SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETING. 



267 



as a result manure could be applied to the soil in greater quan- 

 tities. Drainage, crop rotation, and application of barn dress- 

 ing, and a limited amount of commercial fertilizer are keys to 

 success in general farming in Maine. 



Great advancement has been made in the knowledge of grain 

 growing since the time that Maine was famed as a cereal- 

 producing state. As a consequence her farmers, who wish to 

 undertake this commendable and profitable phase of farming at 

 the present time, have not to take all the arduous steps that 

 found place in the period between the grain-growing days of 

 our forefathers and those of the present. Much has been 

 learned about soil preparation and fertility maintenance. Still 

 more has been learned about the varieties themselves. A glance 

 at the accompanying chart (see table No. i) will show new 



Table I. — Valuable 'Varieties of Oats, Wheat and Barley. 



Number 



of station 



tests. 



Class. 



Name of Variety. 



Yield 



per acre 



in bushels. 



Weight 

 per bushel 

 —pounds. 



Per cent 



hull 

 of oats. 



Early 

 90-100 

 days. 



Late 

 110-120 

 days. 



Kherson 



Early Champion 



Daubeney 



Silvermlne 



Siberian 



Swedish select , 

 Joanette 



26.5 

 30.5 

 25.5 

 28.0 



27.5 

 28.0 

 22.0 



WHEAT. 



BARLEY. 



named wheat, oats, and barleys which yield more grain of 

 better quality than was generally possible in former times. 

 Variety does count for a great deal in plant life just as breed 

 and strain within the breed counts for so much in live stock. 

 The tests of oats recorded in the chart, tests which were carried 

 on by some of our leading American experiment stations, show 



