Breeders' and Growers' Association 111 



their practical application to agricultural conditions are 

 more generally understood by the farmers, it may be a 

 wise public policy for institutions to develop and distrib- 

 ute seeds that are resistant to disease, that yield prolifi- 

 cally, that show peculiar adaptation to local conditions, 

 or that exhibit other superior qualities. The institutions 

 can also lead or assist in helping the farmers produce their 

 own superior strains of seed through individual or asso- 

 ciated effort. 



The improvement of farm crops, however, must ul- 

 timately rest with the farmers themselves. They can 

 form associations for the purpose of developing improved 

 seeds, adopt a plan for seed-growing and distribution, 

 supply themselves with seed for crop production, sell 

 the surplus, and, in the end, increase the yields of the 

 staple farm crops, or produce crops that are superior in 

 other ways. As farmers' organizations are developed, 

 the demand on public institutions for work of this char- 

 acter will grow less; their efforts can then be directed 

 exclusively towards the investigation of the underlying 

 principles of plant-breeding, while the farmers will carry 

 forward the practical improvement of crops, helped and 

 directed by the public institutions, but working in accord- 

 ance with plans which are a part of an organized farmers' 

 movement. 



Organization for Crop Improvement 



The improvement of crops through the development 

 of better strains of seed can be handled most effectively 

 when the producers in a community who are interested 

 in a single crop unite to improve the crop in that locality. 



