212 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



i enable feature, that of being unpalatable to stock, means more to West- 

 em agriculture than can be foretold. 



"Plants acquire their ability to thrive under different conditions by 

 being made to live and produce under those conditions. I once knew 

 a man who tried to adapt himself to the climate of Alaska by exposing 

 himself to cold and storm at home. Of course he could not reproduce the 

 climate of Alaska, but it did not matter, for the exposure got him before 

 he got to Alaska. 



Stock Breeding. 



"An attempt was made to breed a sheep for Western ranges in the 

 fields and barns of Iowa. It did not succeed. Horses bred in Missouri 

 take two years or more to become acclimated in Wyoming before they 

 can stand full work. Corn from Yucanan will not ripen at Yakima. 

 Bananas born and bred in Bermuda do not bear in Billings. 



Seed Adaptation. 



"The ultimate success of dry farming depends as much on adapting 

 crop plants to dry farm environments as it does to any other factor. 

 The fact that dry farming has succeeded as well as it has with only 

 such crops as have been available, is one of the greatest arguments for 

 future greater success, when we shall have had a few years in which to 

 adapt our own varieties to the climate and soil of the West. 



Dry Land Crops. 



"In our dry farm crops drouth resistance is not the only character- 

 istic we want. There are many native plants in the arid region which 

 live and make some growth. We want larger producing power. The 

 ordinary thorny cactus produces an insignificant amount of growth. The 

 great achievement of Burbank was not so much the breeding off of the 

 thorns of the cactus as it was putting into it vegetative growing power. 



Adding Growth to Plants. 



"He made a thornless cactus, it is true, but he did more, for 

 he made it grow to the amount of one hundred tons of green forage per 

 acre in a season. His changing the color of a flower is not so important 

 economically, nor is it so wonderful scientifically, as making a new wal- 

 nut tree which will grow ten times as fast as other walnut trees grow. 



Productive Necessity. 



"The making of a new grain may be valuable if it presents some 

 desirable perfection of form or quality, but it will appeal more to the 

 practical man's pocket-book if its productiveness is improved and it 

 gives more pounds per acre which will sell for the same price The early 

 Cape oats will ripen in July and produce ten or fifteen bushels per acre, 

 but we are more interested rn a Russian oat that will use th^ whole 

 season for its growth and yield seventy bushels per acre. This question 

 of productiveness is one which has in it much encouragement for the 

 future. 



