EVERY FARMER A PLANT BREEDER 



87 



same soil and under the same conditions of growth 

 and cultivation he finds cotton stalks poorly filled 

 with small bolls. If the cotton be picked through- 

 out the field and at the gin the seed be secured, there 

 is no way to know from which plants the seed has 

 come. Since more plants of the common kind were 

 present, it is not unlikely that by getting seed at 

 the gin a preponderance of seed from the inferior 

 plants will prevail 

 and no improve- 

 ment will be pos- 

 sible at all. On the 

 other hand, if the 

 cotton farmer seeks 

 the superior plants 

 in the field, and re- 

 jects all that are 

 average or below 

 the average, a short 

 time only will be 

 necessary in order 

 to greatly improve 

 the crop yield. This same principle of selection ap- 

 plies to potatoes, oats, barley, to forage and fiber 

 plants, and to all other plants raised for profit or 

 pleasure. The real secret of plant improvement is 

 cleared up when field selection of seed is begun. 

 There is no mystery about plant breeding, nor is it 

 something only for the scientist or the experiment 

 station man ; it is the work of all. Some of our most 

 valuable plant creations have been the result, not 

 of special scientific training, but of patience, devo- 

 tion to an ideal, and a clear-sighted notion of what 

 selection can do. 



There is not a township or a county in any state 



CORN SMUT 



The damage to corn each year by 

 smut is very large. Treatment of 

 seed corn is of no value. Smutted 

 ears should be collected and de- 

 stroyed before the bursting and dis- 

 charge of the spores. 



