The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-31

ed price. but, like Adams. he was SELL
ing II only for seed. His was the
mummy wheat"
Some years later another benefactor
sprung up in Virginia with another
wheat that was going to prove a boon
to the farmer and the salvation of the
miller. His wheat possessed all the
characteristics of the mummy wheat"
of old and the Alaska wheat of to-
day, but it went on the market as
miracle wheat" and was sometimes
known as Seven head wheat" getting
this latter name from the size of the
head. This Virginia benefactor is re-
ported to have made a great success
with his wheat. for he sold out his en-
tire crop, with exclusive rights, to
Chicago concern for the handsome sum
of $3.50, 900. When the Chicago buyers
took their wheat to the mill they con-
Guided they had bought a gold brick.
Their wheat possessed very low milling
qualities, and was inferior to all the
standard wheats of the day, though
handsomer in appearance. because
much larger. 1t was a starchy wheat,
but contained little glutin.
Agricultural scientists have ways of
their own of Identifying different
grains. The best men in this line are
employed by the government, and these
grain experts, under Secretary Wilson,
have made a study of Farmer Adams
Alaska wheat" and unite in declaring
it to be the same identical grain that
that was exploited here and in France
more than a generation ago.
Gives Good Impression.
That it is a big, handsome grain
they admit; that a farmer, looking
over a field, might naturally coZslude
that il would return phenomenal yield
per acre they also admit, but that it
has qualities making it desirable they
deny. Conceding that alaska wheat"
as claimed by Farmer Adams, will
yield from 100 TO 200 bushels to the
acre, the grain experts of the depart
ment declare that it is not as good as
investment as the standard wheats
grown throughout the United States.
An acre of Alaska wheat" whether
the yield be 200 bushels or less, has less
value at the mill than forty bushels,
or even twenty bushels, of standard
hard wheat of a recognized variety.
Many mills absolutely refuse to buy
this mammoth Alaska wheat" and
others grade it very low, and pay for
II accordingly. 1t is not adapted 10
flour making. and reputable manufac-
turers will have nothing to do with it.
But the department does not concede
that Alaska wheat will run 200, or
even 100, bushels to the acre, and ii is
believed Farmer Adams will reduce his
claim later on. He merely estimated
his crop, say the officials. figuring that
one head Of Alaska wheat was eQui-
valent in bulk to seven heads of stand
ard wheat, a basis which they claim is
far from accurate. 1t is admitted that
the yield may be unusually heavy, but
how great 1t is the department is not
now ready to say. 1t contents itself
with the declaration that, regeSdless
of yield, Alaska wheat" is less valu-
able than the standard grains, and is
a poor investment for the farmer, even
If he buys II at current wheat prices.
The agricultural department is going 10
learn more about the production of Alas
ka wheat" than 1t knows now. w. NJ.
Jardine. one Of the grain specialists of
cereals, has been instructed to go to Ju-
haetta to make thorough study of the
Adams farm and the production of
Alaska wheat" He will ascertain for
himself how heavy the yield actually is,
under what conditions the grain is grown.
whether the soil Is especially fertiliZed or
i'm its natural condition and az manner
of things about the cultivation of this
years crop. 1t may be, say the officials
that Farmer Adams has a show plot
where his best wheat was grown, and that
fertilized so as to increase the yield. Or
II may be the wheat was sown by hand
in rows, rather than broadcast-a custom
that is sometimes resOrted to by the in
tensified farmers of France-in order TO
increase the yield. While special cultiva-
ton of this character Increased produc-
ton, the cost of production is always in
creased out of all proportion to the mar
ket price Except in instances where the
grain will bring s. quart or $50 busheD.
AS to Yields.
As a matter of fact, the department of
agriculture regards forty bushels to the
acre as an exceptionally good yield of
wheat: sixty bushels is very extraordinary
and the records of the department show
that ninety bushels to the acre is the
heaviest yield known where wheat was
grown for market. That maximum was
attained in France, where wheat was
sown by hand. in rows, each grain planted
individually, the grains six inches or more
apart in rows. Wheat sown in this way,
known as ''stoOling." sends up half
dozen to twenty stalks, with as many
heads, but the heavy cost of planting
makes this process impractical in this