The San Francisco call., 1905-03-17
DEYISINC PLAN
FOR HUSBANDRY
Promotion Committee Holds
That Benefit Will Come
by Use of Crop Trains
ADOPTS AN IOWA IDEA
Railroad Companies Asked
to Make Move Tending to
Improve State Outlook

The California Promotion Commit
tee is taking UP the matter of having
a husbandry special for California.
The proposed special will be along the
lines of the corn gospel train in Iowa
and Middle Western States, which have
been conducted with astonishing sue
cess. 1t is proposed that this hus-
bandry special shall include the farm
ers Institutes of the University of Cal
ifornia. About 40 California cities
are now visited by the farmers insti-
tute and the husbandry special will
permit the extension of the institute
work.
President Benjamin Ide Wheeler of
the University of California and Pro-
fessor E. j. Wickson, who has the di-
rection of the farmers Institutes,
have expressed themselves as heartily
in favor of the crop and husbandry
special. Owing to the fact that condi-
tions in California are different from
those in Iowa, where the corn gospel
train has made it's appearance, the
work of the California husbandry spe-
cial will probably be upon lines bet
ter adapted to conditions in Califor-
MIA. In Iowa corn has been given,
special attention. but in California
there is no one crop which predom-
mates TO the exclusion of all others.
from seed selection and planting spe-
cial attention will be given to dairy
ing and the raising of minor livestock.
CAR OF EXHIBITS.
The California crop and husbandry
special will probably contain a car of
exhibits showing how best results are
obtained and will also be accom-
panied by specialists of the various
lines of agriculture in the University
of California, who will lecture on the
different subjects, and there will
probably also be many others who
have attained special success in va
rious lines of agriculture.
The corn gospel train of the Uni
versity of Iowa was first started as the
result of the success of Professor P.
G.. Holden of Iowa. who showed the
farmers the benefits to be derived by
sowing good seed and interested the
railroad companies to such an ex-
tent that they provided special trains
in order that the work might be more
widely extended. To-day there are a
number of gospel trains going through
the Middle West. and a potato special
is one of the latest in Nebraska.
The railroads in Iowa furnish these
special trains for this work without
cost to the State. This means an ex-
penditure of thousands of dollars by
the railroad companies. which should
open the eyes of the skeptical farmer
to the fact that there is something in
the doctrine of selecting and planting
good seed. The railroad companies
figure that wherever the corn gospel
train goes there is a prospective in
crease in the corn crop and a corre-
spending increase in crop hauling,
which increases the revenue of the
railroads.
SEED CORN THEORY.
Professor Holden first proved the
success of the seed corn theory in a
series of experiments at the Iowa Ag-
ricultural College. Last spring he visit
ed about thirty farms near the col
lege taking samples or the various
seed corn that the farmers had. He
planted these samples in one field so
that the conditions of soil. weather and
treatment would be equal. The yield
in the fall ranged from S5 to 70 bushels
an acre and the proportion of seed that
terminated averaged from SO per cent
to less than so per cent. This showed
that had care been exercised in select
ing and planting the seed corn the
yield would have been a uniform 70
bushels to the acre. The difference be-
tween good seed and bad had cost the
careless farmers SIS an acre on one
years crop. The farmers of Iowa put
into practice the teachings of Professor
Holden with the result that from $780,
900, 900 bushels of corn produced in 1908
the yield grew in 1904 to S25, 5,000,000