The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1904-03-12
SEED WHEAT SELECTION.
Prof. BoIIey Explains About the Kind
Of Wheat to Use for Seed.

Prot. BoIley Explains About the Kind
OF Wheat to Use for Seed.
In reply to some inquiries from F.
o. Southland of Drayton, Prof. H. l.
Bolley of the North Dakota agricul
tural college writes:
Some time ago at the grain growers
convention President Worst handed
me a letter written by you to him ask
ing some questions regarding wheat
It would have been answered sooner,
but by accident was mislaid.
First-As to whether your neighbor
made a mistake when he sorted out
the big grains of wheat each year for
sowing purpose o rnot is in part east
ly answered. You say he thinks, and
some of his neighbors think, that 1t
was a mistake to SOW only large seed,
and that he presents the theory that
the large grain of wheat represents
the male element or character In the
wheat crop, and hence for this reason
one could not expect the crop to be
productive. I may say at once that
this theory is wholly untenable. The
wheat plant by nature is self (close)
fertilizing; that is, If you should plant
only one grain Of wheat in a country
wholly isolated from all other wheat,
and take care Of that plant, you
could expect that plant to produce q
crop of seed from it's own s~elf-fertili-
cation. All this is to say that each
flower in q head of wheat is male and
female in itself and takes care of Its
own fertilization. Just why your. in
formant had poor success in using
large grains Of wheat it is not pos
sible to explain without knowing all
of the facts which 1t is evident are
only guessed at. That is to say. there
are a great number of conditions
which might have prevented his crop
from being good which might not be
referred to- the seed alone. Cretain
it is that by selecting the largest,
plumpest, hardest berries Of wheat,
our experiment. stations have devel-
oped our best grades Of, wheat. Elk
tensive producers of wheat in every
region Of the world rely upon select!
Ing the best, usually the largest, seeds
for sowing. In this connection it Is
always an important matter that these
large seeds are due to normal condi.
lions. 1t is very easy to have a1arge.
soft, weathered seed which is bad:
that is, 1t is possible that all the seed
wheat might be made up Of large, soft,
injured grains, and thus be unable to
produce q nrst-rate growth. In North
Dakota a small, hard, amber-colored
grain Of wheat may always be CON
sidered q better grain to use for seed
than q large, soft or spongy grain.
second-As to your question, DO
tame oats that remain in the soil for
a year or two and grow voluntarily
become wild oats?" Q. Tame oats
are bred too far away from their wild
ancestry to return so easily. II an oat
grain has been so well preserved IN
the soil as not to decay, what diner
eut is it from one which has been pre-
served in the bin? If the yboth grow
they will both produce tame oats.
wild oats grow from the seed Of Wild
oats. You FRIEND must also remem-
Der that wild oat seeds may as easily
remain in the ground q number OF
years without growing as the tame
n indeed, much more easily, % II
ia their natural environments.