The Chanute times., 1906-10-19
VALUE OF GOOD SEED WHEAT
KANSAS FARMERS PROFIT BY
SANTA FE'S WHEAT TRAIN.
Excellent Results from State Agrieul-
tural College Lectures In South.
west kansas-Great Demand
for Better Seed.

located ON the farm of the Kansas
State Agricultural college; has sent a
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 it's southwest lines In
August, carrying lecturers on wheat
culture from the state agricultural
college. 1t was an expedition that
cost the company sum Of money
and was not in the immediate line Of
a railroad company's business. but II
it adds to the crop production of the
territory covered, which undoubtedly
it 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 we'll con-
Quoted railways seek.
I'VE have sent from the expert.
ment station here great deal of seed
wheat into that country" said Prof.
John H. Miller, superintendent Of
farmers institutes and extension
work of the college, who had charge
of the train, to 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.
81 use the pronoun 'we,' because,
you know, there were four of us on
the train. The lecturers were Prof.
A. NJ 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-
fessor of agricultural chemistry. My
duties chiefly were to start the meet
ings and introduce the lecturers. We
had two cars, and in each 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 4S0 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 good seed
bed.
Good seed means more than seed
that will sprout and grow. 1t means
well-bred wheat adapted to the cli-
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-
sistant 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 600 bush.
els of seed wheat, and this year we
will do better.
Perhaps breeding and improving
betu anu CoIoOiioulhei hCN 'diiObiOa
may better be left to the experiment
stations. but every farmer, by setting
aside a seed patch may at leas,
keep his wheat from deteriorsting and
even improve 1t by little care. The
first step Is to get seed adapted tc
his soil and climate. and after thai
to select for the seed patch only the
longest, heaviest and plumpest grains
How to prepare the seed patch
we told the farmers when we we're or
our expedition, and we also told. then
Of the value Of conserving soil moist
ure, and of the great necessity o.
maintaining soil fertility. An objec
lesson OF the great value OF thes.
things is a measured acre OF whea
grown in 1906 by the agronomy de
partment Of the Kansas State Agricul
tural college. This one yielded 3.51,
pounds OF grain. or 5s.6 bushels
Twelve acres of the same fold yield
ed more than so bushels per acre.
"A farmer. with his large acreag,
and multitude Of duties, cannot d.
so we'll as this. but he can do mucl
better than an average Of a fraction
more than 13 bushels. which has beei
the average in Kansas: and I am sur
IL the Santa Fe perseveres In the goo,
uorh A has undertaken aouthxvas