The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1909-07-09
The Improvement of Wisconsin To-
bacco Through Seed Selection.
BY E. P. SANDSTEN.
Confined from last zveek.

lt0sIzaiased from last 5O6eR.)
No tobacco seed should be sown be-
| fore it has been tested for its germinat-
| ing power. A simple way of testing
tobacco as follows: Secure two pieces
of heavy white blotting paper about
| the size Of an ordinary saucer. Moisten
these to saturation with as much water
as they will hold without dripping.
Count out 100 average seeds as they
come from the seed bag, and place
| these on one of the blotters which has
previously been placed in a saucer. The
seed should be separated SO that they
will not come in contact with each 9TH
er. Then place the other blOtter over
the seed. and finally invert another
saucer over the blotters. The tester
should be kept in warm place having
a uniform temperature from 65 to 70
degrees F. At the end of ten days
open the tester and count the seeds
which have sprouted Care should be
taken in removing the top blotter so as
not to spill any of the seeds as they
may adhere to it's surface. After count
ing the percentage of termination, the
remaining seeds should be left for a
few days longer and again counted.
The number obtained from the two
countings is the percentage of germin-
alton. The tester should be examined
to see if the blotters are drying out: If
they are, small quantities of water
should be introduced at the edges of
the blotter. The water should never
be added in any other way.
SELECTING PLANTS FROM THE SEED BED
While the writer has emphasized the
Importance of selecting the very best
plants in the field from which to grow
the seed, this is only one phase OF seed
selection. The seed bed is really the
starting point, and where the first Sc
lection should be made. For this rea-
son it is vitally important that the
grower provide relatively large seed
beds for the amount of land he wishes
to plant. The ordinary practice is to
take plants from the seed bed three or
four times as they grow large enough.
This practice is decidedly bad. The
first plants in the seed bed are natur-
ally the strongest and most vigorous
ones, and hence the best to plant. They
are also from the strongest seed and
will naturally produce the best plants.
With each successive thinning OF the
seed bed the plants become poorer and
weaker, and consequently the held
planted to them will be uneven and the
crop correspondingly of low value.
For. the best results only the first
plants from the seed bed should be
used. The plant bed should not be
thinned more than twice. The rest OF
the plants remaining in the seed bed
should be destroyed. The practice OF
letting an unfortunate neighbor come
in and help himself to plants after the
owner has gone over the beds two or
more times is decidedly bad practice
and generally the neighbor will not
thank him for the privilege, as the crop
is very apt to be poor and the blame IS
laid to the poor plants, By following
the method of selecting only the best
plants, the grower will obtain uniform
stand of vigorous plants from which he
can again make the selection in the
field for next years seed, as previously
described.
The grower is often opposed to what
| is commonly called pickering and to
small Jobs. In other words, he is Op-
posed to detail work, but he should bear
in mind that it is only by careful atten-
ton to details that success can be OBJ
tanned in any line of farming. He
should also remember that in dealing
with plants he is dealing with individ-
uals that possess characteristics and
tendencies which can be turned into al
most any useful channel by his endeav-
or, and no work is more fascinating
than that of guiding or shaping plant
| through successive generations from
poor starting point up to perfect
| specimen.
| GROWERS SHOULD SELECT THEIR OWN
SEED
The initial work in developing and
disseminating pure and high grade to-
bacco seed belongs primarily to the Ag-
ricultural Experiment Station, but the
| subsequent growing and distribution OF
| such seed should be done by the grow
| ers themselves. There is very re-
| munerative field open for careful
| farmer to take up the work and grow
| this pure seed for his fellow farmers.
| The Experiment Station cannot hope to
| continue the work of growing large
quantities of seed for general distribu-
| tior. This should be done by some per-
| son or persons with skill and liking for
the work. This would assure perma-
nent supply of pure seed and would add
materially to the total value and repu-
| tation of Wisconsin's S tobacco crop. On
the other hand, it is hardly possible for
| the growers to undertake the breeding
and development of new types and va
rieties of tobacco. This work should
be done by the Experiment Station and
such new varieties should be widely and
thoroughly tested on large areas before
| they are given out to the seed growers
BY an arrangement like this, the work
of the Experiment Station would be
quickly brought to the attention of the
grower and he could thus Immediately
share the benefits of such work.
| The above concludes the report of
Prof. E. P. Sandsten of the Agricul-
tural Experiment Station of his results
on the improvement of Wisconsin to-
bacco. The whole is published as Bull
letin No. 176, copies of which can be