The San Francisco call., 1904-07-22
THE WHEAT PROBLEM.

Y n
Nv tion in the solution of the wheat problem. The
matter, far it has advanced. illustrates the
mighty change that science has wrought in the
lated to the soil The French settlers in Louisiana de-
voted themselves exclusively to the production of in
digo That crop was profitable and the prosperity of
the province rested upon it. But disease and para
site attacked the indigo plant awful calamity fell
upon rural Louisiana. 1t then that the planters
after they practically ruined turned sugarcane
and rice.
That long ago. Had it happened now there would
have been surrender o insects disease In the
far Creole days nothing known about vegetable
pathology the of beneficial insects destroy and
exterminate their predaceous brethren Now over
come phylloxera with resistant vines. We med-
cate plants that beset by ungoid diseases and we
clean California orchards of scale by the of insects
and fight the Texas cotton weevi to finish by i'm
porting from Guatemala. We take beet and
breed it to find saccharne in the SOIL just breed
dog to find quail in the chaparral In the lexicon of ag
riculture there is such word "fal."
When the first settlers plowed the prairies of Ne
braska their regularly destroyed every year
by the early frost When demonstrated that the
season too short to mature that staple crop the ad
guard of civilization began fall back, beaten
by General Frost In this emergency appeared greater
leader than General Frost in the person of Sterling
Morton He called halt in the from the from
tier and told the routed settlers that what they needed
"a nnety-day corn" How will we get it?" howled
the discouraged and defeated powmen. Breed it,"
shouted the of men, and breed he did, although
in that distant day little understood and nothing had
been printed about breeding plants for specific purpose
He gave to Nebraska ninetyday corn that ready
for the husker three months after the planter put the
seed in the ground and saved the State settlement
and civilization.
California is at crisis in wheat growing In other
days would drop that crop entirely and find sub
stitue for it the Creoes did for indigo. But the
times have changed. Agriculture longer surrenders
to conditions 1t improves them creates ones
From the discussion of the failure Of gluten in our
wheat making necessary the admxure of per of
the gluten wheats of Kansas Dakota to produce
strong and merchantable -four. few things plainly
apparent When wheat made large yield and grew
strongly land it contained abundant gluten and
produced strong -four. AS the land is successvely
cropped and the yield per falls the gluten falls with
it and its place is taken by starch and get weak
-four.
Irrigation has been tried to induce vigorous
growth But experience proves that irrigation pro-
duces "punky" wheat, very inferior and with no in
crease in gluten. When fresh seed is used. imported
from outside the first crop satisfactory in its gluten
content and after that decline AS we cannot
afford to abandon wheat growing it is to be always
the main crop non-irrigabe lands the crisis is
real and must be met with all the weapons of warfare
furnished by modern science. 1t is demonstrated that
gluten is variable quantity in wheat When the
plant most vigorous 1t the most gluten.
is obvious. Reinforce the vgor of the plant.
If Nebraska could breed so quick and vigorous
in growth that could clear the frost in ninety days we
find wheat with its assimative system strong
enough to get due percentage of gluten of the SOIL
but do this by artfu fertilization, following and
all the other methods for promoting plant vgor. We
go abroad and find wheat that carries so per
cent gluten and plant it in the expectation that it will
continue produce that much gluten. for it will not
Fresh seed and fertilization point solution
of this interesting problem which the State Board
of Trade has brought into focus. The mers have sup
piled the means needed to begin the necessary expert
ments.
It is matter that goes straight every home in the
State aside from its commercial feature Everybody
bread in the of his face that of one
else. and demand daily bread with less starch
and gluten for people muscle and
less fat. Without wheat apprecable percentage of
California land will be deprived of profitable crop
and export trade will suffer if send out no
wheat -four
Having made bid for niche in the temple of literary
fame with their ambitious offering, Health Hints for
the Household" the members of the Board of Health
~. IT,