Wheat Breeding. 4$ 



more improved. It would be quite impracticable to sell 

 a new variety after selling others superior to it. It has 

 been found quite practicable at the Minnesota Experi- 

 ment Station to have a progressive series of varieties of 

 wheat coming on for sale to the growers of pure bred 

 seeds who are taking up the work of multiplying for 

 sale the new pure bred field crops originated by the 

 experiment stations, as pure bred stockmen grow for 

 sale animals as improved by a Cruikshank or other 

 breeder. These men pay a good price to the station for 

 new things and having once made a nice profit from 

 raising one of our new varieties and selling it to their 

 neighbors for seed they are the station's best customers 

 when it invites them to co-operate in distributing anoth- 

 er new variety which promises to be of still greater 

 value. 



As there appears an advantage in taking up first the 

 simpler methods of breeding wheat, plans of originat- 

 ing by selection will precede the discussion of hybri- 

 dizing and selection combined; and in each of these 

 two general plans the simpler methods will be followed 

 by those more complex. While these suggestions may 

 be open to the criticism that they are given from the 

 point of view of an experiment station worker, the ef- 

 fort will be to have them apply to farmers and to large 

 seed growing firms as well. 



Improve Wheat by Selecting Large Spikes. The 

 experiences of Maj. Hallet of England, Dr. Rimpau of 

 Germany, Zavitz of Ontario, Shepperd of North Dako- 

 ta, Haynes of North Dakota, Soule of Tennessee, Well- 

 man of Minnesota, the present writer and a number of 

 others demonstrate that the selection of the best spikes, 

 or heads, from a field of wheat will work some improve- 

 ment of yield. The farmer who has a superior variety 

 of wheat and wishes to sell seed should at least select 

 the best heads from the field each year in quantity ^to 

 multiply in one or two years so as to grow his entire 

 crop from this selected stock, pursuing some such plan 

 as follows : The first year a man who raises annually 



