SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETING. 279 



ber of the association has taken some course of study at the 

 State College of Agriculture, they are much more familiar with 

 plant selection and breeding, and realize to a greater extent the 

 value of pure seed. The greatest proposition before the Wis- 

 consin Association at the time of its organization was one simi- 

 lar to that which faced the Maine Seed Improvement Associa- 

 tion. Difficulty was experienced by the farmers of the State 

 in obtaining high-yielding strains of corn and different grains. 

 Great variation was found in yields; uncleaned and impure 

 oats were used for seed, and great difficulty was experienced 

 by the farmers in the State in obtaining varieties of corn that 

 were high-yielding and would mature under their conditions. . 



There is one special feature to which I desire to call the 

 attention of the members, and this is the work the Wisconsin 

 Experiment Station and Wisconsin College of Agriculture have 

 done in assisting the association. Prior to the time the asso- 

 ciation was organized, the college had done breeding work with 

 barley for a term of four years. A superior strain was isolated 

 and as soon as the association was organized, samples of this 

 seed were sent to the members. The same thing will apply to 

 their method of improving corn. It was necessary for each 

 member of the association who obtained this pure seed to keep 

 a record of its growth and to keep the variety pure. As a 

 result, great things have been accomplished by the association 

 since 1901. About two-thirds of the acreage of barley raised 

 by members of the association is of that variety with which the 

 Experiment Station was doing breeding work. This is yield- 

 ing about 20 bushels more per acre than the common local 

 variety. 



In talking with Prof. Moore, secretary of the association 

 and the man who organized this work, he said, "This work you 

 have started wall mean millions to your State, but you must 

 grow slowly." 



Many of the members of the Wisconsin Association are young 

 men just starting in farming for themselves. Prof. Moore 

 tells me that many of the members have been elected to the 

 Legislature for the year 191 1. This, you see, will strengthen 

 the association and at present they can get almost anything 

 they ask for from the State of Wisconsin. Prof. Moore re- 

 ceived a letter while I was in his office from a seed company 



