The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-11-11
Seed wheat For Next Year.

| The Progressive FARMER olteu nap
occasion to Gull strong and valuable
farming articles from Wallace's tar-
mer. ana in its last issue we find an
other editorial, which we must pass
on to our readers. Says DR.. Wal
lace:
"If the farmer is to succeed he must
keep q good lookout ahead. His plans
necessarily take in one or more years
work. He must have a definite system
of rotation, should know where he is
to put wheat and corn the next year
and the year after, and in what years
certain fields should be down in grass.
If he is to improve his crops he must
improve his seed from year to year.
Sowing wheat, whether for winter
or spring, is q good ways off, but 1t IS
not too early to call his attention to
the method in which he will secure
the best seed. Whether he is growing
winter wheat or spring wheat he
should, in our judgment, select the best
acre, or five acres, according to his
requirements, while it is yet growing
and ripening in the fields, and when 1t
is fully ripe cut and stack it, and put
1t in his barn by itself. He should
let it go through the sweat, and when
the proper time comes thrash it by
itself, taking care that there is no
mixture from previous thrashinGs Of
any kind of either inferior seed or foul
seed.
Before seeding time comes he
should provide himself with a good
tanning mill, grader if possible, and
blow out and sift out all small, i'm
mature, light weight or damaged seed.
He should next provide himself, If the
tanning mill is not provided with them,
with some screens that will allow all
except the very largest and plumpest
grains to pass through them, and these
alone should be used for sowing his
seed for the crop Of next year. If time
does not permit him to make this care
full selection, this final sitting, for the
whole of his seeding, let him carefully
sift out enough of the larger seeds
to SOW part of the field from which
he intends to take his seed for the
crop two years hence. Let him put
this on his best land and give it the
most thorough culture. If any of our
readers will pursue this policy for
five years, they will not complain of
seed wheat running out.
"Why do we suggest this method?
First, because the largest grains us
ually grow on the largest and most
vigorous stalks or stools. They have
a habit of growing large, and this
habit, like all other inherited tenden-
cies, is exceedingly valuable to the
man who wishes to grow large crop.
Secondly, the larger amount of starch
and gluten stored in the grain as food
for the germ after it has begun TO grow
will push it forward rapidly, giving it
a vigorous start and enabling it to
withstand climatic and other infiu-
ences that would tend to weaken the
plant. A great deal depends on the
plant getting a good start and grow
ing off vigorously from the very be-
ginning of it's existence.
"There are among our readers many
retired farmers and those past middle
age with more or less leisure time on
their hands. It will pay these men
to follow q method involving consid-
erably more labor than the one we
have suggested, but which will pro-
duce the very best results; namely,
spend some time in their wheat fields
when the grain is about ripe and Sc
lect by hand the largest and best filed
ant. most perfect heads, enough of
them to produce peck of seed. Plant
this by itself, and note results. BY
following this up for a few years a
variety OF seed can be procured vastly
superior "a the seed which they have
been sowing, in fact, almost new
variety. 1t is possible in this way to
greatly improve the type and quality
of any sort OF wheat or other grain,
and develop what is really an improved
type, much superior to the stock with
which they began. This has been done
many times and can be done by any
good farmer who knows q good head of
wheat growing on good, vigorous
stalk, when he sees it."
What 1t VIII Cost.
It may be that some of our readers,
who have not Vpt grown n crOD of