298 



STATE BOARD OF AGIUCULTURE. 



(lozie by us, but llic baking will be carried through b^' the DepaitiiicJit of 

 Chemistry. 



INCREASING. 



New high producing strains that have i)roveii their worth through 

 testing in the variety series are grown in larger plats. The purpose 

 is simply to obtain enough grain to allow distribution to farnuM's. 



In this work, the aim is to distribute the best that the Station has 

 to offer, and then to distribute other promising ones as they appear and 

 demand presents itself. 



Distribution sometimes occurs for the piu'pose of testing a new thing 

 in various parts of the State. It is being realized that to discard all of 

 those that are not the highest yielders at M. A. C. may mean the loss of 

 a variety that would be of considerable value to the farmers of some local- 

 ity. Distribution sometimes occurs because of a quality other than 

 yield. As an ilhistiation, a smooth awned barley has been distributed. 



CROSSING AND HYBRIDIZATION. 



The first thing is to see what nature has to offer. Thus in wheat the 

 early yenYs were devoted exclusively to pure-lines, isolation, and their 

 testing in variety series. 



Wlii-at CrossiiiLf W(irk — showing iiiotlinil nf protocting spikelets mI'Ut hybridizing;. 



When it became known in 1912 that the hardiest and best milling wheats 

 w^ere all weak strawed kinds and therefore unsuited to Michigan Agricul- 

 ture, crosses were undertaken between them and the better stiff strawed 

 strains. 



The object of crossing is to combine characters found in separate 



