Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-03-30
SEED WHEAT.
Continued from page u


resist adverse conditions, which may
be represented by 100. If for any
reason, the seed receives only SO per
cent of the required amount of plant
food and becomes shrunken and Of
lightweight, it will be unable to give
the plant sufficient start and vitality
to produce crop of 100 value.
"On the other hand because OF the
weaker vitality the plant is not able
to withstand the unfavorable soil
and climatic conditions and the raw
ages of disease. Thus with favorable
conditions it would be possible to
produce a crop of 80 per cent value
but with unfavorable conditions the
value would again be lessened and
there is a chance that the crop
would be total failure. People are
constantly in contact with the
germs of many diseases but seldom
succumb unless their vitality health)
is poor; in other words, unless their
systems are run down by overwork,
colds or from some other cause. So
it is with the grain: The more Wig
orous and healthy the plant the bet
ter able it is to hold up under the
effects of rust and other diseases.
Hence it is obvious that field of
wheat from poorly matured kernals
of weak vitality can not be expected
to do, nor will it do, as we'll as a
field from well matured, vigorous
seed.
"The division of agriculture is
making tests to determine the GER
mination value and character of the
rusted wheat and of the plants from
such seed. In every instance, SO far
as the work has progressed, the ger
mination has been less than that of
good seed and less that from selected
seeds of the poor lot. The average
termination of poor wheat was 50
per cent, while the termination from
graded or selected seeds was 80 per
cent. The difference is not great
but it gives an advantage which, fol-
lowed up by the appearance of the
plants, substantiates the consensus
of opinion that the rusted wheat,
unsolicited, is unfit for seed The
plants which have been grown from
the inferior seeds were universally
J slenderer, narrow -leaved, and showed
less vigor than those from good seed
planted and cared for under exactly
similar conditions.
Scan any good seed be secured
from the low grade, shrunken ,rusted
wheat, or would it be best to get a
change of seedF There are probably
few instances where it is not posi-
BILE the farmer to get enough good
seed form the rusted fields to plant
his fields. Wheat that would grade
only No. OF A at the elevator would
have from 10 to 20 per cent or more
of good, plump, mature grain,
though the other 80 per cent or rs
per cent would be practically use
less. Wherever it is possible. to get
at lest 10 per cent of good heavy
grain from such bulk grain, farmer
can do no better that secure a fan
ming mill and save this ten or more
per cent from his seed. BY so doing
there is Double gain; first, the seed
secured is thoroughly adapted to the
local soil and climatic conditions. In
this re jpect it would be far superior
to any newly introduced variety
from neighboring county or state.
Experiments have proven with
thorough satisfaction, that it does
not generally pay to change seed
from one locality to another, at least
for the major part of the crop.
Farmers should be slow to give up
the staid and tried varieties that
have been adapted to their local con-
ditions SO long and give place to
some untried sort that may or may
not prove better than the old stock.
A plant is not possessed of the power
OF Immediately becoming accus-