IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 33 



Economic Position of Wheat Growers. The story of the ag- 

 riculture of the wheat area in the middle west of our country 

 is the oft repeated one of agriculture in a new country, a fact 

 which bespeaks an economic justification. There was but one 

 way in which the western pioneer could draw a draft that 

 would be honored for the cost of buildings, machinery and 

 live stock, and that was to draw it at the expense of the natural 

 fertility of the soil. One-crop wheat farming and neglect of 

 crop rotation and domestic animals resulted. For over half a 

 century, " Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm," 

 was a household phrase. The farm having been obtained, it 

 was used and abused in every way that was supposed to yield 

 the largest amount of immediate profit, regardless of all other 

 considerations. In no other section was this so true as in the 

 wheat raising areas. In the meantime, millions of acres of 

 fresh land produced more grain than domestic consumption 

 could utilize, and for years the very existence of the farmer 

 was threatened by 40-cent wheat and 20-cent corn. Lack of 

 capital and the hard conditions of frontier life soon resulted 

 in debt. Often there was not the wherewithal to pay the high 

 interest and to procure the necessaries of life. With the 

 twentieth century came a change, a change of such moment and 

 speed as to be without parallel in the economic history of 

 agriculture. The prosperity of the middle west transformed 

 a million agricultural debtors into financially independent 

 farmers. Free land, free immigration, and free private enter- 

 prise in railroad construction were the chief factors that ulti- 

 mately led, not only to financial independence, but also to a 

 new dignity and to a higher standard of living. With the 

 telephone, the daily mail and newspaper, and means for travel- 

 ing, a new horizon of comfort surmounts the skyline of the 

 farmers ' economic strength. This recent era of rural pros- 

 perity augurs well for the nation's future. 



IMPROVEMENT. 



Wheat Improvement Proper consists of artificially increasing 

 the natural variations of the wheat plant and its environment. 

 Historically, it is unknown whether the plant or the environ- 

 ment was first the subject of improvement. The subsequent 



