RELATION OF PLANT BREEDING TO WEALTH. 



11 



few liundred miles distant, which emphasizes the ueed of breeding' 

 varieties for each locality: 



Minnesota No. 160 comx)ared with, its parent variety, Minnesota No. 51. 



Twenty-five per cent, or 5 bushels per acre, increase would add to 

 the world's snpply of wheat 025, 000. 000 bushels. This, at 80 cents 

 per bushel, would be valued at 1500,000,000 for each year. If by 

 T)reeding' we can increase yields only so much as 5 per cent, or 1 

 bushel per acre, we will still have an increase of $100,000,000 per 

 annum, or 1,250,000,000 bushels increase in the world's crop in ten 

 3'eai-s. Since the United States jjroduces about one-fifth of the world's 

 wlK^at supply, an annual increase of 1 bushel per acre would result in 

 ten years in an increased valuation of $200,000,000 for this country. 

 One-tenth of 1 ptM' cent of this sum spent in wheat l)reeding would 

 doubtless be more than sufficient to produce a much greater increase 

 than 1 bushel per acre. The writer's interpretation of the facts con- 

 cerning the pi-oduction of numerous new varieties of wheat in Minne- 

 sota by selection, aided by occasional hybridizing, is that 25 per cent 

 increase in yield is a conservative estimate of what it is practicable 

 ul1imat(dy to accomplish in that State in the improvement of wheat 

 by bi-eeding. Several decades will be required to accomplish this, 

 and the proof is now nearly conclusive that breeding, or at least 

 variety testing, must be done for each general locality within the 

 State. 



The breeding of corn in the United States has I'esulted in a very 

 mai'ked improvement of that crop. In nearly every county there are 

 varii^ties or sti-ains specially suited to local conditicms. Formerly 

 those d(^nt vari(^ties which yielded large crops of grain were adapted 

 only to the Southern and Middle States. Now dent varieties ai-e found 

 maturing large crops nearly to the center of the nortlnM-nmost tier of 

 States. Through selection the farmers of the Northern States liave 

 greatly increased the yields of thcMi- cornfields. Corn being such a 

 larger plant that each ear is taken in the hand in husking out the crop, 



