The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-09-04
From Wednesdays Daily.

this season on each farm were to
be used as seed the coming sea-
son, millions of dollars would be
added to the value of the agricul-
tural product of the state" said
James J. Hill when asked for an
expression Of opinion as to the value
of Seed Corn Week. Here is an
element of wealth easily within
reach, costing practically nothing,
and very generally ignored.
The best authorities agree that
the total of the crops raised from
seed in the United States might be
doubled by improved methods of
farming. To do this would add $4,-
900 100000 to $1,000 zoo, 900 to the
nations wealth and the resources
of its farm population. And one
OF the most important means to this
end is the planting of good seed.
No Good Crop From Poor Seed.
Careful fertilization. thorough and
repeated cultivation, first elements
of success for the farmer though
they are, cannot, of course. grow
a good crop from poor seed And
OF all the influences that keep the
farmers of this country from real
izing the full benefits of their labor,
inferior seed is one of the most
powerful
Seed Is unfit for planting when
1t is dirty, or when its grains lack
either the full complement of food
elements or productive power. IL
the first is the case, the farmer
himself can see and remedy 1t. II
the grain itself is below grade, he
can with equal ease discover that
by the application of tests now ex-
planned in numerous agricultural pub
locations, taught in all institutions
for agricultural instruction. and so
easily understood that the farmer
can apply them at home himself
The use OF these tests often save
a farmer from wasting a seasons
work in the planting of grain that
either does not grow or yields a
product so inferior in quality or guam
tity to be Improbable.
Great Gains Possible.
THE importance of good seed Is
no more a theory. Practical applica-
ton OF seed selection on a large
scale has produced convincing re-
suits. Enormous yields have been
secured from some small fields.
Corn prize contests have raised the
average production over entire
states. 1t is no accident that i'm
Minnesota and Wisconsin, two
states where hard, continuous mis-
sionary work has been done, the
average yield OF corn per acre rose
from around thirty-two of thirty-three
bushels in ordinary years to forty
and forty and one-half bushels re-
pectively, in 1918. Nor will there
be the slightest trouble in lifting
that total fifty per cent or more
when both cultivation and seed Sc
lection are better understood and
more generally practiced by the
farming population.
Our agricultural exports have
formed, for the last ten years, from
forty-six to fifty-six per cent of all
our domestic exports. Before 1900
they ranged from sixty-six to over
eighty per cent. The percentage
of our wheat product exported has
but once risen as high as twenty
since 1903. 1t used to run from
thirty to forty. And our expanding
imports of foodstuffs have attracted
general notice.
Millions for a Little Care.
These are signs of the times and
warnings against the future, which
call for study of the agricultural
situation and concerted effort to raise
the home production of foodstuffs.
Since one Of the most effective ways
of doing this Is to encourage the
use OF nothing but the best grain
for seed.
Since the general observance of
Seed Corn Week will tend to draw
attention to the need and the posi-
bility or good seed, / am heartily
In sympathy with the effort that
Is being made to secure it's sue
cess. The picking out of good seed
corn alone at the proper time in
September, according to the simple
rules laid down for selection and
proper care, might mean a gain OF
good many million dollars next year