BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



Thirty-five bushels to the acre of plump sound grain were 

 harvested. 



Such good news spread far, William Saunders, looking 

 for a man to take charge of a test farm in that district, 

 knew the right kind of superintendent as soon as he saw 

 him. Year after year Mackay was kept busy at the Indian 

 Head farm, growing all kinds of crops, testing many new 

 trees and shrubs, experimenting with new ways of growing 

 old crops and trying new crops in the way that had been 

 found to be the best. 



While he was busy doing these things, the years sped 

 along until 1907. By this time Charles Saunders, at Ottawa, 

 had tested and retested those hybrid wheats until only a 

 few of the best remained. The flour of all of these, each 

 ground separately in a small mill, made good bread. The 

 plants were stiff strawed and ripened early; the grain did 

 not shatter when the heads were ripe. But before they 

 could go out to the farmers they must be tried at the 

 western experimental stations. 



So, early in 1907, Mackay received several sacks, each 

 holding about a half bushel of seed and each labelled with 

 a different name. By this time planting new wheats was an 

 old story to Mackay. While still hopeful, he had been 

 disappointed too many times to be overly enthusiastic. 

 Again the stage was set for a demonstration like that of 

 the summer fallow that had proved to be so useful many 

 years before. 



Spring opened unusually late. In April, when the planting 

 should have begun, the ground was hard with frost. All 

 over Canada the seed wheat was weeks late going into 

 the ground, and at the Indian Head farm, with many other 

 things pressing to be planted, these small lots of wheat 

 were not seeded until a month after the usual planting 

 time. Even with this late start, all might have been well 

 if July and August had been bright and warm, but when 



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