American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1911-02-25

potatoe, aud picbabiy the Johnson
county White corn. These are par
ticu'tr instances where community
Freezing OF pure Sod has made
thes particular sections famous.
Good seed is always in demand.
Imagine a mans conception Of the
value of pure seed who gets $3.50
for : bushel of corn. Yet in 1909
that is what happened at Omaha
at the National Corn exposition.I 1t
was Of the Johnson county white
type. the building up Of which took
many years of good hard consist
ent work. But the results have more
than paid for the labor involved.
This corn is now an established
commodity on the corn markets Of
the east and Johnson county reaps
the harvest.
Soil and climate has a great
deal to do with high yields. but
ldaLo has the soil and the climate,
and with the proper attention re-
suits al not help but come.
Whatsoever man soweth that
shall he also reap" This is just as
true now as it ever was. You must
SOW good seed to get good resulst.
The production of pure seed can
Agricultural gal 2.
be accomplished. First. it is abso-
lutely necessary that a pure strain
be acclimated before real results
can be obtained. Second, the Sc
lection for propagation OF the best
indi1 iduals from this climatized
stock must then be inaugurated.
The standardization of stock will
take pace any where from . to 4
years or even longer, depending en-
tirely upon where the seed is OBJ
tanned and the ability of the seed
to reproduce itself under the new
conditions. Vitality isone of the
controlling factors in this work. If
pure seed already acclimated can be
found in the vicinity, several years
will be saved by propagating from
this seed. In aRy case the object in
view is to select the best individuals
that is. the high yielding. high
quality stocks, that have grown I'M
der the same conditions to which
the inefrior plants were subjected.
By so doing you select the individ-
ual because of its superior powers
ability to yield, produce good quail
ity grain and to withstand the di-
sease.
In the case Of the cereal crops,
one good method for the farmer to
pursue is that Of field selection. 1t
Is accomplished by picking the best
heads from superior plants as found
by walking through the field Just
before harvest time. In this work
selection should be confined to those
J plants that show marked ability to
reproduce. Heavy stooling vigorous
plants with stems that stand up
against the force of the elements
should be chosen. Pick all the heads
to one type. This should be care
fully done. as often in large fields
from two to a half a dozen differ
ent types can be found. Select rig
idly for uniformity in shape of
head, color of chaff, and if posi-
BILE, quality of grain, which can be
determined by taking out a spikelet
about the middle of the head.
1t is best to avoid all monstros-
tiles. Irregularities, and freaks of an
kind.
The following year, a good meth
cd to follow. if a little time and
labo- can be spared from the regu-
lar work, is to plant the seed thus
gathered in rows. If this is not de-
sirable isolated field planting will
serve the purpose. Row planting is
productive of better results, however
as the plants can be watched more
carefully, thus selecting the super
ior stocks more easily than under
Gus plants that produce well and of
good quality are secured they should
be sowed for increase. In every
case, however, this seed should be
put in clean ground that was not
sowed to the same or similar crops
the previous year.
In a actual test at the Colorado
experiment station one seed repro
duced sufficiently to produce a 10
acre field in five years and at that
the grain was famed the last two
years to eliminate the inferior grains
So it will be seen hat the ques-
ton OF pure seed is not a hopeless
one but on the contrary II handled
properly is productive of better crops
better farming and higher prices.
The experiment station is always
willing to help you in this work. 1t
is it's duty to work with you and it
is your duty to work with it. There
is room for a great improvement in
all kinds of seed production and it