The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1906-03-07
A GOOD SEED CAMPAIGN.

"A recent dispatch from St. Pau
tells about q new departure in the
method of disseminating information
that is useful to farmers. The Nor.
thern Pacific railroad lie sending out
q train, known as the ''seed grain
special" which will carry a corps of
agricultural experts who will deliver
addresses upon the Importance of good
seed, and other topics Of interest to
farmers. The seed grain special will
stop at every point in the grain grow
ing sections of western Minnesota and
North Dakota that are t~raversed by
the Northern Pacific.
A good seed campaign is also being
conducted in Montana by officials of
the agricultural college, who are send.
ing out bulletins for publication 10
the newspapers. One of the circulars,
prepared by Prof. A.. Atkinson, says
there are three lines along which we
may direct our energies If we wish to
increase the returns from the farm.
These are by adding plant food ele.
ments to the soil: by adopting i'm.
proved methods of tillage, or by i'm.
proving the quality of the seed plant.
ed.
Throughout Montana there is room
for considerable improvement in the
quality Of seed grain sown. The elm.
ate is such as to produce a high
quality Of grain and too frequently
selection, in order hat only the best
may be sown, is entirely overlooked.
10 a recent publication by the depart.
ment Of agriculture at Washington, a
comparison is made of the price per
bushel Of the grains that would &C.
tually germinate in high and low
priced seed, as offered on a certain
market. 1t was found that the high
priced seed quoted at Sl.5O per bushel
ost actually $1.65 for seed that would
give 100 per cent. g~ermination: while
the low priced seed which was sold at
$l.OO cost actually a few cents over
VIc'OO PCI Justify IOl VIC SCCu tIluL
grew. While this may be an extreme
case, it illustrates what Is usually a
fact, viz: That low grade seeds are
by far the most expensive, as our
crop m only from seeds that
grow.
The increasing Of the amount of seed
per acre sown Ia often resorted to as q
means of off setting the disadv antages
OF inferior seed. While this may en-.
able to get enough good seeds sown,
yet the crowding that comes as . re.
suit Of the many weak plants that start
from the inferior seeds seriously han.
dicaps the growing crop. Again when
any considerable area is OWE the in.
creased amount of seed grain neces-
sary is q factor. Investigations have
proven that much better returns are
from two bushels of cleaned
seed than from three bushels Of un.
cleaned seed grain. This saving of
one bushel per acre would itself on q
AOEUy uCIC nCIu oLIOuuo ' " CuOuSu w
pay for the cleaning of the seed, to
say nothing of the increased yield that
comes when only good seed is sown.
The belief that seeds deteriorate or
''run OUT when grown on the same
soil for a number Of years, is q com.
accepted one. The 1905 annual
report of the Ontario experimental
farm presents some results which
throw light on this problem. The
same varieties Of oats, barley and po.
tatoes have been grown on that farm
for the past Ii years without the addi-
ton Of fertilizers. The seed in each
case was carefully cleaned every year.
The results show that in every in.
stance there has been u steady increase
in the yield. In the case of oats the
yield has increased from ~ to 100
bushels per acre, with barley from 80
to 63 bushels per acre, ana with pota-
toes l2O to 249 bushels per acre.
These figures show quite clearly that
it is possible to grow the same vari.
cites Of grain and potatoes on the same
farm for Il considerable number of
years without a change Of seed. They
also indicate that the running OUT
of seeds is attributed to the failure to
select carefully rather than the fact OF
being repeatedly grown on the same
ground.
NN'lll,lSl. 4 aNlN - NA0l'