Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-09
EXPERIMENT STATIONS
I<f
MILLIONS SAVED TO SOIL TILL
ERs BY SCIENTIFIC METHODS. !.
Farmers Have Been Enabled to Correct
Evils and Prevent Disaster
to Crops.


From the Chicago Record Herald.
| The experiment station, as a factor in
! the development of the country's agricul-
tural resources. is not fully appreciated
| 1t receives great credit. but its actual cash
value to the country cannot be estimated.
| Take the state of North Dakota, for ex-
ample. At time when the nature and
| characteristics of wheat smut were but i'm
I perfectly understood and the disease was
| spreading with fearful rapidity throughout
| the great wheat area of the state, the ex-
pertinent station proved the source of re-
/ lief.
| 1t required prodigious amount of study
and experimentation to fully diagnose the
| disease and to discover a safe, speedy and
| economical remedy. Various remedies were
found to be effective, such as corrosive sub
| Innate, potassium sulphide, hot water for
| malin and other things, but most of them
were difficult to apply. Corrosive sublimate
| is poisonous and consequently dangerous,
1 and also has tendency to retard germina-
ton. Hot water treatment Is too delicate
\ for the farmer to use. Formaldehyde was
finally selected a remedy that could be
| easily, effectively and economically applied
and with perfect safety, and which instead
| of retardng germina ton facilitates 1t.
! Prof. Bolley demonstrated that the gain
| from the quicker termination Of seed wheat
when treated with formaldehyde fully
| more than makes up for the expense of the
| chemical and the labor incident to its ap-
| plication to the grain.
Immense Benefit to Farmers.
What are the benefits accruing to the
| farmers of the state from investigations of
! wheat smut? From the fact that smutted
and clean wheat could not be kept separate
| in the elevators. and as 1t required expens-
| i've machinery to scour smutted wheat
| 70 {pdi =
! ly estimated by wheat dealers that. where
smut was generally prevalent, 1t meant an
| average depression in price of at least
cents per bushel.
| An average 10000 OOo- bushel crop meant
| a loss of $500, 600. But this was not all,
nor the chief loss from smut. The nature
! of the disease being parasitical in charac-
| ter, it did not always manifest it's pres
ence or evil effects in the form of smut
| balls in the wheat head, but the chief In
| jury resulted In the weakening of the
| plant from the disease. so that the yield
| was, in consequence, several bushels less
per acre and of inferior grade. Fields
were frequently and generally found with
the straw badly infested with smut. but
| with little or no evidence of the disease in
| the form of developed smut balls in the
| head. A field of wheat affected. it was
! carefully estimated. would yield from
| three to four bushels less per acre than
where the grain was free from the dis
| ease. s6ji
Taking an average of but two bushels
less per acre on the whole crop. or four
| bushels less per acre on half the acreage
! sown annually, and we have loss OF TO-
900 bushels for single harvest
Loss of Millions.
Ten million bushels of wheat at 80 cents
/ per bushel means loss of s., 100000 plus
/ 81, 100000 loss from depression in price,
and we have grand total of 81, SOC, 900 loss
I per annum to the farmers of the state
! Making any allowance one may wish from
! the above figures for extravaganza of es-
! innate, and still the saving to the wheat
growers Is enormous. But the statement is
| not an extravagant one, in view of the
rapid increase of the disease before a rem
| edy was found to check it.
So effective is the remedy and so easily
and cheaply applied that the farmer today
is in disrepute If he grows smutted wheat.
! One pound of fornaldehyde to forty gall
| Ions of water, applied to the grain with
| sprfnkling can and shovel, is the remedy.
i The same solution with slight variation
! to strength is equally effective for pre-
venting potato scab or smut in oats or
barley.
pertinent station has come to the aid of
/ the farmer 1t has also, in other states,
! saved untold millions of dollars to the
| fruit growers, tobacco and cotton grow
ers, and especially to corn growers.
Improvement in Corn.
The experiment stations in the corn belt
| have done much for the improvement Of
corn both in breeding and seed selection
and improved methods of cultivation
The scientific advantages of fiat. shallow
/, cultivation over former methods, in a state
| ike Iowa, have an annual money value that
will more than equal what the government
| pays for all the experiment stations of the
| country for any one year. They also have
| worked miracles in improving the quality
and yield OF corn 1t has been estimated
| that the difference between a single crop
| OF corn for all Illinois. grown from the best
| selection of seed, compared with one
| grown from improper or careless selection
| of seed. will amount to from $5000,00O TO
! 10000. 0CO.
| The Improvements made In dairying. feed
| ing and breeding live stock grasses and
| grains and saving to farmers through
| proper use of commercial fertilizers, sup
| pressing destructive insects and cereal dis
eases, etc. have been of untold value to the
| agricultural interests of the country.
| Investment is Profitable.
The money expended by the government
and by the states for the support of ex-
pertinent stations partakes more of the
nature of a profitable investment than of
an appropriation. The money expended has
brought wonderful cash returns, besides ele-
waiting and popularizng the greatest voca-
! ton open to the rising generation. Con-
| gress could do no better thing for this coun-
| try than to increase the governments an
nual investment in each state experiment
! station from S15, 600 to $4,000. The returns
| on the investment would be rich beyond
| comparison.
! Agriculture is the foundation of our ma
| tional prosperity. 1t is the prime source of
! our national wealth. and to increase the
| products of the soil and yet conserve its fer
| tility for future generations Is worthy the
| attention of statesmen Can the govern
ment afford to spend annually for the bene-
| fit of the farmers of the United States in
| the form of increased experiment station
| work, sum of money less than sufficient
| to build a couple of torpedo boats?