84 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



February, 1921. 



n 



Seed Growing Centre. 



For the multiplication and distribution of pure seed, 

 seed gro\\'ing centres are being arranged at point suit- 

 abl}' located throughout the province. The locations 

 of these centi-es are determined by the following fac- 

 tors: — - 



1. The suitability of the local conditions for the pro- 

 duction of a high quality of clean seed of some one 

 crop. 



2. The effieiencj- of shipping facilities in order that 

 large surpluses may be readily transported. 



3. Tlie ability of the growers to do careful work in 

 the production of tlieir seed crops. 



4. The possibilitj- of obtaining at least five growers 

 in each centre — exceptions will be made where it seems 

 probable that sufficiently large amounts of seed will 

 residt at a relatively small cost to the University. 



Tlie working plan is as follows :■ — 



1. Seed of high standing is offered to each member 

 of the associatio7i, tlie seed being Elite or 1st Gen. 

 Registered, representing a suitable variety or strain. 



2. Tlie seed Is .sold at a cash price, to he determined 

 from time to time by the Dept. of Field Husbandry. 



3. Sufficient seed is sold to each member to seed a 

 iniiiiinum of one acre. This quantity enables the grower 



to get into seed growing extensively in a minimum of 

 time. 



4. The grower contracts to seed it on clean land, 

 rogue it if necessarj- and thresh it carefully. 



5. The University on the other hand, agrees to in- 

 .spect free of cliarge the standing crop and threshed 

 grain, according to tlie rules and standards of the Can- 

 adian Seed Growers' Association. 



6. All resulting seed passing inspection may be 

 registered by the Canadian Seed Growers' Association. 

 This gives it a recognized standing, not only in all 

 parts of Canada, liut the United States as well, a point 

 of supreme importance to tlie grower. 



7. All seed and .standing crops are inspected l\v com- 

 petent inspectors. 



The advantages accruing from this association are 

 as follows : — 



The Dept. of Field Husbandry of the Universit3' is 

 enaliled to place new and improved strains and varieties 

 of all farm crops, produced by scientific breeding and 

 selection, at the disposal of the farming constituency. 



The seed growing centre scheme ensures large and 

 regular supplies of regi.stered .seed of approved varieties 

 of all crops and places the production of pure seed 

 upon a sound and permanent basis. Accordingly, all 

 farmers in the Province are put in immediate and 

 constant touch with sources of available seed of the 

 highest suitability, quality and purity. 



A Tribute to Horticulture 



By Prof. \'. W. JACKSON, Manitoba 

 At tlie Horticultural Banc) 

 Back in tlie beginning, three ci'adles of civilization 

 I'ocked the cliililreii that loved the fruits of tlie earth. 

 Tlie-Mesopotamian cradle swung under the grape vine 

 and the fig tree, and the scent of the peach and the 

 almond was all around. In tlie far east, the milk of 

 the cocoanut nourished teeming millions of yellow and 

 browni to the age of four, and then banana and pawpaw 

 was bread unto them. On the Earth's otlier side, tlic 

 Inea.s, and Aztecs fed tlieir red ones liominy and 

 potatoes in tlie Andes of Peru and on tlie plains of 

 Yucatan. 



These cradles in the suii were a liig advance on the 

 cave where chilly cliildren chewed raw meat of bones 

 to keep warm. It was man's effort to live in the sun, — 

 to make a garden and live in peace. Horticulture has 

 always meant peaceful culture of the things that 

 please — cooling juices that are a tonic unto the soul, 

 and refreshing herbs that renew thy youth. 



H. G. Wells in his Outlines of Histoiy shows how the 

 animal in us has been fostered since the cave men beat 

 each other with bones, culminating in 1914 wlien the 

 "bully beef of the world was rushed to tlie front that 

 this world's pa.ssion might be appeased. The cattle of 

 a thousand hills were sacrificed to possess the plains of 

 grain. The men of the mouiitain.s have always coveted 

 the peaceful valleys and plains below — and there is a 

 dietetic explanation of the peaceful plain. When Ahab 

 coveted Naboth's vineyard, he said "That I may have 

 it for a garden of herbs. . . near imto my house, and I 

 will give thee for it a better vineyard" — presumably 

 upon the hill. A "garden of herbs near unto the house" 

 is the desire of kings, and who has not enjoyed that 

 royal feeling each returning spring — a desire to get 



Agricultural College, Winnipeg, 

 net, Winnipeg, Jan. 19th. 



out and do something in the garden, — that adult sand- 

 box where we play at living, and life is the joy of the 

 promise of fruit thereof. It seems then that the best 

 dose for animalism is to "hoe our own row of the thing 

 we like most." One article, and ]ierliaps article one, 

 of tlie League of Nations lies buried in the garden. Un- 

 less a people produce or see tlie fruits of their labors, 

 they see the sand castles of their youth and the gardens 

 of their playhouse undone, and are dissatisfied and 

 wage war for a better realization of their dreams. 

 Notliing works for peace of mind like work that uses 

 all our iiowers and directs nature's forces to the full- 

 ness of the earth and fruit of all our labors. 



This natural, human endeavor to have better fruits 

 to eat is horticulture and one of the biggest factors in 

 civilization. The antiquity of this endeavor is seen in 

 the banana that has forgotten liow to make seed, and 

 in the excellence of the grape in Omar's time, and right 

 up to our time and place, the search for better tilings 

 for our tables, continues. 



The ])otatoes of Portage Plains are kno^^^l as William 

 Smith's ])otatoes — a selected strain which has given the 

 best results there; jNIr, Bougheii has shown what fruits 

 are hardy for the Dauphin district; Mr. Skinner will 

 tell us what plants of N. E. Asia will grow in Manitoba ; 

 Prof. Hansen has searched along the Hudson Bay Rail- 

 way and Peace River for wld fruits for domestication ; 

 ]Mr. Stevenson's experiments with apples at Morden 

 recall pioneer efforts of the Dufours to raise European 

 grapes in Indiana over a century ago; and Adlum's im- 

 provement of the native Catawba; and Ephraim Bull's 

 native Concord, which has tickled the palates of millions 

 with its foxy taste. 



Yes ! There were Stevensons in those earlj' days, and 



