Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 149, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 June 1914 — "ONE VARIETY BEST. [ARTICLE]

"ONE VARIETY BEST.

There are many advantages to bo derived from growing a single variety cf a given cereal in any particular community. There are climatic and economic factors which may make it desirable or even necessary to grow raore than one variety of a ce.eal, as, for instance, a spring and a winter wheat, on a single arm. This phase may be neglected here in order to place heavy emphasis on the opposite aspect. One of the commonest observations is the mixture of varieties. These mixtures greatly reduce the varne of the crop for seed purposes, even if they do not cause a lowering of the market grade. I bey entail loss through non uniformity in ripening and differences in length and strength of straw, disease-resistance, adaptability to soil types and climatic conditions, and other similar characters.

Two points shouU be held in mind. First, mixtures are fundamentally v. roug. Most growers will not be able to distinguish between the mixtures which may not cause loss and those which will. Secondly, no investigator can predetermine when, in an apparently harmless and profitable mixture one variety shall be taken and another left. Only in purity is there safety. Another advantage of pure varieties is the better yield which usually results if the proper variety is The man or the community may not receive a better price tor the pure seed but would be profited in any case by the increased yield. It Bhould not be forgotten that the neighborhood separator is a powerful factor in mixing varieties where many are grown. It seems scarcely necessary to mention the mixtures of wheat and barxey or oats and barley, which are difficult to separate and objectionable on the market. Such should be avoided at any time. —Carleton R. Ball.