-Winter Meeting. 181 



Why is one soil fertile and another barren? 'Slost soils contain 

 plant food enouo^h, but do we know how to make it available to the 

 plant? 



There are problems in production. Some orchards yield well, 

 others are unproductive. The same varieties, apparently the same 

 soil, with similar treatment. 



There are great problems in plant development. We need better 

 fruits. The old varieties have been vastly improvd, but the new are 

 not perfect. Who will give us a Ben Davis in appearance and pro- 

 ductiveness, with a }iIcIntosh flavor? Who will come forward with a 

 Concord in vigor and yield a Golden Chasselas in quality? How 

 much would a gift of this kind be worth? Who has estimated the 

 value of Ephraim Bull's benefaction to mankind, or Gideon's gift of 

 the Wealthy apple to Minnesota and other northern states? Have 

 you, men of Missouri, given due meed of praise to the faithful and 

 patient investig-ators of your own State — your Miller, Rommel, Jaeger. 

 Zellner, your Evans, Goodman, Gano? 



. Let us glance for a moment at the relation of plant-breeding to 

 wealth. Professor Hays of Minnesota estimates the world's wheat 

 crop at 2,500,000,000 bushels, grown on 125,000,1300 acres, at twenty 

 bushels per acre. Ten years' effort of the Minnesota Station pro- 

 duced a variety of wheat yielding twenty-five per cent, more grain 

 than its parent variety — the best variety grown in the state. Twenty- 

 five per cent., or five bushels per acre, would add to the world's sup- 

 ply 625,000,000 bushels at eighty cents per bushel equal to $500,000,- 

 000 each year. If breeding will increase the yield five per cent., nay, 

 as much as one per cent, per acre, there would be an annual increase 

 of $100,000,000, or in ten years an increase of 1,250,000,000 bushels. 



Plants, annual biennial and perennial, are in a constant state of 

 mutation (change). Man, the gardener, must ever be alert to take 

 advantage of favorable variations, and the struggle for economic im- 

 provement constantly needs assistance. 



FEDERAL AND STATE ASSISTANCE. 



W^e hear much of the vast enterprises of the Federal Department 

 of Agriculture and the great sums of money being expended to 

 further the industry. The sums now expended in behalf of agricul- 

 ture would make our forefathers stand aghast. But after all have 

 they kept pace with the other expenditures? Let us look at some of 

 the figures. In 1903, the government expenses amounted to almost 

 $600,000,000. What share of this did agriculture, the foundation of 

 all wealth, receive? $4,579,990. We may compare this appropriation 



