The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1917-06-21
A Step in Self-Defense.
By E. L. Hewdick, Chief, Bureau of Seed
Improvement.

Experience is a good teacher and the
price the farmers of Maine have had to
pay for seed for this seasons planting
will, no doubt, open the eyes of great
many. Seed wheat at $500 per bushel,
seed potatoes at $500 and $3.50 per
bushel, seed beans as high as S14.00 a
bushel, and Longfellow variety yellow
corn at Sc GOA bushel, are prices paid that
have come under my personal observa-
ton and | have heard of still higher
prices for some of this seed.
The high price was not, however, the
only difficulty, for in many cases, the
farmers were unable to secure, at any
price, the seed which they wanted, and
especially was this true of yellow corn
and some varieties of beans.
Good seed is something that cannot be
furnished on short notice, and plans Tor
next years seed should be made during
this growing season. Experience has
taught that local-grown seed, when it is
handled properly, gives the best results,
because it is acclimated and used to soil
conditions For example, in sections OF
Maine the farmers know that certain
variety of corn grows best and plan to
use that variety, while in another section,
an entirely different variety may be the
best grower. What is true of corn is also
true of other crops,
The best method to adopt, in my mind,
is to grow at least enough of each crop
| for seed under conditions that will war
rant the best results In the potato piece
! keep an eye out for dwarfed and diseased
plants and take your seed from hills that
have strong vigorous plant and yield
| fair amount of good-siZed tubers when
dug this fall.
Watch your bean plants and remove
from section of the piece, hills that are
weak or show signs of disease, such as
rust, or anthracnose, which is in appear
ance, similar to rust. On some hills of
beans, badly diseased, mold will be
noticed early in the season and these
should be removed.
To get the best corn seed, a selection
should be made in the fall, when the ears
are filled out Go through the piece and
choose stalks not excessive in height
but of average height, having an ear with
the kernels in even rows and extending
well over the tip of the cob. The posi-
ton of the ear on the stalk, and type of
stalk, should be noted. Mark the stalks
so that seed ears can be saved at time of
harvesting.
l might mention other crops, but the
main point is to look ahead and prepare.
We often hear it said, and believe it is
true, that only about one-third of our
farmers pay any attention to seed i'm
provement, and think we are all agreed
that this is absolutely wrong for every
farmer should be improving his seed each
year.
If you want seed for next season, other
than you have planted now, look around
in your community and get your neigh
Dor, who is raising what you want, to
take care of his crop, and offer him
enough more for good seed to make it
worth his while. 1t is my belief, from a
close connection with the situation, that
the most of the seed planted in Maine
this year was of a good quality, but in
some crops an excessive demand for the
seed brought sales of slightly inferior
stock, and it is repetition of this that
we want to avoid
| Each season brings a demand for the
best seed and farmers are willing to pay a
little more for it, so, in carefully watch
ing your crop, you are helping to grow
more and better crops for yourself, and at
the same time, will have seed to sell
which will command a better price
Maine Department of Agriculture, John
A. Roberts, Commissioner.
June 9, 1917.
COAL FOR NEW ENGLAND.