The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-24
AGRICULTURAL.
WHEAT GROWING CONTINUED. !.


In 1904 one of my old neiehbors. now
living in Nashville. threshed on MS Aariii
In hurry county, Tenn, an average u
fcrty-two bushels. per acre of hne wheat
from field of over one hundred aeres'
There is another-thought In eonneclloh
With this experiment that snouid not De
overlooked which is this: or the many
samples of wheat sent to me by the ue-
partnent of agriculture the one alluded
to above was the only sample that proved
to be Of any value IN that section. And
this bring up another thought. VI VAR
cites 1t is just as important that the
farmer make a wise selection ana pro
cure the variety that is best suited to his
soil and climate as it is for him to select
the hest seed. A variety that would
prove valuable in one section might be
worthless in another
Had we given up with our failure In the
first experiment with seed sent us by
the department 1t would have been a great
loss to the farmers of middle Tennessee.
In many sections of the state the same
variety Is still being grown. The seed
kept pure and bred up to high stan
dard is vet after twenty-five years have
passed away one of the best varieties of
wheat in this state. This also shows how
much good may result from a very small
effort. Recently while attending a great
convention of the leading millers of the
country, where the question of seed came
UP, one member arose and said That he
lad been in correspondence with the De-
partment of Agriculture at Washington
and some one had written him that pure
seed wheat of very best quality could
be secured in Tennessee. We could not
refrain from feeling a share in the COM
pfIment.
But wheat is not the only seed that the
writer has been engaged in experiment
ing with. We have conducted expert
ments with many seed crops and one
more experiment we wish to mention TO
more freely show the value and impor-
lance of careful breeding and selection
of seed While on the farm among other
things had bred up here was very
fine stock of tomatoes. This variety of
tomato was put out to seedsmen, who
claim to have kept It pure and many OF
them advertise 1t with high praises. This
year. 1905. the old love IF the farm be-
came so strong that we bought a lit
tie place and moved back to the coun-
try. The first thing was to hire man
to carry on our old line of work, that
of conducting experiments. Among the
many good things that we wanted to
grow was our old tomato. Whites Excel
sior This was secured from several
seedsmen who, stated above, wereiad-
vertislng 1t, and we planted it with the
best OF care In due time. After the plants
should have been up my man said to
me: THAT tomato seed was no good
there Is only here and there a puny plant
on the bed"
Plants From Old Seed.
Now when We left the farm we had a
great many seed on hand; these were
put into a trunk and almost forgotten.
So when the tomato seed tailed we opened
up this trunk of old seed to see what
We had. In looking over them we came to
a package labeled, "Tomato-Whites Ex-
celsior-From Cut Stock Growth, 1891"
The beds were dug up and planted to
seed from this package. In few weeks
while back at home my man said 81, have
fine stand of plants from that old to-
mato seed; come and look at them"
Now, here were beds of plants from seed
more than seven years old. But the curl
osity of the reader may be aroused 70
know what that label on the package |
meant. 1t was my trade mark or guide, !
and when that label appeared on that |
package, we knew at once how that seed |
was saved and the kind of stock it was |
selected from. The seed in that package |
was saved by my going through my field |
of tomatoes and selecting first plants with |
q growth to suit me. After locating such |
plants the next thing to look for was ideal |
specimens of fruits that had the size and
shape and showed all the marks of faith
fulness to the type. Perhaps from<an acre
q dozen fruits were selected. These were |
placed after being gathered in safe
place to fully ripen, and left until they
began to decay; then they were cut open, |
the see1 pressed out and the next day
washed oue and placed in a safe place in
the shade to dry. This is what that label !
means when it says From cut stock
All seed used for planting n8 crops was
saved in the same way, even to the field |
pumpkins. By this careful breeding and
selection of seed we won the record of !
growing the largest crop of tomatoes ever
grown in the United States-1200 bushels |
on one acre.
This careful selection of seed will again |
enable us to stock up and to give to the |
farmers again one of the best tomatoes |
ever introduced into this country Com |
pare this select seed with that which is
saved for commercial purposes
This pedigreed seed is the kind we want |
our farmers to plant. Much pure seed can
be grown on your own farms. and If you |
will only spend small portion of your
time at the farmers institute we will give |
you the information free. When you hear |
that an agricultural commissioner is to |
visit your town to deliver a lecture on |
these practical topics free or any charge |
to YOU do like the German farmer re- |
ferred to above, come and bring all the |
boys, and we will tell you how to grow |
and save your seed on your own farm, as
we'll as many other practical things which |
1t is possible for you to do.
There is much more that could be said |
j
getting quite lengthy for a bulletin, and
we will close by saying again If we are to |
grow fine crops on well prepared soils we
must use good pedigreed seed, change |
often and keep our seed stock bred up |
Just the same as the stock farmer keeps |
his horses, cattle and other ANNALS. We |
know that the practical stock breeder
would not breed from the same male year I
after year for ten years. yet there Is just |
as much common sense in his doing so as
there is for a grain farmer planting the |
same seed year after year on the same |
soil.
When to Sow.
This important matter has to be de- |
termined largely by local conditions. In |
sections where spring wheat is used it is
best to SOW as early in the spring as the |
frost is out of the ground and the soil |
becomes dry enough to work.
Where fall wheat is grown it may be |
sown in late summer and fall. the time
rauping from the middle of July to and |