The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1905-04-01

I
w. S. Thornber, the newly elected professor
of horticulture in the Washington agricul
tural college, Professor Thornber leaves
for Washington tomorrow. I have known
Professor Thornber for some years and want
to bespeak for him a cordial reception and
co operation from the practical horticultur-
lists of Washington. 1 feel very sure that he
will be the right man in the right place.
Anything that you can do to assist him
will be appreciated by the one who has
pleasant memories of your kind cooperation
during two years of Washington experience.
Very truly, s. W. FLETCHER
Through the liberality of congress
experiment stations have been estab
lished in all the states and some of the
territories. Large sums of money are
annually spent in carrying on these
stations. Are the results such as to
justify such expenditures of money?
Some persons seem to think that they
are not, but with this decision | am
unable to agree. Some failures are
doubtless made-that is to be ex-
pected. The men at the head of these
institutions are human and cannot be
expected to escape the frailties of our
common nature. Some of the expert
ments undertaken are for the purpose
of determining whether certain enter
prises will be profitable or not. A
negative answer in such cases is
valuable one, for it may keep people
from wasting their time and money
where failures are inevitable. Many
persons might not call such negative
answers successes but in a very i'm
portant sense they are. But these fail
ures and negative answers aside, there
are still left many successes that are
worth millions of dollars to the farm
ers of the United States. Many of
these successes could be given but I
will confine myself to one. The agri-
cultural press, as well as the daily
press, has called due attention to the
fact that Prof. Willie M. Hays, late of
the Minnesota agricultural college, has
been made assistant secretary of agri-
culture and stationed at Washington,
d. G. | take special pleasure in call
ing attention to him, because he is an
old friend of ours. My wife and
knew him when he was farmer boy
i'll the Hawkeye state. He was born
in Hardin county, Iowa, and was edu-
Gated. at Oskaloosa college, Drake uni
versity and Iowa agricultural college.
The writer of these notes served as
trustee of Oskaloosa college for twelve
years ard as regent of Drake univer-
sity six, resigning when he came to
Washington. 1t was while a student
in the Iowa agricultural college that
young Hays began the work of expert
menting that has made him famous.
A friend of Mr.. Hays and of the
writer's as well, who resides in Wash
ington City, has written the following
discriminating testimony to the sue
cess of our friend:
"At that time the average yield of wheat
in Iowa to the was fourteen bushels.
Tt should be at least twenty-five said
young Hays, and set to work to learn how
to make the increase. All previous expert
ments had been with a view of improving
the soil, but Mr. Hays determined that he
would try the plan of improving the seed.
He wrote to every wheat-producing country
in the world, and secured over one thousand
samples. In the meantime he had been
ample opportunities for carrying on his
work. He planted his choice seed in sepa-
rate plots and tended them carefully select
ing from each the best seed for replanting.
He crossed the pollen and produced hybrds
harder and better than any of the original
varieties. This work of hybrdizing and
selection went until at last his efforts
were crowned by the production of two
varieties Minnesota 1853 and Minnesota
169. each of which yielded on the univer-
sity farm five bushels an acre more than the
ordinary blue STEM which was the favor