wheats and flours of aroostook county. 1 79 



The Improvement of Wheat. 



There are two comparatively easy ways in which trials can be 

 made to improve the wheat grown in Aroostook county. The 

 first and one which most naturally suggests itself is the intro- 

 duction of new seed wheat from other localities ; the other is 

 the improvement by selection from wheat now grown in the 

 county. The former plan is that tried by the Station and 

 recorded in the preceding pages. Because of the great differ- 

 ence in climate between Maine and the Northwest, the varieties 

 introduced speedily changed their character so that at the end of 

 a single season they had become relatively much richer in 

 starch. To the writers it seems that there is greater hope in the 

 improvement of the quality of Aroostook county wheat by care- 

 ful selection from wheat already grown in the county than by the 

 introduction of seed from other localities. Not only are there 

 several varieties of wheat now grown in Aroostook county, but 

 these varieties differ among themselves in earliness, productive- 

 ness and capacity for making good flour. Furthermore, there 

 will be found to be great variation in individual plants of wheat 

 from the same lot. For example, careful examination of any 

 field of wheat will show that occasional plants mature earlier 

 than other plants ; that some plants are taller and stockier than 

 other plants; and that some plants will carry more and heavier 

 kernels of wheat than others. This variability of individual 

 plants can be used as a basis for improvement of wheat by selec- 

 tion. 



The Minnesota Experiment Station has given much study to 

 the methods of breeding, selecting and improvement of wheats,* 

 and the following suggestions are based upon the results of their 

 studies. 



The first step in breeding would be to select from an Aroostook 

 grown wheat of a good variety about 1000 of the hardest, heavi- 

 est kernels. These should be planted in carefully prepared 

 ground singly in hills four inches apart each way. For conven- 

 ience of working, these hills should be planted in beds not more 

 than three feet wide. The soil should be kept free from weeds 

 during the growing season and care should be taken that if by 



* Bulletin 62, Minnesota Experiment Station. 



