The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-02-13
RUSTED SEED
WHEAT

~ go 49, ----.---- ..Ef.
A Treatise By Henry L. Bolley, Bot.
anlst, North Dakota Experiment Sta.
tien.
Many farmers Of this state and Of
western Minnesota are In doubt as to
what they should do to procure seed
wheat for next season. Every farmer
ought to study this seed question be-
cause 1t means much to him and to the
state as a whole. Rust has shriveled
the grain in many parts Of the state,
but one need not fear to use wheat
which has grown in rust infected
crop provided the grain is not too
much shrunken and is not otherwise
injured by moisture or other condi-
tons injurious to seed grain. Rust
does not attack the crop by way of
the seed as smut does. 1t depends
upon the weather and soil conditions
and upon the wind borne red spores
which are carried from plant to plant
and from field to field during the
growing season.
Shriveled Seed: There are, however,
localities In which the rust attack was
so severe that most wheat is badly
shriveled. The question is: Is such
grain At for seed? II one has a wheat
of good pedigree, q fine yielder, he
certainly ought to use some of it for
seed regardless of how badly 1t was
attacked by rust, for rust does not
come every year and the farmer can
not afford to lose fine strain of
wheat. AS in breeding cattle, pedi-
gree in wheat means more than all
else. My experiments, however have,
year after year, taught that light
weight grains of wheat which are
shriveled or shrunken, cannot produce
as much grain as heavy, plump, nor
mally formed ones of the same pedi-
gree. But, it may be necessary for
many farmers to sow lightweight
wheat next spring. Before giving any
argument or processes for making use
Of such seed let me here impress the
thought that it is of the utmost i'm
portance to use the plumpest, best
colored seed wheat available 1t pays.
1t does not pay to turn farming into
guessing contests or gambling opera
tons with nature.
termination of Lightweight Wheat
from a Rusted Crop: Bright colored,
otherwise uninjured, lightweight
wheat, from rusted crop terminates
freely under good soil conditions; and,
If the average weight of the grains
of sample are above one-half the
normal weight of sound wheat, will
probably produce stand when the
usual amount of seed is used per acre.
Such seeds produce thin stalked mar
row leaved plants with weak vitality
and slight powers of stooling. The
large number of grains per bushel
may in part make up for the loss in
living and stooling powers. Plants
from lightweight grains are always
liable to die If the soil happens to be
either poorly drained, heavy and cold,
or very droughty just following the
termination date.
Some Rusted Wheat Which Should
not Be Used for Seed: There are,
perhaps, hew farmers, even in the
heaviest rust districts, who have failed
to raise enough heavy wheat for seed
purposes. If there are no full weight
grains in the crop, can hardly rec
ommend it's general use for seed, be-
cause it shows that there was no rust
resistant, wheat in that field and be-
cause it will be hard to screen out
enough heavy grains to insure stand
Of strong plants. If lightweight rust
ed wheat has been subjected to much
wet, has been heated or weathered it
ought not to be used for seed. Shriv-
eled rusty wheat never properly ma
tured. It easily becomes solf and, in
the presence of moisture, loses its
growth power much sooner than
plump, hard wheat. Every farmer
who doubts that his. seed grain will
terminate and make a good strong
growth ought to try some of it in a
box of earth at once or in some SIM
pie germinator such as deep plate
or dish filled with moist sand. Try
some mature wheat with it as a check
on the trial.
Changing Seed Wheat: Our expert
mnts have also proved that 1t does not
pay to continually change seed wheat.
"a farmer cannot breed up a good pedi-
gree Of strong yielding wheat unless
he keeps his seed from year to year
and continually improves it by clean
ing and grading. II the grain from a
rusty crop has bright wheat color,
ia not soft or musty and one can
ccreen out some good wheat of or
binary weight, there are strong rea-
sons for using 1t for seed. can give
no hard fixed rule as to weight, but
recommend that grains which are to
be used for seed purposes should at
least be of three-fourths the normal
size and weight.
The Survival of the Strong: Darwin
put forth the idea that plants and ami
mails vary in nature, that no individ-
ual is ever like its parent, and that 1t
may have characters wholly different
from either Of its parents, that is, new
characters. He founded his great
idea OF the origin of species upon
these propositions, explaining that
those plants and animals are on the
earth today which happen to possess
qualities Of body and habits of life
which At the INTO resist the harsh
conditions Of nature with which they
come into contact. This is the doc
trine Of the survival Of the fittest.
The Survival of the Fittest Princi-t
pie Is Found to Be Active In Proper
Wheat Breeding Operations: Experi-
sments at this station prove that the