110 Cooperation in Agriculture 



proved varieties. As an example of the practical seed- 

 breeding work of a public institution, the Kansas Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, in cooperation with the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, has produced 

 improved strains of wheat, corn, and other crops, and 

 from 1908 to 1910, according to Professor Ten Eyck, has 

 distributed more than 25,000 bushels of well-bred seed 

 of standard crops, including 15,000 bushels of seed wheat, 

 3000 bushels of seed corn, 2000 bushels of seed oats, 

 barley, and emmer, 2000 bushels of kaffir corn and broom- 

 corn, and smaller quantities of other seeds. The improved 

 strains of seed are developed on the college farm at Man- 

 hattan and on the substation farms, the seed is either 

 distributed or sold to the farmers, and the station encour- 

 ages them to continue to improve the varietal strains by 

 further selection and care. It cooperates with the farm- 

 ers who receive the seed by making a list of those who 

 have "college-bred" seed for sale and by distributing the 

 lists throughout the state. The crop breeders who co- 

 operated with the station in 1910 sold 30,000 bushels of 

 seed wheat and 10,000 bushels of improved seed corn. 

 This type of work is being developed more extensively 

 at the county substations at the present time, and im- 

 proved seed will be distributed even more widely by the 

 Kansas Station in the future. Professor Ten Eyck es- 

 timates that from one-third to one-half of the total area 

 planted to corn in 1911 in Kansas was planted with well- 

 bred seed. The improvement of farm crops through the 

 development of seed of improved varieties is still a pio- 

 neer work in the United States. It is certainly useful 

 work, and until the principles of plant improvement and 



