"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread." 



415 



last station a method which is in use in France for the 

 choice of seeds was applied. Already now some French 

 farmers go over their wheat fields before the crop begins, 

 choose the soundest plants which bear iwo or three 

 equally strong stems, adorned with long ears, well 

 stocked with grains, and taKe these ears. Then they crop 

 oil with scissors the top and the bottom of each ear and 

 keep its middle part only, which contains the biggest 

 seeds. With a dozen quarts of such selected grains they 

 obtain ne\t year the required quantity of seeds of a 

 superior quality. The same was done by M. Despr^z. 

 Then each seed was planted separately, eight inches apart 

 in a row, by means of a specially devised tool, similar 

 to the raye'nneur which is used for planting potatoes; 

 and the rows, also eight inches apart, were alternately 

 given to the big and to the smaller seeds. 



The crop was thus more than doubled by the choice 

 of seeds and by planting them separately eight inches 

 apart. It corresponded in Despr^z's experiments to 600 

 grains obtained on the average from each grain sown ; 

 and one-tenth or one-eleventh part of an acre was sufiE- 

 cient in each case to grow the eight and a half bushels 

 of wheat which are required on the average for the 

 annual bread food per head of a population which would 

 live chieBy upon bread. Prof. Grandeau, Director of 

 the French Station, Agronomique de I'Est, has also 

 made, since 1886, experiments on Major Hallett's 

 method, and he obtained similar results. " In a proper 

 soil," he wrote, "one single grain of wheat can give as 

 much as fifty stems (and ears), and even more, and thus 

 cover a circle thirteen inches in diameter." 



More than that, there is full reason to believe 

 that even this method is liable to further im- 

 provement by means of replanting. Cereals in 

 such cases would be treated as vegetables are 

 treated in horticulture. Professional writers 

 sneer at it, although all the rice that is grown in 

 Japan is planted and even replanted. 



KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS CONDEMNATION. 



It mav be said that everybody knows these 

 facts. It is quite possible that those who are 

 engaged in agriculture do know them — and 

 largelv ignore them. An instance to hand is the 

 following extract from a letter of one of the 

 most important English seed-growing establish- 

 ments : — 



" The highest yields obtained from our 

 pedigree stocks of wheats have been seventy-two 

 imperial bushels (nine quarters) per acre of our 

 Essex Conqueror, and seventy bushels per acre 

 of our l-.mperor. " 



Al this rate the wheat lands of this country 

 could raise 16,000,000 quarters instead of the 

 7,oon,or)o quarters actually produced. In other 

 words, the home food supply of the nation could 

 be doubled without another acre being put down 

 to wheat. And whoever knows or docs not 

 know what scientific wheat-growing and breed- 

 ing is, we as a nation should insist that the 

 most is made of our land, and that apathy or 

 stupidity on the part of those responsible for 

 agriculture should not force us to be at the 

 mercy of foreign producers. Wide acres do not 

 necessarily mean cheaper production or greater 



yields. Thus it is not fair to say that the vast 

 prairies of America or the steppes of Russia 

 must compete with us at an advantage. The 

 force of " American competition " is not in the 

 possibllitv of having hundreds of acres of wheat 

 in one block. It lies in the ownership of the 

 land, in a system of culture which is appropriate 

 to the character of the country, in a widely- 

 developed spirit of association, and, finally, in a 

 number of institutions and customs intended to 

 lift the agriculturist and his profession to a high 

 level which is unknown in Europe. 



WHAT MUST BE DONE. 



.\s individual consumers, as voters, as eaters 

 of bread, we can do little save insist that this 

 matter be taken earnestly in hand without delay, 

 and that what other nations have done we will 

 also do. Our patriotism, our national pride, 

 should give us no rest until action is taken. 



The encouragement of agriculture should come 

 under the administration of the Board of .'Agri- 

 culture, except certain of the purely educational 

 institutions, which necessarily should be dealt 

 with by the educational authorities. It is, 

 therefore, not out of place to see how the 

 Department of .Agriculture should be arranged 

 to produce the maximum of result. It 

 deals with agriculture, commerce, industries, 

 fisheries, forestry, mining, patents, trade marks, 

 and geology. It should include the following 

 bureaus : the section of agriculture, of commerce 

 and industries, of forests, of mines, of patents, of 

 fisheries, and of geological studies. The section of 

 agriculture should deal with agriculture, domestic 

 animals, and game. The bureau of geological 

 surveys should deal with topography and analysis 

 of earths, as well as with pure geology. The sec- 

 tion of agriculture shoiilfi be composed of four 

 bureaus. The first should deal with administra- 

 tion, associations and guilds, rcarr.mgements of 

 farms, irrigation, agricultural instruction, and 

 congresses. The second should deal with the im- 

 provement of agricultural products, the destruc- 

 tion of h.irmful insects, breaking up of new 

 ground, and improvement of industries. The 

 third bureau should deal with the improve- 

 ment in the breeding of domestic animals, the 

 choice and inspection of breeding studs, and 

 veterinary and bl.icksmiih affairs. The fourth 

 should deal with the improvement of horses, the 

 inspection of stallions, and supervision of stud 

 farms and stables. In countries where agricul- 

 ture is seriously regarded the Ministry of Agri- 

 culture is by far the most eflRciently organised 

 Department. 



A CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL STATION. 



The centre of the whole educational system 

 must be the central experimental station, con- 



