The Dickinson press., 1911-02-04

can one gather hard wheat when soft
wheat has been sown? It needs no
argument to convince that like produces
like. The proud father and mother see
in their 6rst-born features and charac-
teristics similar to their own, because
they are looking for them. expect to find
them. In regard to stock and Grain it
has taken many blunders to teach
people that a poor sire or poor seed is
cheap al any price and it is the aim Of
all experiments and teaching to study
the individual. either animal or grain.
This may lead to an undue considera-
tion of fancy points. as is the case with
many gentlemen poultry fanciers, but q
certain consideration of so-calIed fancy
points is necessary after all, as showing
the line of heredity for which the pur-
chaser is looking. What. does color
amount to? Nothing. But when buy
ing Percheron horse one desires the
standard color and size which stand
for the Percheron character, disposition
and digestive organs. One would hesi-
tate to purchase black Shorthorn or
even Shorthorn with black nose.
Fancy points in an animal for which
one pays fancy price are the visible
signs of certain desirable characteristics
which the purchaser cannot see but
which usually accompany certain well
known visible points.
In selecting the best kinds of grain
the same process of getting down to the
individual is followed. In our state at
the experiment station at Fargo and at
the five sub-stations at Dickinson.
Williston. Edgeley, Hettinger and
Langdon the seed is being tried out.
These stations represent seed sown head
to row. that is. the wheat from one
head sown by itself. The best rows are
selected and that seed sown again,
sometimes three or four times. Then a
larger piece is sown with this selected
seed. Often two stations will, unknown
to each other, find the same kind of
wheat best-a pretty good evidence of
its superiority, as to growth and produc-
liveness. Then it must be milled and
submitted to bakers tests, as bread.
cake and pastry flour. Having all the
necessary requisites, the seed is sent to
several or all of the twenty-four demon
stration farms. where farmers can see
as they 60 to and fro, what is being
done and, if the new wheat is success
on a particular demonstration farm. the
farmers of that vicinity begin to ask,
''where can l get seed." Seed wheat is
secured by giving seed to farmers. who
in turn sell to their neiehbors when they
have secured sufficient quantity and
by getting farmers to crop few acres
under the direction of station superin-
tendent. The superintendent visits the
field every week and watches the harvest
and cleanup and seals the bags. This
wheat is held for seed until March 1
following the harvest for the use in the
county and after that time for the state
at large. The superintendents of expert
ment stations and farmers are keeping
lists of those in their locality who have
seed wheat, oats, flax and barley for
sale, which is a great convenience to
the farmers. ....
Corn. oats, barley and fax are tested
in the same way by comparing indi-
viduals and letting the best win out.
Prof. Shaw suggested that many de-
pendable farmers near Dickinson get
seed from the station and find out from
Supt. Waldron just how to handle it in
the best way.