116 THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW 



The economic importance of such a trifling 

 fact can be measured by the thousands of acres 

 in the semi-arid West where a cold spring pre- 

 cludes wheat from taking advantage of a fa- 

 vorable seasonal rainfall. A wheat adapted 

 to such adverse conditions is exactly what the 

 experts sought, and, having found by a simple 

 process, began breeding. To find this strain 

 they held the temperature of mechanical ger- 

 minators ten or fifteen degrees below normal. 

 Ordinary wheat would not germinate at this 

 temperature. But, among the thousands of 

 grains put to the test, possibly ten are found 

 to sprout and grow. These ten, isolated and 

 propagated, form the nucleus of a re-incar- 

 nated race. 



The sifting process can be carried on in- 

 definitely by varying the conditions under 

 which the seeds are sprouted or grown. 

 Durum wheat, introduced in Kansas by the 

 Mennonites from Russia, is merely an example 

 of the process, a pure-blooded strain with 

 dominant characteristics well defined. It is 

 worth forty million dollars a year to the far- 

 mers of the Great Plains. The non-saccharine 

 sorghums, brought from China at a cost of less 

 than $2,000, account for another forty millions 



