The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-28

The improvement of farm crops.
| fruits and flowers by means of plant
/ breeding, was the subject of Professor
! Hogenson's second lecture at the uni
Yersity
| Accidental variations in plants are
| due to several causes" he said. That
| environment has much to do with the
/ kind of plant we get has long been
| recognized. Plants of the same spe-
| cies are found to differ greatly where
grown in different countries But some
/ times widely differing species are found
I growing side by side.
THE cypress grows normally in the
swamps of the southern states. There
I 1t S very symmetrical and stately
/ tree; but when grown in the north ii
/ loses its symmetry and becomes almost
another kind of tree. So it has been
noticed that a certain kind of maize.
or Indian corn, when grown in the
I United states viii show a certain set
Of characteristics; but when grown in
! Europe for few years these especial
marks of the species fade away and it
becomes another variety of corn. In
our day important variations in plants
have been produced by artificial means
The plant breeder always looks for
species that exhibit some variation
with environment or crossing, and then
he seeks to perpetuate those variations
by selection of seeds or by cross-fer-
til cation.
1T has been ascertained that varia-
tons may be due TO q change in the
amount of light received by the plant,
since the same plants differ greatly
when grOwn in shaded and then in we'll
lighted situations. So, too. Il change of
the usual temperature will affect the
development in various ways, as viii
also a change OF SOIL
Seed Selection.
Crop improvement by seed selection
was strongly recomme nded by Profess
sOr HogenSOn. He showed that the
size, Tapidity OF growth. and general
visor of Il plant during the first stages
of growth depend largely upon the
quality of the seed used, and the first
few weeks Of growth is a criterion of
its future development. When seeds
are fully developed and matured. the
food stored up is always sufficient to
nOuIish the little plant until the leaves
and roots have been sufficiently devel-
Oped to gather food from the air and
sol The more food stored up in the
SEED. the more perfect will be the
nOurishment and development of the
resulting plant.
The improvement of wheat, oats
and barley is not difficult" said the
speaker, since these plants are nor
mally self-fertilized. Select those
which can sometimes to found in the
general field. Plants that are striking
" different or superior to the general
run of plants in the field. The farmer
must simply watch and wait until they
appear, and then be prepared to gather
and propagate them. The search for
these sports should be begun as soon
as the crop shows a mature size of
heads. When such plants are located,
they should be marked so that the seed
may be gathered when ripe.
j. H. Gill of Yost Utah noticed a
few years ago two heads of wheat i'll
his field that were strikingly different
from the rest of the crop. The heads
We're much larger, the straw sitter
and longer, and the kernels nearly as
large again as his common wheat. He
saved these two heads and propagated
them. AS a result he now has a sixty
acre field, which he claims to be more
hardy, better yielder, and in every
way superior TO the common grain
formerly grown there. This wheat has
been found to belong to the Poulard
variety and is called the Yost wheat
Select the seed from those plants
that are the best yielders, both as to
amount and size of grain. The superior
plants are those having the most stools /
the largest number of large heads and
in other ways superior to the rest of
the field.
Make use of the largest heads for
seed. This may be done by going
through the field of ripe grain with
sack and shears and clipping off the
large heads wherever they are found.
irrespective Of the kind or quality OF
the plants upon which they grew.
Tanning and Planting.
Use the flaming mill to separate the
heavy from the light and the large
from the small seeds; but for perma-
nent improvement of crops, the unit
of selection should always be the plant
and no. The individual seed.
After the superior seed has been Sc
cured, it is best to plant the kernels /
from each plant separately in a short
row. on clean and weil-tilled ground.
This selection and planting should be
continued for four or five generations,
selecting the best each year, so that
only this seed will finally go into the
general planting"
Potato Seeding.
For potato improvement, the speaker
said, two methods may be followed. |
% Examine a large number of tubers,