recent bulletin Of the department
Of agriculture b devoted to a phase Of
irrigation that has been somewhat neg
lected heretoforc-namety. the methods
Of preparing land for irrigation and
applying the water. Naturally these
methods are mostly those practiced by
western farmers, but they have.a Ger
tain value also for those farmers In
other regions who are interested In the
useful application Of existing sources
Of water to their lands. And that irrf-
eatfon has been made advantageous In