The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1908-09-25
WINTER WHEAT
FOR N. D. FARMERS

/
Commissioners Of Agriculture w. c
Gilbreath. who has been attending diff
| ferent state and county fairs in Wis
consin. Illinois and Indiana with thu
North Dakota exhibit stopped Off Al
Fargo today on his return to Bis.
marck to attend to some Official bust.
ness previous TO going to Springfield
| Ill. to be present at the state fair Il
be held in that city.
In an interview with a Forum re.
porter Commissioner Gilbreath stated
that while in Chicago he secured 10t
bushels of winter wheat which ne de.
sired to put out to the farmers n
different parts of this state While
he admitted that It might be a little
late to SOW winter wheat, vet 1t was
not too late to test the virtue and
value OF this seed.
He said: There is no product Of
the Garth upon which the material
welfare and the very existence of mar
is so absolutely dependent upon as
wheat ard that while the consumption
of it is gradually increasing the yield
is stcac:ly decreasing
He further said that cas- q matter
Of fact the serious trouble encounter
ed by the wheat raisers OF Norsh
Dakota was that the wheat matured
too late as q consequence 1t suffered
from the excessive hot weather during
the latter part of July and the first
part of August. What was needed
was a wheat that would be
rsady for harvest the rirst part OF
July and he thought he had secured
1t and 1t only remained forethose in
terested to make the test and demon
strate the wisdom or Sallacy of his
conclusion"
Mr. Gilbreath exhibited samples OF
this wheat which has a red color
slightly larger grain than our wheat
and is very plump. He stated that
before making arrangements with the
Chicago parties for the wheat he
made thorough investigation of the
subject and had experts go with him
and pass Judgment upon the same
and these men advised him to make a
test of 1T in North Dakota, as other
parties were doing in Illinois, Mich
igan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska,
Kansas and other western states.
In a pamphlet issued it states
that Mr.. M. Al. Carleton, the cerealist
of the bureau of plant industry said !:
"It had been the experience of the
United States department of agricul-
ture that when any new seed had re-
produced itself for three years in sue
cession 1t could be absolutely relied
upon as distinct and permanent var,
iety."
Mr. Carleton was sufficiently inter
ested in the wheat to send his as
sistant, H A. Miller, to make a thor
ough investigation OF it and the fol-
lowing is his report: KE s4,r
''The wheat described In this brief
report has been propagated from a
single plant which came from an I'M
known source having come up in the
garden in Mr.. Steers place in 1904.
at has been grown in the nursery
every year since that time, and has
also been grown under field conditions
the last two years (1906 and 1900
giving excellent results. The yield
has been from two to three times the
yield of other varieties grown on the
same farm under the same conditions
OF culture, except the rate of seeding,
which was two pecks per acre, which
latter is a common practice of farm
ers in that locality One of the dis
tinguishing characteristics of this
variety is its abundant stooIing habit
which enables a single plant to occu
by a comparatively large space zap
proximately IL inches to the plant, }
ard in that way makes a thick stand
from small amount of seed to be
sown. There have been no expert
ments to determine definitely the
amount of seed to be sown per acre
for the best results, but enough has
already been done to show that much
less than one-half the amount of seed
required by other varieties will give
good stand under field conditions al
the rate of two pecks per acre, from
twenty to fifty heads per plant were
produced. while in the breeding fifty
to 100 heads per plant were not an
uncommon average.
The number of heads per plant var,
with the rate of seeding and fertility
of the soil. The straw is large, stir
and stands well without lodging. Tn,
growth of straw is quite uniform
that is, nearly all heads are the sam.
height giving the field an even ap,
pearance. The average height thi;
year 1907) was four feet and -four
! inches; the heads average four ans
bali inches in length: are bearded
and have a smooth white chaff, ant
usually have three grains per spike
| let. The grain has a red color, Il
rather hard; the size is perhaps
| slightly larger than the grain OF tn
! other varieties of wheat, and thu
wheat weighs sixty three pounds pc
| bushel Cor three pounds to the bushe
more than ordinary wheat.) MILLING
tests have been made of this wfea
and its quality seems to be as good !
! nor superior to other varieties o
wheat With seed propagated fron
u single plant selection, and with tn
must remarkable results obtained II
the find OF the past two seasons. Tia
variety can be highly recommended a
a seed wheat
/ This report OF Mr. Miller's wa
/ made in October, 1907 The crop thl
year was phenomenal and clearly jus
/ titles Mr.. Cartoons statement tina
when any new seed had reproduced II
4 self for three years in succession
could be absolutely relied upon as
distinct and permanent variety.
This wheat is being cultivated !
many different ways in different sec
tions,the general method being to dri
Ut in twelve inches apart which
done BY setting your drill at bushe
and stopping up every other spou
i Others are planting 1t as they woul
$500, and so,,a and All are meeting wit