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Certified Seed A 

 Guarantee of Purity 



By 0. T. Bonnett 



Ass't. Prof. Plant Genetics, 

 University of Illinois 



VVQERTIFIED seed, like registered 

 f^-j animals, must carry the papers 

 Vl^ ^n*^ trace directly to the original 

 Jot or strain. 



Some varieties of strains or strains of 

 strains appear so nearly alike that it is 

 difficult even for the expert to distin- 

 guish between them. This is particularly 

 true of Kanred wheat which was origin- 

 ally selected from Turkey Red. The only 

 distinguishing difference between Kanred 

 and Turkey Red wheat was the Kanred 

 had a very long beak on the outer glume 

 of the spikelets. Some heads of Turkey 

 wheat had the same characteristic but in 

 Kanred wheat all of the heads had this 

 characteristic. Unless this character was 

 known and well understood the chances 

 that a farmer would get impure Kanred 

 wheat unless he was buying from a cer- 

 tified seed source would be highly prob- 

 able. Yet, it was to the farmers ad- 

 vantage to grow Kanred wheat because it 

 carried superior characteristics, such as a 

 higher yield (average of three bushels 

 per acre) resistant to yellow leaf rust 

 and certain forms of black stem rust, and 

 slightly earlier than the average run of 

 Turkey Red. To be sure that he was 

 getting Kanred the grower would thus 

 buy from a certified source which traced 

 directly to the original lot produced at 

 the Kinsas Experiment Station. 



Another example proving the value of 

 knowing the source of seed came out this 

 year in the study of wheat varieties and 

 mosaic disease. 



Some Illinois strains of Fulcaster used 

 in previous tests proved to be very re- 

 sistant to mosaic and averaged near the 

 top in yield. As our Fulcaster seed was 

 becoming a little mixed, certified seed 

 from Missouri was used. The Missouri 

 strain proved to be susceptible to mosaic, 

 therefore yielded poorly on these tests. 

 From all other standpoints Missouri cer- 

 tified seed, where wheat mosaic was not 

 a factor, would be equally as good as the 

 Illinois strains of Fulcaster. But in Il- 

 linois where the mosaic disease is becom- 

 ing more widely spread any farmer wish- 

 ing to grow Fulcaster wheat should ob- 

 tain Illinois strains. 



This example is cited to show that 

 while varieties may look alike they may 

 behave quite differently under special 

 conditions. Therefore it is desirable that 



GcdtU Q44a^ Scuue^, ^Um 



(yTnSCAR R. BEBOUT, McLean 

 jr / county, drives his cars, truck 

 V / and rubber tired farm imple- 

 ments in and out of his farmstead pas- 

 ture without using a gate. Instead, he 

 crosses a cattle guard of the type used 

 at highway intersections by railroads. 



"It saves a lot of time. Why, I 

 wouldn't take $50 for that stock guard. 

 None of our animals will attempt to 

 cross it. Even the bull ignored it 

 although a herd of cows was being pas- 

 tured across the road," he said. 



The guard is a concreted pit four 

 feet deep, 10 feet long and eight feet 

 wide, across which old railroad rails 

 are bolted parallel to the fence. The 

 rails, eight inches apart, are bolted in 

 the middle to a two-by-six and are tied 

 together at the ends with rods. Eight- 

 inch lengths of one-inch pipe serve as 

 washers on the tie-rods to keep the 

 rails from spreading as vehicles pass 

 over them. A gate at the side of the 

 guard permits the passage of horse- 

 drawn implements and livestock. 



The guard has been in service seven 

 years. Original cost was |30, includ- 

 ing the iron, concrete and labor. Oscar 

 believes that a similar one could be 

 made cheaper with a shallower pit 

 shored with lumber and with two-inch 

 pipes instead of bars. Such a guard 

 would be suitable for farmers who rent 

 land or where a permanent structure 

 is not necessary. Oscar would make 

 it 12 feet long if he had to do again. 



Oscar, commander of the American 

 Legion in the I6th district, got the 

 idea several years ago while enroute 

 to a convention in Los Angeles. He 



•'rru, TORN ANY LIVESTOCK" 

 Oscar points to washers that keep rails 

 {rom spreading. 



saw cattlemen in the range country 

 using guards where their fences cross 

 highways. There the devices replace 

 road fences. 



the grower obtain certified seed which 

 traces directly to a known source. While 

 there are no certified seed sources of Ful- 

 caster listed in the inspection list for 

 1938, good sources of Fulcaster are 

 known in the state. 



president of the Logan County Farm 

 Bureau, and secretary of the Illinois 

 Grain Corporation, was recently elected 

 to a three-year term on the Farm Credit 

 Board, St. Louis. 



Consumer income largely determines 



milk and butterfat prices, says Dr. R. 

 W. Bartlett, assistant chief in agricul- 

 tural economics at the University of 

 Illinois. Consumers received $91 in 

 1937 for each $66 received in 1932, 

 the chief reason why butterfat 'rose 

 from 20c a lb. in 1932 to 33c in '37. 



Fire losses on farms this year will 

 amount to $95,000,000 or approximate- 

 ly 5% more than last year according 

 to government estimates. 



Charles Schmitt, Beason, for 10 years 



To three vocational agriculture boys will 



go $200 scholarships at the University of 

 Illinois paid by the Illinois Poultry Industry 

 council for the best essays on "The Impor- 

 tance of Top Grade Market Poultry to 

 Illinois Farm Income" or "The Economy 

 and Health Value of Eggs in the Diet." 

 Writers of second place essays in each sec- 

 tion will get $100 scholarships. 



The agricultural department of the Jack- 

 sonville high school owns a small farm 

 which is used as a field laboratory. Students 

 operate it as part of their class work. The 

 livestock, including two horses, two cows, 

 two sows, two ewes and a small flock of 

 chickens, is cared for by one boy who is 

 paid for his labor. The farm returned 

 $350.87 on an investment of $2676.21 last 

 year, according to J. H. Loomis, ag teacher. 



MARCH, 1939 



17 



