SEED SELECTION. 



313 



cause there is nothing to show how much time it represents. It 

 is not so easy to see that one and one half bushels per acre may 

 represent the difference between profit and loss in farming. It 

 requires about thirteen bushels of wheat per acre to pay the cost 

 of production. This one and one-half bushels more would repre- 

 sent a profit of $1.20 per acre. It is the matter of taking care of 

 the little things in farm- 

 ing that gives a profit in 

 it. This is where so 

 many farmers fail. 



The potato demonstra- 

 tions carried on in Clay 

 County show even great- 

 er results in seed selec- 

 tion and disease control. 

 I think we are not so 

 much concerned with the 

 scientific accuracy of 

 these results as we are 

 with the question, "Will 

 they work out in actual 

 farm practices?" These 

 demonstrations were 

 carried on with that one 

 thing in view. Can the 

 farmer himself put them 

 into practice ? p - E - element. 



For these demonstrations, seed was selected for type from 

 the bins ; about one half inch of the stem-end was clipped to elim- 

 inate the diseases often found there ; they were then treated in 

 a standard solution of bichloride of mercury for one and one- 

 half hours. This seed was then planted in the same field adjoin- 

 ing the bin run seed. For the three years that the demonstra- 

 tions have been conducted, the average difference in yield was 

 about fifty bushels per acre in favor of the plots. But this is not 

 all. The potatoes were a better type, comparatively free from 

 disease, and sold for from fifteen cents to fifty cents above the 

 regular market price. 



A few short letters from some of the co-operators will best 

 give an idea of the value to the farmers : 



One writes: "I raised at least eight hundred bushels more 

 of potatoes from my acreage than I would have done had I 

 planted my own poor seed." 



