The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1905-03-24
GRADING SEED GRAIN.
Practical Suggestions by Prof.. j. n.
Shepherd Of the North Dakota Aqri-
cultural ColIeqe.

cultural College.
l do not advocate sowing badly
shrunken, weak seed grain, and very
few of you will have to do that, even
if you use seed from your own neigh
borhood, if you will grade it up with
a tanning mill. 1t will pay you to
screen out the poorest half of the
wheat you use for seed, even when you
use wheat grown in a good season. II
you do not think it will amount to any,
thing, try it with fine sample Of
wheat and measure a thimble full of
the grain from each side of your fan
ming mill and see which pile has the
most berries in it. You will find that
you have increased the size of your
seed and that it will pay you we'll for
your trouble. This year when your
wheat is shrunken by reason of the
rust attack until some of it is too thin
and shrunken to be At for seed, screen
out the poor berries until you have
only the plumpest third or fifth of it,
and use that for seed. In that way you
will get seed which will have good
growing strength and it will keep you
in stock of a kind which you know is a
good yielder, and which has given you
good grading crop in the past.
Breed Wheat as You Do Live Stock.
The principle which you are using
is the same as you have been accus-
toned to all your life in breeding live
stock. 1t is the same process as saw.
ing your best heifers and cows, and of
securing the best bull that you can
find. If you have poor strain of
wheat, get good one, and then grade
your seed each year by screening out
the smaller half of the kernels and you
will improve it. Have piece of
ground that is in good condition in
every way, and particularly one that
is free from weeds, and SOW the very
best of your wheat upon it to grow
seed grain from the next year. That
is the way to make pedigreed wheat,
and the way to keep up a good strain
of seed. Seed will not run out" in
North Dakota if you handle it in that
way.
Grow Seed on Fallow, Corn or Pota.
to Ground.-Your seed should be
grown upon fallow, corn or potato
ground of the year before to avoid
volunteer grain from the previous year
sprnging up among it and forming
mixed sample of seed. Durum or mac
afoni wheat readily becomes mixed
with bread wheat, and heavy loss re-
suits AS the miller cannot manufacture
the mixed grain into -four to good ad-
vantage, and in consequence the price
of it is reduce don the market. This
is good season to get the fife or blue
stem seed out of your durum or maca-
roni sample, as the common wheat was
shrunken by rust so badly last year
that it can readily be screened cut by
the use of the tanning mill. After you
get it clean, keep it free from admix-
cure.
Select the Heavy Berries for Seed-
Some people think that screening
out the small berries will make the
wheat run into softer or lower grading
kinds, and it may have that tendency.
You can avoid that effect by throwing
wheat from the open palm distance
OF twenty to thirty feet upon tight
floor. You will find that the heavier
berries will 60 farther than the light
er ones, and by taking the outer rim
of the resulting pile you will improve
the grade of your seed.
Similar results can be obtained by
rcS, 1,n vi ~ to-
tanning mill when you are cleaning
and grading your seed.