Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-29

principles apply. The main point is
to take care that the selected strains
Of corn, wheat, oats or whatever els
are kept put and free from the in
vasion Of rovers and that the strain
is kept as strong as possible by seed
selection, which includes the germl-
nation test.
An interesting development In corn
breeding which has been pursued by
Professor p. o. Vanattar, of the
Georgia State College Of Agriculture
is that which has TO do with suck
ers" or stools" on corn. Instead of
dtscarding corn with Suckers" he has
developed and watched IT, His con
clusions are that corn that suckers
Is the corn that terminates strong
est. produces the biggest yield. has
the best slower. stands strongest
against winds; in fact, 10 the best
corn Breeders generally have over
looked this fact.
Farmer Benefits From Sciences.
These and other important contri-
buttons are being constantly made TO
the aggregate OF knowledge OF how to
enlarge the yields of not only corn.
but other crops. 1t is a part which
the scientists and experimenter can
do for the benefit OF the farmer civ
ing the farmer the fruits Of his study
In the shape of increased harvests.
No field Of agricultural work is
fraught with more fascination and
wonder than this of plant breeding,
and, without doubt, some marvellous
discoveries will be made in the next
few years which will not only set
botanists agog, but will rejoice a
whole world that other discoveries
nave been made whereby two stalks
can be grown where one has hereto
fore been grown.
The history OF plant DEVELOPMENT
reads like romance, but back of II of
course, was long years Of careful toll
that was unromantic enough As
many az 100 years ago plants that
were extra we'll developed were taken
from the field and propagated caro-
fully and were gradually developed
into varieties which became broadly
adopted instead OF old varieties be-
cause of their greater yielding power.
Reverted to Old Types.
While occasionally something was
accomplished by such methods in aft
or years, in the main there was dis
appointment, for the reason that the
exceptional plants were hybrids and
soon reverted to original types
In Germany and Sweden the in
vestigators began on the Darwinian
basis and tried to improve by select
ing a number of best plants, sowing
them together and attempting to ad-
vance the whole. 1t was known as
mass selection. Finally Dr. Hjalmar
Nilsson. Of Sweden, fell upon the sin
gle plant or ear-to-row as the basis
for establishing pure breeds and
maintaining the purity. Since then
the ear or the single head has been
the basis of all successful breeding.
One of the points emphasized in the
boys corn club work is seed selection
What has been learned from these
various seed-breeding experiments
the world over the Government and
the educational authorities of the
State carry to the boys In practical,
simple form. The boys are told how
to determine the best seed.
without planting strong seed, of
course, the corn club boy is not I'll
the race.
Seed Selection Necessary.
Such as have been careless about
selecting good seed can never win
though he have the richest land and
put on It all the fertilizer that can
possibly be used. Nothing can make