The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-01-05
GOOD SEED CONTEST.
Prizes Amounting to SIS, 5000 Set Aside
for Young Farmers.

TOR Ioun9 r FARMERS.
Already $1,000 has been set aside fo
prizes for the young farmers of the state
who produce the best grains in the rura
school good seed contest to be conducted
by state agricultural authorities. 1t is
expected that hundreds of school children
will enter the contest as q result of the
| fine inducements and that the agricul-
tural interests of the state will be vast
| ly benefited by the good seed lessons
| that the rivalry will teach to young and
old farmers.
Bulletin No. 2, written by Professor
c. p Bull of the st. Anthony Park eX-
| pertinent station, is ready for distribu-
ton. This bulletin has been prepared
in accord with the movement to intro
duce agriculture in our public schools,
and is offered "as text for teachers
and pupils who are interested in the i'm
prOvement of seed and crop conditions
i'm Minnesota
What, eats, and corn are fully dis
cussed in this bulletin, and these are
the grains on which prizes will be offer
ed. In this bulletin there is chapter
on seeds; the different parts of the seed,
the termination, selection, weight
classes, etc., are discussed. Definite
rules for score cards and Judging are in
Guided for the benefit of teachers and
judges of the contest
Upon the basis of these rules con-
test will he held in each county of the
state, and the successful ones in the
county contests will ebhibit for. prizes
in the state contest. The contestants
are to be pupils of the schools, both boys
and girls. The county contests will be
under the auspices of the Farmers club
of Minnesota, while the state contest
will be under the auspicies of the Min
nesota Field Crop Breeders association
Professor Bull declares the crops of
these three grains in Minnesota are
small compared with the acreage. For
instance he cites the United Kingdom
as raising thirty,two bushels of wheat to
the acre. Minnesota raises l4.26 bushels,
while the United. States raises 1873 bush
els. The low Yield he says is largely
due to improper care in selecting the
grain used for seed. BY the use of we'll
selected seed the yield can be very much
increased. The experiment station has
shown that by selecting the largest,
plumpest and heaviest matured seeds,
the yield can be increased. If this were
done by every farmer in the state, the
yearly income from wheat, oats and corn
would be greatly increased with very
little extra expense.
The bulletin contains a short chapter
on the three grains, written in a style
that can be easily understood by pupils
and teachers. The history of the grains.
descriptions. types, how to grow, uses
of the grain, and judging are taken up
in order and treated simply. Stress is
laid on the method of judging grain,
and score cards are given for each with
concise explanations for using.
The last chapter treats of crop rota-
ton and field management. Plans and
maps are numerous in this chapter. In
fact, the whole bulletin is well Illus
trated, thus making it a suitable text
book for a young class of students. In
regard to the prizes, meetings, etc., any
one wishing further information is re-
Guested to write to Professor d. ID.
Wayne, principal of the School of Agri-
culture, St. Anthony Park, MINI.