, 1909-06-12

charm. such as no a%rtjsictaI hand could ever
produce
HOME-GR0WE AND IMPORTED SEED
In raisiug crops from seed, a review of
all the evidence available on the subject
Strengthens the opinion that the seed likely
to give the best results Ia any locality Is that
which has been wisely selected and careful
" bred under the conditions peculiar to that
locality. The seed should be good, selected,
home grown seed, in fact, md this is likely
to be more reliable than hleh-priced, high
bred seed brought from a distance.
This subject is discussed in a Bulletin
issued some time ogo from the Nebraska Elk
pertinent Station, which reports q series of
experiments with corn carried on at the Sta
ton. The following is quo'ed from the re-
port :-
When corn grown in one section Of the
country for a number Of years is moved to
another section whore soil and climate are
different, the plant always ~undergoes m,re
or less change during the first two or three
years before become 'adap ed to its new
conditions.
Several trials made at the Nebraska Tx
pertinent Station show the effect Of cIlluGte
in modifying the characteristics of the corn
plant. Seed Of two yarjet es Of corn, Snow
flake White and Iowa Gold Nine obtained
from Iowa, wore grown for two years in
Nebraska. In the third yeur seed was taken
from this and u further supply obtained from
the same original source in Iowa. These
were all grown on adjacent plots ut the Elk
pertinent Station, but marked differences
were observable throughout between the
plants resulting from the Iowa aud Nebraa-
Ea seed. With the Snowflake White corn,
the stalk from the seed that had grown in
certral Nebraska for two years had d~ecreas-
ed almost foot in height, the ear was So
inches lower Down and the eur shank 2 inch-
Ga shorter, while the leuyos on those plants
were, on an average II pen plant less than
on those from Iowa seed.
The weight of both stalk ond ear was
found to be heayior in the corn grown from
the freshly imported Iowa seed, but the pro-
portion Of eur to stalk was higher in the nc
china tized corn. The diminished leaf ares
Of the corn from the Nebraska seed was
what might be expected from plants grown
in a dry climate. The yield Of grain was
in favour OF the homegrown seed.
Experiments were also organized by the
Nebraska Experiment Station, in which
twenty-five different varieties of corn we're
tried by farmers in different parts Of the
State. OF these varieties, thirteen had
long been adapted to Nebraska conditions,
and nine were native to other States. 1t is
significant TINT not one of the nine kinds Of
corn, Of which the seed was imported, have,
in any season, ever taken first or even second
place in the average results for the State.
This is attributed to the fact that these
varieties have not yet become |acclimatizad
in Nebraska.
The lesson to be learned from the above
trials is that to get the best results in corr
growing, the seed must be home grown, and
grown not only in the same country, burt
The same locality. The results Of the var
iety tests referred to, indicate that seed
grown in eastern Nebraska will not DO a7
well in western Nebraska rs local varieties
and cjce 0erSa. Seed growing and seed
selection should be carefully done in every
district.
These results form another notable ad-
djtion to the large mass Of evidence which
has Of late years been accumulated by Ex-
pertinent Station work that locally grown
seed is the most reliable; and that planters
and farmers should give increased attention
to the work Of raising and selecting their own