The Tomahawk., 1915-12-09
MAY DEVELOP RUST
RESISTING WHEAT.
MINNESOTA AGRICULTURAL COL
LEGE MAKES EXPERIMENTS
TO CROSS STRAINS ~
STATE CAPITOL HAPPENINGS
Events Of General Interest ~ Mime
sofa Condensed and Revised for
The Greater Convenience
Of Busy Readers.

St. Paul.
Thirty thousand dollars is the value
of a few pecks Of wheat carefully
treasured in the vaults of the Mime
sofa College of Agriculture experiment
station After five more generations
of breeding and selection the resulting
grain may be worth millions of dollars
annually to wheat growers of Minneso-
ia and the Dakotas. The result for
which the station experts are striving
n their costly research work is new
strain of rust-resisting grain.
The blue stem grain which is grown
widely as the spring wheat crop in
the Northwest forms one side Of the
family tree, whose offspring may be
the hardy and prolific one desired. Dur
UNI wheat, famous for its rust resisting
qualities, is the other member of the
union. The problem is to combine in
one strain of wheat the rust resisting
qualities of the durum and the large
yield of the blue stem.
X X X
Banks Assets Increased.
Resources of the state banks in Min.
nesota passed the $2O0,000,000 mark In
the past year and now total $207, 49,
751.21 In the same time the deposits
increased $l6,709,562.69 and net in
crease in resources of $20,S60,262.35 is
shown by figures compiled by A. H
Turrittin, superintendent of banks.
Evidences that the banks are lending
money instead of holding it and that
credit is good is contained in the state
ment that the loans and discounts in
creased s14,S53,513.18 since October 81,
1914.
While the banking business has been
gaining with rapid strides, the number
Of banks has also increased and during
the past year eighty new banking in
situations were chartered by the state.
X X X
Settle On Farms.
Ten thousand and more sturdy citi-
uens are coming into Minnesota each
year and are settling in the farming
communities. Each year Minnesota
brings it's average of immigrant NOV
ables to higher percentage Of the
total number Of carloads received, ac-
cording to figures compiled by Fred D..
Sherman, immigration commissioner.
The movables are handled at the Min
nesota Transfer for the Northwest
States and reports are made each
month to the immigration department.
K X X
Offers Useful Bulletin.
". Short courses in tanning the fiery
heating stove, the treacherous CHM
ney and the menacing furnace are Of
fered by Samuel D. Works, insurance
commissioner, in his department bull
letin. The courses are intended pri-
marily for the fire prevention officials
at the various state institutions, but
will be found useful for all persons
in charge of buildings of any charac-
ter in which there are stoves, fur
naces, steam pipes or other apparatus
for heating.
X X X
Oats Plentiful In Martin.
Martin county handles the largest
amount of oats in it's elevators. Good
hue county is the banner unit for bar
ley storage. These facts were brought
out in a report made public by the Min
nesota Tax Commission on the amount
of grain handled by Minnesota elevators
during the year ending March 1, 1915.
In Martin county 2,949,749 bushels
of oats were stored during the year.
Mobiles is second with 2,S35,959 BUSH
els, and Mower third with 2,22G,6S9
bushels.
X X X
State Fire Loss Small.
The fire loss on state property since
the state started carrying its own in
surance August /, 1918, totals $9,385.S1,
according to figures made public by 8.
D. Works, insurance commissioner.
'This is an unusual record when It Is
considered that more than $12,000,G00
of insurance is now in force in the
state insurance account" he said.
X 4 X
Austin Draws on State.
A draft for $4,000 was received by
the state treasurer from the city of
Austin for the improvement of the Ho-
race Austin park. The state has ap-
propriated $4,000 for the part of the
tract which lies in the heart of the
city.
X X X
Returns $e3, 448.s7 to Counties.
Warrants totaling $50, 44S.37 have been
drawn by J. A. Preus, state auditor to
counties entitled to a 10 per cent re-
turn of the inheritance tax collections
turned into the state treasury in the
fiscal year ending July 81.
T. X X
Acreage Less; Wheat Yield Greater.
Minnesota's wheat crop for 1915 was
greater by 100000 bushels than that
of 1914, although the wheat acreage
had been diminished by more than
100000 acres. The increase is due TO
the heavy yield per acre. Figures
show that Minnesota planted only q
9S0,675 acres to wheat in 1915 but with
an average yield Of 1918 bushels to
the acre obtained harvest of 81, aS,-
346 bushels. whereas the 1000, 600