192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



seed from the best rows, we have been able to improve not only 

 the yield of the crop but to increase the per cent, of the 

 protein, the per cent, of oil and the per cent, of solid, and in- 

 crease both the feeding and commercial value of the corn. 



The President. That rather refutes the old idea that was 

 held when I was a boy, of picking out the best specimens and 

 saving those for seed, and using that year after year. That 

 wasn't correct. 



Mr. Shamel. No, sir ; I do not believe it will give as good 

 results as the selection of some strain and continuallv and 

 systematically breeding up that single variety. 



Mr. Hale. While I am not a tobacco grower, I live in the 

 midst of tobacco growers. I have been interested this morn- 

 ing in listening to these two papers, one from brother Andross, 

 who is a practical grower, and who has given us an excellent 

 paper on the practical side of it, and then we have had the 

 scientific matter from the last gentleman. It has been an 

 exceedingly interesting analysis of tobacco growing, both 

 from the practical and scientific standpoint. What I want to 

 ask brother Andross is this : With a meeting of this kind, 

 in the very center of the tobacco growing district, where there 

 are thousands of tobacco farmers, situated on lines of trolley 

 cars leading into this city, why we cannot get more people 

 here ? Why don't the tobacco growers, as a whole, take more 

 interest in just such discussions as we have had this morn- 

 ing? They are not here. I remember when Dr. Jenkins gave 

 this board an excellent paper on the subject of the scientific 

 curing and care of tobacco some years ago, and I believe there 

 were only two or three tobacco growers in the hall, and so far 

 as I know there are not more than that here this morning. I 

 don't know, but I doubt if there are twenty-five in the hall this 

 morning who are practical tobacco growers. It seems to me 

 that there is something wrong when we have under considera- 

 tion the improvement of such a valuable crop as this, a crop 

 which amounts to millions every year, and a crop which re- 



