The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-01-26
Practical Talks to the Farmers
on Grain Raising.
HOW TO SECURE BIG CROPS.
Professors From The Agricultural Col
lege Address Crowds in Several
Blue Earth County Towns.


ton good seed train left Minneapolis at
seven o'clock over the Chicago, st. Paul
Milwaukee and Omaha railway, made
their first stop at Belle PLANE. The
train was in charge of j. j. Quinn, Sec
rotary of the association and on board
were the following party Professor An.
drew Boss, agriculturist, and Professor
C. P. Bull, assistant agriculturist of the
Minnesota Agricultural college at St
Anthony Park; L. B. Bassett, foreman
of the experiment station at ST. An
thony Park; w. III. Chambers of Mime
apolis, manager of the Peavy Elevator
company; j. j. O'Neil of St. James, as.
sistant superintendent of the Omaha
George III. Kirk, travelling freight agent
of the Omaha. Professor w. A. Wheeler
and assistants of the South Dakota
state Agricultural college of Bookings
will join the train Saturday morning at
Sioux Falls, S. d.
When the train reached Belle Plaine
about ninety farmers had gathered at
the depot to hear the lecture on "Seed
Grain" A small platform was erected
in the end of coach and the hearers
were all comfortably seated in the car
Professor Boss gave them a very inter-
esting one-hour talk. The train arrived
at lie Sueur at ILL a. m., and throno
of farmers were addressed at Shows
opera house by Professor Bull. At 1885
p. m. the train reached st. Peter and
about one hundred farmers gathered in
the coach and listened to a talk by L. B.
Bassett. The instructors illustrated
their talks with charts and many sam
pies of poor and good wheat and corn
were shown.
The train stopped at Mankato at / :35
p. m. and Messrs. Palmer and Crandall
of the Hubbard Milling company, and
}. M. Wiser, representing The Free
Press, and Ted Richter, looking after the
Reviews interests, accompanied the par
ty on their journey. Messrs. Palmer,
Wiser and Richter returned home from
Amboy but Mr.. Crandall will accompany
the party on the entire trip.
The train speeded on to Lake Crystal
and reached that village at 2:25 D. m.
Professor c.. p. Bull delivered the fol-
lowing address to two hundred farmers
who assembled at the opera house:
Seeds consist essentially of an embryo
or germ, an endosperm and a seed
coat. These three parts are in direct re-
lation to each other and are subject to
the effects of the soil and climate upon
the parent plants.
The germ is the living portion of the
seed and consists of plantlet embedded
in and attached to a cheese-like struc-
ture, which feeds the little plant during
the very first stages of termination. The
little plant is perfect in every way. A
stem and root development is plainly
visible to the naked eye in kernel of
corn that has been split in two length
wise through the center of the germ.
A good germ should be rich and bright
colOred and large. Small germs indi-
cate stunted vitality and should be
avoided.
The endosperm, or stored up plant
food, comprises the larger part of the
seed, and consists mostly of starchy ma
terials. In some seeds this starch is
very soft and powdery, which in. others
it is hard or horny in texture. In corn
these two kinds are often noticed in
the same kernel On the outside of this
starchy material and under the seed coat
there is stored very thin layer of
food, in which there is high per cent
of nitrogen. Both the starchy portion
and this heterogeneous material are stor-
ed in the seed for food for the little
plant during the first days of it's growth,
until the roots and leaves have been
sufficiently developed to nourish the
plant.
Take two common plates and get two
pieces of cotton cloth about the size of
the plates. Dip the cloths in warm wa
ter and spread one of them on a plate.
From the seed that is to be tested take
q handful and place on the table. Count
out one hundred seeds just as they come
from the edge of the pile. Scatter these
100 seeds upon the wet, cloth on the
plate. Spread the other cloth over the
seeds and press it down closely. Then
turn the other plate upside down on
the plate with the seeds, leaving the
corners of the cloths sticking out be-
tween the plates. This makes COM
plete little tester and is sufficient for
all kinds of seeds. Place it where it
will keep reasonably warm and keep the
cloths moist by sprinkling with water
two OF three times day if necessary.
Count carefully and keep a record of
the number of seeds that have sprouted
each day until the test is complete, or
until no more seeds show signs of life.
A week is as long as this should take.
1t may be easy or difficult for the