304 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



germinator may be used for this purpose: a shallow box, three or 

 four feet long, by two or three feet wide, about two inches deep, 

 filled full of sand or soil makes a good germinator. Count out a 

 hundred, or perhaps a thousand seeds, and scatter them over the 

 sand. Press the seed lightly into the sand or soil, water thoroughly 

 and cover with a wet cloth or folds of wet paper, and protect this 

 with a light cover of boards to prevent evaporation. Place the 

 germinators in a warm room. It may be advisable to water again 

 in two or three days. After five or six day^;, with most seeds, the 

 vital seed will have germinated and may be counted, and the per- 

 centage of germination determined. The same germinators an- 

 swer very well for testing individual ears of com, provided small 

 v/ires are stretched aross the box, laying the surface off in squares 

 of about two inches, which may be systematically numbered. The 

 importance of good seed can hardly be overestimated. 



THE SOIL. 



The breeding of crops is a part of our agriculture, which, up to 

 this time, has been largely neglected. Crop breeding is new, and 

 we are interested in breeding corn, in breeding wheat and in breed- 

 ing all the standard crops. But there are other factors which are 

 as important, or even more important, in the production of any crop 

 than good seed. You may plant good seed of the purest varieties in 

 an infertile soil and you will get a poor crop. You may plant the 

 very best seed in fertile soil, which is in poor physical condition, or 

 neglect to give the proper culture during the growing season, and 

 you cannot produce the best corn, the best v/heat or the best oats. 

 It is even more important, in my judgment, to make the proper con- 

 ditions in the soil for growing the crop when we plant well-bred 

 seed than when we plant any old scrub stuff. It is the same way 

 with crops as with stock. Anything is good enough for the scrub 

 animal. He does not need much care. He will hustle around over 

 the prairie or live in a straw stack all winter, and it does not make 

 much difference if he dies. But we cannot afford to neglect well- 

 bred stock, and we do not. We give it the best kind of care with 

 good feed, and we make the animals larger and better by feeding 

 them properly and giving them the right care. The blood is, of 

 course, an important factor. It is the beginning, but the "blood" 

 must be given the proper conditions in order to have the animals de- 

 velop properly and it is the same way with good seed. It must be 

 given even better conditions to make and keep it what it is than are 



