Free press., 1906-10-20
VALUE OF GOOD SEED WHEAT
KANSAS FARMERS PROFIT BY
SANTA FE'S WHEAT TRAIN.
Excellent Results from State Asrieui-
turaI College Lectures in South
west kansas-Great Demand
for Better Seed.

great deal OF seed wheat into the
Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe country
OF southwest Kansas this fall. This
distribution means better wheat in
quality and quantity in that section
next year. and is the direct result OF
the wheat train" which the Santa
Fe sent over its southwest lines in
August, carrying lecturers on wheat
culture from the state agricultural
college. It was an expedition that
cost the company a sum of money
and was not in the immediate line of
railroad companys business. but +
1t adds to the crop production of the
territory covered. which undoubtediy
1t will. the reward Of the enterprise
will be increased freight receipts and
added population later on. which
mean improved traffic for the com
pany, and traffic is what all well con
Quoted railways seek.
We have sent from the expert
ment station here a great deal of seed
wheat into that country" said Prof
John II. Miller. superintendent of
farmers Institutes and extension
work of the college. who had charge
or the train, to a reporter to-day.
Requests for seed came so quickly.
following the expedition, that we
know our words fell upon thoughtful
minds. and naturally we are pleased.
Added to this. these requests continue
to come in. which also is gratifying,
although / am sorry to say our supply
OF seed is limited. Next year We ex-
pect TO be better provided
Il use the pronoun we. because,
you know, there were four OF us on
the train. The lecturers were Prof.
A M Ten Eyek. professor of agron-
omy and superintendent OF the farm,
and his assistant, Prof V. M. Shoe
smith, and Prof. j. T. Williams. pro-
lessor OF agricultural chemistry. My
duties chiefly were to start the meet
ings and Introduce the lecturers. We
had two cars, and in each u professor
spoke, while a third addressed the
overflow outside. Afterward, we dis
tributed our literature and the train
moved on. We went over the Engle-
wood branch and over all the other
Santa Fe lines south of the Arkansas
river We also went over the Scott
City branch and over other lines
farther east, concluding the weeks
work at Florence. Our meetings uni
formly were large. At Little River
We had $50 people and at Mcpherson
the crowd was so large that we ad-
jOurned to the city park. In all, we
had nearly 40 meetings.
I'VE found a great wheat country
that is, great country for wheat,
if the farmers will take advantage of
it. The country is better than the
wheat it produces. What all wheat
countries need is good seed. good
seed bed, and fertile soil. The farm
er cannot maintain soil fertility, no
matter how new his land may be-
What crop extracts from soil must
be restored. This is no less impor
tant than good seed and Il good seed
bed.
Good seed means more than seed
that will sprout and grow. 1t means
well-bred wheat adapted to the eli
matte and soil conditions of the To-
cality. Crops must be grown and
bred in the regions where they are
intended to be grown Drought-re-
slstant crops cannot be produced or
bred in humid regions. Very little
has been done in the way of breeding
or adapting crops to western farming
conditions.
1T is the business of the several
Kansas experiment stations to ad-
vance seed selection and propagation,
and distribute the production. In
| 1905 we sold to the farmers 500 bush
els of seed wheat. and this year we
will do better.
Perhaps breeding and improving
seed and establishing now varieties
may better be left TO the experiment
stations, but every farmer. by setting
aside a seed patch may at least
keep his wheat from deterioratine and
| even improve it by little care. The
first step is to get seed adapted to
his soil and climate. and after that
| TO select fer the seed parch' oPly the
longest, heaviest and plumpe3t grains.
How 10 prepare the seed patch
we told the farmers when we were ON
our expedition, and we also told them
| of the value OF conserving soil moist
ure. and OF the great necessity OF
maintaining soil fertility. An object
lesson OF the great value OF these
things is measured acre Of wheat
grown in 1905 by the agronomy de-
partment CT the Kansas State ALricul-
tural college. This one yielded S.5l6
pounds of grain. or 5S.6 bushels.
| Twelve acres of the same field Yield
ed more than 80 bushels per acre.
"A farmer. with his large acreage
and multitude of duties, cannot do
so well as this, but he can do much
better than an average of a fraction
more than 1S bushels, which has been
the average in Kansas: and am sure
il the Santa Fe perseveres in the good
work 1t has undertaken. southwest
Kansas soon VIII increase its average
| OF wheat production. Certainly il
VIII have the aid of the experiment
stations Of this institution. and if /
may Ju6ge from requests for seed
wheat since our lecture expedition
out there. the first returns wiz come
la 1897
Petroleum Laye Dust
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