iOO THE SOILS AND CROPS OF THE FARM. 



ment of their crops; are not always careful to main- 

 tain them in their present standard of excellence. 

 Much can be done in this direction. It is often un- 

 necessary to rely on specialists or to pay high prices 

 for improved varieties. A frequent change of seed is 

 not necessarily a good thing; certainly it is not neces- 

 sary to obtain seed from distant parts of the country 

 for a region where the soil and climate is well suited 

 to the crop. If the region is not well adapted to the 

 crop frequent new supplies of seed may be helpful or 

 even essential. Probably no part of the world is bet- 

 ter adapted to Indian corn than is much of the central 

 Mississippi Valley. There would seem to be no good 

 reason for changing seed of corn in this region. Much 

 of this same region is not equally well suited for the 

 oat crop. The climate is too dry and hot. The oats are 

 much lighter than those produced in more moist and 

 cool regions. Obtaining seed oats from regions where 

 the crop does better is good business management. 

 Three methods of crop improvement are commonly 

 used. These are selection, cultivation, and crossing. 

 With some crops, as Indian corn, all these methods are 

 easily practiced. With some, as with the small grains 

 and grasses, crossing is more difficult. With plants, 

 as with animals, the rule is that like produces like, or 

 the offspring resembles the parent. Many things 

 may cause variation but the tendency is toward almost 

 exact reproduction. Persistent selection of seed 

 from plants possessing any characteristic will tend to 

 fix that characteristic until it will almost certainly be 

 reproduced. Much less attention is paid to selection of 

 most seeds than is given to selection in animal breed- 

 ing, but like results may be expected to follow. 



