Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-02-12
Distribution improved Seed
Wheat.

OuIluS the past elgnt yediS,
hundreds Of samples of wheat,
secured from all parts OF the
world, have been planted and
tested by the Experiment Sta
5 ton at Manhattan, Fort Hays,
and Mcpherson. 1t has been
/, the practice during the past
five years, as soon as seed OF
these varieties were shown to be
superior, to distribute it among
the farmers in the State.
On account of its general
adaptation, hardness, and good
producing qualities, as well as
its excellent flOur-making and
bread-making qualities, the Khar
kOf variety has been chosen as
general distribution, and it has
been distributed in larger qua
titles.
The kharkOf wheat was import
ed from Russia by Prof. Ne. A.
Carleton, UereallSt, u. s. Depart
ment. OF Agriculture. At the
Manhattan Station the KharkOf
wheat ranks first in average
yield for five years, 19U4-19OS,
1t is also among the highest pro-
ducers at the Ort Hays and Nc
PhersOn Stations. Farmers from
all over the State are report
ling very favOrably on the hardi-
ness and prOductiveness of this
variety. Among more than one
hundred reports received flom
growers who had secured seed
from Manhattan, only two repor,
eed unfavOrably, and one of these
: was located in Southeastern Kan
. SaS, really the soft wheat section
OF the wheat.
The Kharkof has also shown
to have excellent milling quail
, ties ranking with the best sam
piles Of other Turkey wheat mo. e
recently imported. Large guam
titles of the seed of this excel
lent wheat and smaller quanti-
ties of seed of other good ploduc
ing varieties have been distribu-
ted to every county in the state.
There were 1896 bushels distrib
uted to 638 farmers in SO coun-
ties from the Manhattan Station
alone. The Fort Hays Station
has distributed 1880. bushels, :
mostly KharkOf, to 563 purchaS-
.ers, mainly the western counties
of the State, and the Mcpherson
Station has distributed small
quantities of seed of some of the
best winter wheat. 81
Of the 1900 farmers receiving
the seed from the Experiment
Station probably two-thirds have
continued the seed distribution
work. The AgronOmy Depart
ment has encouraged this by ask
ing for reports and listing the
growers for reference to those
who make inquiry. In 1908 some
9 fifty growers were listed as hay
ing some 10000 bushels of this
seed wheat for sale. This list
, was published and widely dis
tributed through the work Of
the Farmers Institute and the
AgrOnOmy Departments of the
College. Many growers reported
that their wheat had all been
spoken for by their neighbors:
others stated that they would
need all The seed that they had
produced for their own use.
Considering the facts stated
above, it is believed to be con-
sentative estimate to sassume
that at least 100000 acres of
the Kharkof and other improv-
ed varieties of wheat are now
growing in this State. At the
rate of Is bus. per acre a 4,0OO,-
900 bushel crop of this improv-
ed wheat will be harvested next
season, or enough seed, if careful.
" distributed, to plant one
half the total wheat acreage of
of the State.
Little of this improved wheat
has, as yet. come to the mills,
since it has been used largely for
seeding purposes, but by the fall
Of 1910 it will come to the mills
in a large quantity and the prob
lem of seed-wheat improvement
in Kansas will have been solved.
The production by breeding and
selection of varieties which are
much superior even to the best
samples which we are now able