REPORT OF FIELD AGENT, SEED IMPROVEMENT WORK. 45 



and how to market the same. This, it seems, would be of 

 great benefit to farmers and, in fact, such information has often 

 been requested by them. 



The present high prices of grass and clover seeds would ap- 

 parently be sufficient reason for mentioning the production of 

 such seeds on Maine farms as being an advisable problem for 

 farmers to consider. Years ago nearly every farmer produced 

 grass seed sufficient for his own farm and to-day there is 

 considerable agitation as to the advisability of growing such 

 seed. A study of the growing of grass and clover seeds in 

 other states ought to be made in order to determine something 

 in that line that can be carried out with good results on Maine 

 farms. 



During the past season I have been to the farms of 143 mem- 

 bers of the Maine Seed Improvement Association and of these 

 25 were visited twice. Besides going to these farms I have 

 examined crops on 25 farms not managed by members of the 

 association. To try to do work, experimental work, with so 

 large a number of farmers is entirely out of reason if one ex- 

 pects to attain any valuable results in plant breeding. On this 

 number of farms it is practically impossible to inspect the 

 crops more than once during the season and then not sufficient 

 time is allowed. This matter of crop improvement requires 

 considerable time with each individual farmer in order that the 

 work shall be done in an accurate manner. By co-operating with 

 two farmers in each county it would be possible to carry out 

 plant improvement under widely varying conditions and when 

 these farmers were well started and able to carry on the work 

 without much attention from the Department of Agriculture 

 other farmers could become co-operative experimenters. This 

 plan would develop in each county two farmers from whom in 

 two or three years' time it would be possible to procure seed 

 that had proved valuable for their immediate vicinity. Hence 

 in a few years the farmers would have a source of standard 

 grains in each county and such acclimated seed would certainly 

 be more dependable than the seed now secured. In this plan 

 could well be considered the improvement of corn, potatoes, 

 grains and grass seeds. Again, any scheme of crop improve- 

 ment which does not look forward to a financial return to the 

 farmers engaged in the improvement of plants can not be pro- 



