VOL. XLVI. NO. 1970 
NEW YORK. OCTOBER 29, 1887 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
S2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the 
year, 1887, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 
a breast: second, the size of the kernels, and, 
third, the size of the head. It will appear 
that if the size of the head and number of 
breasts or spikelets were the same, the greater 
amount of gTain will depend upon the size and 
number of kernels to a spikelet. Thus the 
number of grains to a spikelet of Clawson will 
average 2}.; and the breasts will average seven 
on a side, or 14 on both sides, givmg 35 kernels 
to the head. Any variety haviug the same 
sized head and the same number of spikelets, 
that bears three kernels to a spikelet, would 
increase the yield in the ratio of 42 to 35, the 
kernels being of the same size. If four to a 
breast, the ratio of increase would be as 56 to 
35, and so on. 
The illustration Fig. 442, which is an accur¬ 
ate outline sketch of a medium-sized head of one 
of the Rural’s cross-breeds, will show what is 
meant. Many of the spikelets instead of being 
single are double or compound, i. e , two sets 
of spikelets grow in the place of one. Fig 443 
©xpevimcnt rounds of the Huntl 
orker. 
THE RURAL’S CROSS-BRED WHEATS. 
JVo advantage from changing spring to xvin- 
ter -wheat ; why Armstrong was made the 
mother plant; rules 
for selecting pro- \ 
geny; kernels to an . \ 
ear; guarding a- \ \ 
gainst exagger a- \ \ \ 
tion; persistent la- \ \ \ 
hor likely to secure \ \ \ \ 
success; crossing \ A \ 
pelargoniumsiseeti- \ \ \\ \ 
ling potatoes ; a \ \ \ \ \ 
reasonable hope. \ \ \\ i 
cross-brecl wheat: Fig. 441 the side view. We 
have here 12breaststo a side, or 24 altogether. 
The breasts are single, but the average num¬ 
ber of grains is 4^. This gives for the aver¬ 
age head m3 grains. Supposing that in field 
culture this average would hold good, the 
yield of this variety 
a s compared with 
that of Clawson, 
. r would be over three 
/ 7 times as great. 
\ We havenointen- 
\yj tion fof trying to 
z - prove that in a field 
J . trial these figures 
A. / / would he supported. 
V / The future of the 
\ / Rural’s wheats will 
j ( ' / telltheirovrntale.lt 
■jl A j j is merely our desire 
j I V f to show what we 
j A / j have tried to do and 
I J J what would be the 
J V ' I l 1 / results if in farm 
I Ip / I practice our figuring 
I / I J V 111 were supported. We 
} ; J j I have always disliked 
[yin to tax our readers’ 
M l 1 // I confidence by state- 
' / j j 1 1 j I ments of remarkable 
j j j I yields, such as those 
7 Hill °t potatoes, when, in 
I If : our rich garden soil, 
7 1 Jl j at the rate of 1,500 
(filli/ I bushels and over has 
\l Jit I • been produced per 
Mi acre. We have been 
fjljn ,f especially mortified 
full Yj when those yields 
If/ \ / / have been satirically 
fjl 1 j commented upon by 
'/ /l ‘ J our respected contem- 
nif / poraries as having 
fj ' / been actually raised 
-/# / on an acre of land. 
//) / The temptation to 
II f exaggerate the re- 
J suit of one’s work, 
’ if which with heart and 
/; soul has been canned 
j on for years.is great. 
^ One likes to take the 
j suuny-side view and 
actually to anticipate 
that the tests of or¬ 
dinary cultivation 
over the country will 
confirm the results of 
/ the rich garden plot. 
He unintentionally 
^ looks over the proba¬ 
bilities while fascin¬ 
ated with the possi¬ 
bilities of his pet 
seedlings. 
But the Rural has 
been engaged in this 
field of labor for 12 
years. In the face 
o f disappointment 
after disappointment 
it has labored on. Is 
it beyond the proba- 
bilities that we 
should have met with 
a small measure of 
success in t w o o r 
three o f the many 
kinds of original 
work thus persistent¬ 
ly carried on? By 
The earliast efforts 
of the Rural >e\v- 
Yorker to improve 
wheats were in part 
directed to an at- 
tempt to change 
spring into winter 
varieties. The at¬ 
tempt proved to as 
that nothing was to 
be gained in this 
direction. The hard¬ 
iest kinds (like Lost 
N a t i o nj partially 
stood two or three 
winters to be killed 
entirely the next. 
At the same time, 
small quautities o f 
every kind of winter 
wheat which could 
be procured iu this 
country and Eng¬ 
land, were raised on 
small plats aud the 
outcome given to our 
readers of the poriod. 
During some seasons 
as many as TOO kinds 
were growing side by 
side. It was decided 
that a variety sent to 
us as Armstrong, was 
as hardy and prolific 
as any, and this, be¬ 
ing beardless aud 
more easily worked 
upon than bearded 
kinds, was accord¬ 
ingly selected as the 
mother plant in the 
cross-breeding which 
followed. For several 
years we worked dil¬ 
igently during the 
blooming season in 
crossing, but the 
cross-bred progeny 
(numerous as it was) 
always disappointed 
us, beiug either infer¬ 
ior to or no better 
than the parents. 
The tedious work 
was persisted i n, 
however, and later 
on brought success. 
In selecting the seed 
from these crosses 
two or three consid¬ 
erations have guided 
us more than others. 
These were, first, the 
number of kernels to 
THE RURAL’S NEW WHEATS 
