BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



wheat. Manitoba No. 1 hard, the trade name for the best 

 of this wheat, brought the highest price at Liverpool. 

 Valuable as this wheat from Europe has been, its greatest 

 value now lies in the early ripening Marquis wheat that 

 has been derived from it. 



While Fife was earlier than most of the wheat previously 

 grown and freer from rust, it was still not early enough to 

 escape damage from frost as the farms were extended 

 northward. Summer drought withered its stalks, and in 

 those years when rust was bad, it did not escape injury. 



Before 1850 several attempts were made to establish 

 experimental farms, but these all failed until the present 

 Dominion Experimental Farms system was established in 

 1888. William Saunders was the organizer and first director. 

 Before taking charge, he had been a druggist with a hobby 

 for developing new fruits by crossbreeding. His grapes, 

 gooseberries, currants, and raspberries were hardier and 

 yielded more in the Canadian farm gardens than the 

 varieties from the Old Country or from the United States. 

 But what the farmers on the newly plowed prairies wanted 

 most was an earlier maturing wheat. The soil was wonder- 

 fully fertile, and the wide, level fields were admirably suited 

 for wheat growing on a large scale, if only the menace 

 of the frost and snow could be averted. 



Saunders collected wheats from many different countries 

 and tested them alongside the standard Fife on the newly 

 established experimental farms. Wheat from the high 

 plateaus of India ripened much earlier, but the plants were 

 small and the yield too light to be of much value. One 

 wheat, in particular, from the Lake Ladoga region north of 

 Petrograd, was especially promising for its earliness; but 

 when a sufficient increase was obtained to make a milling and 

 baking test, it was found to be seriously deficient in color and 

 texture. Thus the expectation of replacing Fife with earlier 

 ripening wheats from other countries came to nought. 



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