9 o 



Nature-Study Agriculture 



The work of 

 Swedish 

 experi- 

 menters 



How 



American 

 wheat was 

 improved 



his own planting and for sale to his neighbors. One 

 of these types is still grown in parts of England and 

 France. (Exp. i.) 



Since this Isle of' Jersey farmer conducted his ex- 

 periments, much similar work has been done both in 

 this country and in Europe. At one experiment station 

 in Sweden the seed from two thousand different plants 

 was saved and planted in as many separate plots. There 

 were more than four hundred heads of oats, each of a 

 different type ; hundreds of types of wheat, rye, and 

 other grains ; and peas and other seeds as well. These 

 two thousand different kinds of seeds were planted 

 in separate plots, and careful record was kept of the 

 behavior of the plants in each plot from the time of 

 planting until the seed was ripe. Different charac- 

 teristics were shown. For example, some wheat grew 

 taller than other wheat; some bore more kernels or 

 larger kernels ; some developed stronger stems, which 

 were not so easily beaten down by wind and rain ; some 

 stood the frost of winter better than others ; some were 

 not so subject to disease ; some ripened early and some 

 late. From the different varieties the best were selected ; 

 the seed was multiplied by replanting, and finally it 

 was distributed to the farmers of. Sweden to plant. 



In America the most valuable work in seed selection 

 has been done with wheat and corn. At the Minnesota 

 Experiment Station, Professor Hays, by the methods 

 used in Europe, separated several types of wheat from 

 the common varieties grown in the state. These proved 

 to be heavier yielders than the mixtures of which the 

 old varieties consisted. 



