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Show AGRONOMY 1 CROP IMPROVEMENT BY MEANS OF SEED SELECTION. J. C. Hogcnson, Agronomist, A. C. U. The rapid development of young plants depends to a considerable extent ex-tent upon whether the seed-bed litis been well or poorly prepared. In order to gather moisture and food, the roots of the plant must come in contact with the film water which surrounds the soil grains. It is obvious ob-vious therefore, that the sccd-bjul should be fine and moderately compact, com-pact, so that more film water may be retained and more surface- exposed ex-posed in that particular part of the soil: A lumpy and too dry or tbo wet secd-bed does not afford congenial con-genial conditions for vigorous germination germi-nation and growth, hence the plants will be weak and a poor stand will be the result, The best preparation of the secd-bed has been advocated for a long time and "as a general rule has been adopted by a majority of the farmers. The question of crop improvement by seed selection has been greatly neglected much to the detriment of the farmer and the crops. It is generally gen-erally admitted that the size, rapidity rapid-ity of growth, and general vigor of a plant during the first stages of growth depend largely upon the quality qual-ity of the seed used and also that the first few weeks of growth is a criterion of its future development. When seeds arc fully developed and matured the food stored up is always sufficient to nourish the little plant until the leaves and roots have been sufficiently developed to gather food from the air and soil. It cn be plainly seen therefore that the more food stored up in the seed, the more perfect will be the nourishment and development of the resulting plant, A seed grown on a plant that has not developed properly is likely to tc vitally weak. Shrunken and immature im-mature sccdls have had their vitality greatly lessened and will not give as good plants as well developed, mature ma-ture seeds. Allow the seed grain to develop and mature fully In order to secure the best results. DrWcbber 0f Cornell University lip rccclitly issued a bulletin on "Plant Breeding for Farmers," which cnnininc niiny vahmble suggestions for the improvement of crops and and the development of better strains. Wheat, oats and barley are normally self-fertilized so that the controlling of the parentage of selections se-lections of these crops is not a difficult diffi-cult problem. The methods by which this improvement may be ac I complishcd arc: (1) the selection of I ichancc variations or sports which can sometimes be found in the general gen-eral field. Plants that arc strikingly different or superior to the general I run of plants in the field. These sports cannot be produced. The farmer must simply watch and wait until they appear and then be prepared pre-pared to gather "and propagate them. The search for these sports should be begun as soon as the crop shows mature size of heads, and when such plants arc located they should be I marked so that the seed may -he gath- 1 ercd when ripe. Mr. J. IT. Gill of 1 Yost, Utah, noticed a few years ago, 1 two heads of wheat in his field that JP were srikingly different from the rest V of the field. The heads wcr.c much larger, the straw stiffcr and longer w and the kernels nearly as large again n as lys common wheat. He saved I these two heads and propagated 1 them, now he had a sixty (acre field which he claims to be more hardy, a better yieldcr and! in every way I. superior to the common grain grown there. This wheat has been found to belong to the poulard variety and is called the Yost wheat. (2) The systematic selection of the best yielding yield-ing plants. This is done by going ' through the field just before harvest-ing harvest-ing and selecting the superior plants those having the most stools, those ' it having the largest number of large f r heads and in other ways are super , for the rest of the field. (3) Tho J selection of large heads for seed. K Vlfhis done by going through the If fiqld of ripe grain with a sack and K shears and! elip off the large heads ffj wherever they tare found irrespective K of the kind or quality of plants upon V which they grew. (4) The use of K the fanning mill to separate the heavy H from the light' and the large from B the small seeds. From experiments H carried on at the Nebraska Station, m the use of the fanning mill did not H 1 mduce any permanent improvement H in the crops. Every plant contains both heavy and light as well as large and small seed. WJier'c all these arc fully matured and developed there ought not be much difference in their ability to grow and in their t , transmitting powers, as they all come from the same mother. The use of the fanning mill for removing weed seed and shrunken, immature and broken kernels is of the utmost importance im-portance and wilL (result in much I good in the improvement of the -crop hence, should not be neglected. For permanent improvement of crops the 1 unit of selection should always be I the plant and not the individual seed. After the superior seed has been secured it is 'best to plant the kernels from each plant separately in a short row, on clean, well-tilled ground. This selection and planting should be continued for four or five gencra-I gencra-I tions, selecting the best each year, I so -that only this seed will go into I the general planting. For potato improvement two methods me-thods may be followed. (1) Examine Exa-mine a large number of tubers and pick out a thousand or more of the desired, size, Sthapfc, and gcnctral character. Use these as the seed I for planting the selection plat the next season. The object is to find U the one individual that gives the very R highest yield possible under the con- ditions. The forger the number of I individuals examined the more likc- 1 lihood there is of discovering this .maximum yicldcr. These tubers should be so planted as to secure a test of the productivity of each tuber. tu-ber. Cut each tuber into four uniform uni-form pieces making each cut longitudinally longi-tudinally so that each piece will contain con-tain an equal proportion of both ends I of the potato. Plant four to hili with each tuber. When the potatoes arc ripe, harvest each four-hill unit ' separately and weigh. The problem f now it to select out from fifty to ; one hundred of the best tuber-units, j in yield, uniformity of product, color, shape, etc. As the selection pro-5 pro-5 , grasses through more generations. ! many of the strains from the original ! fifty tuber-units will be entirely ctfs- carded and only the very best yield- ing strains remain to make selections select-ions fronv. (2) At the time of harvest har-vest select the very best hiljs for 9ced; that is, those hills having the largest number of desirable tubers. This is a very good way of 'mp'ov-ing 'mp'ov-ing a strain of potatoes. Prof. Shaw of the Caliiornia Station Sta-tion has this to say: "We should take every precaution to secure the best of seed, 'large plump, and vigorous, but should remember re-member that by far the better results re-sults can be obtained if we arc also certain that the seed has come by selection from strong and vigorous plants. The highest results can only be obtained when the seed is selected select-ed from productive individual plants, and that under favorable conditions, even small perfect seeds from productive pro-ductive plants may be better than large seeds from unproductive plants. The main influence of large grains selected by simple sieve grading will be to give the plant a more vigorous start in life, which of itself is of the utmost importance to that particular par-ticular crop, but docs not always insure in-sure permanent improvement. Prof. M.. A. Carlctan of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, suggests the following: "Begin the practice of constant use of a breeding plat of one acre or more from which to select seed each year. Give it the best of care. Ju--before harvest go through your field and mark plants that exhibit to th? highest degree, the special quality which it is desired to increase, at harvest lime cut with a sickle enough of these market plants for sowing the plat. A'ftcr threshing these selected se-lected plants, use only the largest and most vigorous seed for sowing Next season use none of the field crop for this breeding plat, but us; the seed grown on it last year and use all the remainder for sowing the general crop. Use this same method each succeeding season and there will be constant selection of seed which is more and more rigid every year. ' Seed "Running Out." The old idea that seed tends to "run out" if grown too long on the same soil is not true. "Running out" is due to poor tillage and lack of cod selection, and not to natural influences in-fluences which cause the variety to deteriorate. No 'livestock breeder would expect a strain of cattle to improve or even to hold its own if h'e selected the poorest bulls and cows to breed from year to year. Yet this is the method ti great many farmers . use in saving their seed Sayc$he best grain, potatoes, corn or bugar bcetb for seed and the var-riety var-riety will not "run out" p1vTdufg the fertility of the soil is kept up anjl his given the proper tillage. At the Nebraska Experiment Station n naw wheat was introduced and grown uy-On uy-On the same farm for several year?. As the variety adaptod itself to tlte new environment the yields increased. increas-ed. The seed was carefully selectcil each year, the variety today shows $ tendency to improve, lather than to deteriorate. Buying seed every few years fronv places having different soils and clinntc is not visc. Of course if a farnfer's crops have been H 'allowAdg&to dctcripratetlirouglp nc- gleet, then an infusion of new, rcsh blood from a farm that has good fresh; vigorous seed will prove very H beneficial. It is only the slovenly H farmer that has- to change seed! to keep up the standard of, his crop. H so if you are a wideawake farmer H and have once obtained seed Of a H good variety that is adapted to grow H under your environment it is best to H stick to it and if properly handled H it will improve every year instead H of "run out." H |