The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-09-11
HAD
IMPORTANT PLACE
PROF. Z. o. BEckwITH TELLS or
GREAT SCIENTIFIC GATHERING
AT wlNNIPEcoNE or THE
MOST IMPORTANT HELD IN THE
ENTIRE WORLD.


MOST IMPORTANT HELD IN THE
ENTIRE WORLD.
Prof. T. D. Beclwith Of the North
Dakota A. c., has recently returned
from attending a series or meetings OF
momentous Importance to northwest
ern United States and Canada This
meeting was recently concluded Ia
the city OF Winnipeg, when on Sept. 1,
the British Association for the Adj
vancement OF Science adjourned for
another year.
The British Association for the Adj
vancement Of Science was the first Of
the great national associations OF
scientists, and consequently lis prob
ably the foremost To it belong All
the greater and lesser scientific lights
of the British empire. and in addition.
in association with 1t are q great
many Of the American scientists.
It meets yearly In some city of the
British country. Last year 1t met in
Johannesberg, South Africa. and this
year Winnipeg was the city chosen.
The meetings were attended by men
active In every line OF science. The
meetings were held In sections, which
dealt in certain branches Of science.
These sections comprise physics.
chemistry, geology. zoology. geography.
economies, engineering, anthropology,
physiology botany, agriculture and
educational science.
1t was the policy of each one Of
these sections to deal in the course Of
its meetings with certain questions
OF specific interest to Canada. The
possibility OF a new water route for
western Canada, by way OF the Hud-
son bay was discussed by competent
authority In geography the location
OF certain fertile wheat lands was
the subject Of another paper. In the
section dealing with education the
subject OF manual training for schools
Of the type found in the northwest
was presented.
The Agricultural Section.
From the farmers standard, by far
the most interesting and profitable
meetings were found naturally In the
section dealing with agriculture. Here
we're gathered some OF the best men
known of agricultural science In the
world, and their papers and discus.
sions were decidedly interesting. Espe-
cially noteworthy was the presiden-
tial address given by Mai P. g.
Craigie, who Is one OF the pioneers in.
agricultural science. The question
dealt with in his address was con.
corning the problem OF supplying
bread to the ever increasing millions
Of bread eaters In Europe, America
and the other lands.
His plea was for more lands to be
put to wheat growing. together with
the use of proper rotation methods, go
that not only may the constant sup
ply OF wheat not be lowered in guam
tity. but because or better methods
the yield per acre may be increased.
Major Craigie stated that the num-
Der Of bread and wheat consumers In
Europe has been increasing on the
average OF 1 per cent for the last
seventy years, while the wheat areas
of European countries have decreased
in acreage. Europe. therefore, is rely
ing, and must continue to rely, upon
foreign countries more and more for
her wheat supply, He stated that
whereas the average yield per bushel
per acre has been 1877 bushels, ulti-
mately this yield must be raised to
at least 20 bushels per acre In order
to keep up with the average increase
Of supply.
Acreage In Canada.
The amount Of acreage in Canada
devoted to the growing OF wheat is
100000. Without doubt this amount
will be increased to 12,0OO.OO0 within
a comparatively short time He es-
timated the possibilities as to wheat
production in Canada when all the
available lands are under. cultivation
as lying between 100000, 600 and
700,o00000 bushels. However. this
acreage will not be reached for a
great many years. and probably. never.
and we must look elsewhere for our
increase in the acreage of wheat, al
though the northwest has such tre-
mendous possibilities. He stated that
the solution of the increase OF the
wheat supply doubtless lies with the
botanists rather than the chemists.
for not only must the chemist deter
mine what food supply is needed by
the plant, but still more important is
1t that the botanist come to the aid
of the wheat grower. and ii possible
evolve disease resistant varieties of
wheat, and varieties which shall give
a greater yield per acre.
More Intensive Farming.
In closing he made plea for more
intensive methods Of farming where
they could be carried out without too
great an increase of the expenses of
the farmer. Intensive farming. he
stated, while all verynwell for an old
and congested country like England,
can not be pFacticed on as intensive
a scale in some newer and more un-
developed country like our northwest
1t must, however, be used as much as
practicable.
History Of Wheat.
Another very interesting paper was
a history Of wheat, which was writ
ten by DIR. Stapf. In the course OF this
paper the history of the wheat plant
was traced, some interesting facts con
corning It's history presented. The doc
tor showed that the ancestor OF some
of our modern wheats is still growing
In the wild stage on Mt. Hermon in
Palestine, and he considers that the
plant which was discovered there about
fifty years ago, and which IL q true
wild wheat. is the ancestor Of two or
three Of the nine or ten varieties which
a 20 a., ..aa a. xTm w...~-a~.4 Af.-.~ yr4tx..