p
TITK OMATtA SUNDAY liKK: DKCKMBEU 5, 1000.
5
Come To
Tlh National" Corn
position
f srt
City
WILLETT H. HAYS, BREEDER
Man Who Has Studied Causes of Life
and Growth. "
AIDS MAN, ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Dream, of 'Wealth to Come Through
Better Understanding- of Hoot to
Produce More from Meaua
at Haad.
In 1S6J, while our most efficient young
men were destroying one another In san
guinary war, a congress composed of
northern men paused long enough to pass
a meaaur. to establish Institution. de
Toted to vocational education. That the
Tforker. In our Industries might Increase
tha production of farm crops and of me
chanical products, and that our farmers
and other productive workers might Im
prove their conditions, the "land-grant
college" act was passed, resulting later In
the establishment by each stale, south as
well as north, of a college of agriculture
and mechanic arts. The graduates of
these college, have become a body of moat
efficient workers and leaders in developing
our basic Industries.
One of the graduates of an agricultural
college to become a leader Is the present
assistant secretary of agriculture, Wlllelt
M. Hays of Minnesota. Iowa Agricultural
eolleg. gav. him hi. technical training.
II. la on. of a group of leaders who Is
placing American country life on a new
basis. Th. young men now developing as
teacher, and research workers In our col
lege., (experiment stations, and depart
ments of agriculture, and th. much larger
numbers who aro emerging from our agri
cultural schools are taking the lead in con
quering a new earth. They add other
grains to th. ear, of wluat, and they cause
to be produced two blades of grays where
one grow before. The silence which these
men ar. developing promises nearly. It
not quite, to double the value of our farm
product. And It has been made plain that
In two generations we must produce foid
and rainment for 800.000.0rt0 people where
w. now feed and clothe less thun 100.000,000.
Work Follows tiradusrtlon.
Mr. Hays had the good fortune to have
graduated, and to only have completed his
gradual, course as aaeoctate editor of an
agricultural paper Just at the time con
gress arranged for the establishment of
the system of state experiment stations In
1SS3. 11. wss fortunate, too, that he was
chosen by lb. University of Minnesota to
work In Its experiment station and college
of agriculture. Here were opened for him
fields of research to which he proved pe
culhirly well adapted. He combines the
talents of the scientist, teacher and ad
ministrator; and hla Investigation in the
Improvement of crops by breeding, into
farm management and Into the cost of pro
ducing farm products, and his constructive
work In devising method, of teaching farm
organlaatlona as other scientific engineer
ing subject, are taught, have given him
high rank as an economist.
WMt M. Hays was born In UioS on a
new Iowa homestead. When 13 years old
bis father having died, he and an elder
brother took up th. inauagemeut of the
mother's farm. Th. . farm 1 paid some
profits, besides sending on. or th. othsr
of th. boys away from bom. to school
very year till both were graduated. Soma
'Country achool teaching sandwiched In and
work on th. agricultural college experi
ment atatloa helped to meet expenses and
provided not a 1UU. of his training. On.
14 Electric Lighted Trains Every Day.
Dustless, Perfect Track.
From Points in Nebraska, Kansas. Colorado and Wyoming.
For information relative to rates, limits, etc., call on your local agent, or address
t
Ticket Office, 1324 Farnam Street. Phones: Bell Doug. 1828 and Ind. A -
2
year. In th. Iowa experiment station, .-one
year as associate editor of an agricultural
newspaper, four year, in th. University
of Minnesota, two years In North Dakota
Agricultural college, eleven years In th.
University of Minnesota again and four
years In the United States Deuartment
of Agriculture have given many oppor
tunities for a technical, sane and broad
view of affairs relating to the farming
population of our country.
llesan Breeding; Early.
In 1S87 Mr. Hays began the breeding of
timothy, wheat and other field Crops. In
18S9 he had demonstrated that by the
methods lis had devised he was able to In
crease th. yield of standard varieties of
wheat 10.20, and even 25 per cent. In a few
more year similar Improvements were
made with several other field crops, and
some of the new varieties were grown on
hundreds of thousands of acres. His
unique methods were rapidly developed Into
a system, with a most wonderful organisa
tion of detail in selecting the seeds, plant
ing large broods of the seeds of single
mother plants, recording th. performance
lf Individual plants and of fraternity
groups of plants, and in tabulating and
displaying the pedigree values of the thous
ands of newly created pure-bred varieties.
Thus corn. oats, barley, flax and th.
grasses and clovers cam. under th. master
hand of this breeder.
Th. resourcefulness needed to find ways
to plant, make records of, select, hybridise,
multiply, advertise and distribute new va
rieties In working with each of a score of
species of field crops Is illustrated in tra
dition about Minnesota's experiment sta
tion. Mr. Hays' first experiment In start
ing a field crop nursery with one plant in
a hill was with timothy. The wind per
sisted daily In blowing, thus making It Im
possible to plant one tiny timothy seed by
ltsrlf in hills a foot apart each way. To
prevent loss of the seeds by the wind little
balls of clay were, therefore, made In the
laboratory and a seed placed In each.
These clay balls were then planted. No
one had before grown single timothy plants
In hills so as to ae. the great stools of
culms and heads from single seeds. The
Immense variation showed the young plant
breeder that even grass crops could be
bred like animals, comparing the breeding
value of one fine looking parent plant
with the breeding power of another. Thus
the very first experiment led to the de
velopment by Mr. Hays of the ao-called
ccntgeiier method of breeding now recog
nlstd as the most Important method for
many crops.
New Word for Nw Method.
Under this ceugcuer methods the breeder
f'rst secured many superior parent plants.
A hundred or more swds of each parent
were planted. The word centgener, com-
I bluing the words centum and genera, slm
I ply means a hundrtd. more or less, of one
I bit tli. having a common parentage. By
'comparing the average of the progeny of
i tlio respective parent plants the power of
leach parent to project Its own individual
lvalues Into its progeny was measured,
that the reeds or thoso relatively few
parent plants which beset the best strains
j might be preserved nd made into new
(pure-bred varieties. By this meaua the
j parent plants were compared in a far more
j vital way than by simply comparing their
I own yUlds.
The expressions, "congener power and
"projected breeding efficiency" have In
carnated thia new plan of breeding into the
thought of th. times. This basic plan has
mad. it possible to organize large estab
lishments for creative work In making new
strains of plants and animals. Thee, es
tablishments are so organised that a di
vision of th. work among technical helper
is carried out as In a factory, thus making
it possible to orgaals. cstbllfuiB(i.U ex
Omaha, Neb.,
KOEHEESSES!
in).ii(0)ini ir
' Tlic Safe Road To
Dining Car Meals
tensive enough to. handle the necessarily
large number of Individuals of numerous
species. No other breeder lias done as much
to emphasise the necessity of using large
numbers, of working on a large scale) in
efforts to secure' the hundreds of millions
of dollars of additional values inherent in
the heredity of our plants and animals.
One , Keanlt Is Prosperity.
The men now In charge of Minnesota's
famous plant-breeding establishment, or
ganized by Mr. Hays, say that with an
r
V
WILLIAM QEOBQK
VicePf?6ident American Drrfdm Usocialion
expenditure or less than 120.000 In 1308 th.
field crops of th. state were made to yield
an additional (.',000,000. Thia figure is based
on the modestly estimated increase of th.
new varieties above the old kind displaced
by them of S3 per acre on 1,000,000 acre
now planted to the seven new varieties of
corn, wheat, oats, barley and flax first
distributed to Minnesota farmers by Mr.
Hays. Ten years ago he Interested the
United States Department of Agriculture
in his experiments, and with Its aid Ted
In the organization of co-operative plant
breeding establishment at the experiment
stations of several surrounding states.
Numerous other state experiment stations
are now following by organizing state
plant-breeding establishments alter the
general plan adopted by Minnesota.
While Mr. Hays Is widely known as ,a
plant-breeder, he is also a leader In devel
oping plan for creative breeding In ani
mal improvement. In fact, his first work
In the field of creating new values by
breeding w as In investigating 'animal breed
ing. But owing to the large expense and
low progress with large animals, which
l.ui ral..lv t.,r ...,,, ns I ..... -
Kr - jwu. . ." .me
als, h. saw th. necessity of using plant
for a decade of preliminary study of how
to niak. a breed or variety over, thereby
securing large economic results. By first
succeeding In securing for th. farmer,
of th. state larg. added yields la produc
ing valuable new crop. ha wa abl. to
glv. m reason for asking for public funds
with which to breed aniraala aa well aa
December 648, 1909,
VIA
Electric Block Signals.
40 Per Cent of Main Line is Double
New Steel Passenger Equipment.
and Service"Best in the World."
LOW ' RATE;
plants, and to make a broad study of the
science of heredity.
, Patting; Theory to Practice.
When the 'decade of work was neatfty
finished the scientist proved also the broad
economist. Proof that a dollar would pro
duce h- 100 or 10,000 per cent, on the
investment, seemed too Important In Its
application to S4.000.000, 000 worth of Ameri
can farm crops and $3,000,000,000 worth of
American-farm animals to be Ignored as
a matter of statecraft. Ten to 20 per cent
h7
,
of Increase of 7,
000.000 worth of
farm product,
means approxi
mately $1, 000,000,
000 annually In
additional profit.
to American farmers, costing mere trifle.
Mr. Hays' experience with legislative
bodies and their need of being shown the
importance of liberally providing for breed
ing led to the formation of a national
movement to promote scientlfio breeding.
This was centered In th. American Breed
ers' association,' of which be Is the execu
tive secretary. That organization ha
nearly fifty committee at work on th.
different phases of plant and animal breed
ing. There ar. committees on breeding
draft hones, driving horses, saddlers,
dairy cowa, beef cattle, and dual purpose
or double-decked cows good for both beef
and milk. Other committee deal with
sheep breeding, the Improvement of .wine,
poultry, pet stock, fur-bearing animal
and gam. birds; and there is even a
committee on eugenics which studies here
dity In th. genus homo, with President
David Starr Jordan of Lei and Stanford
university a. chairman.
There ar. committee which formulate
th. best plana for th. breeders of wheat,
of corn and of alfalfa; and .van a com
mittee on th. Improvement of beam, that
w. may have better pole bean, better
Boston baked bean that w. may better
"know bean," - Thar. ar. committee, on
o
ai cc ii ii
Travel '
plant and animal introduction and on the
encouragement of the theoretical study nf
heredity. Some of Mr. Hays' friends have
congratulated him on the successful es
tablishment of this vigorous organization,
which has affiliated the scientists, the
teachers, and the practical breeders of
plants and of animals In a most effective
co-operative organization, and which has
a most promising future of usefulness In
this unique field.
Better Training; for Youth.
But, Cger than a billion-dollar increase
In the earnings of our farms through
plant and animal improvement Is
the movement to carry vocational
school education to nearly 20,000,000
boy and gtrla. Mr. Hays is a na-'
tlonal leader In reorganizing our
rural and city schools to supply to
1 A 14- . i J
IV VI I VI W Qllti
1 Secretar of ih
American Breeders Ab&ociMion
all country boy agricultural training and
to all city boys training in the mechanic
Industries, arts and trades; and to all
girls in country and in city training in
the science and art of homemaklng. En
thusiast estimate that our total produc
tion, now approaching JJO.OOO.OOO.OoO an
nually, would be increased 10 per cent, or
13,000,000,000 annually, by a system of
schools in which the agricultural and non
agricultural Industries wr. efficiently
taught.
When It wa realized thc.t our present
system of school but poorly draw out
th. full powers of our boys, aud that so
many of our men "fiddle around" rather
than beoom. efficient producers. It may be
found that th. possible Increase is vastly
mora than 10 per cent. But b. that as it
may, It 1 easy to believe that th. effi
ciency of our homemaklng could b. In
creased very materially If our men wens
trained to produce more -with which to
niak and support home and our women
wer. trained to make th. most out of
their homemaklng opportunities. With
better homemaklng a stronger aoclal
statu, a higher civilization, develop, all
along th. Una, ' That our nation should
J-Srisiistas 5crtarrof I
4
o
ii cd
not skimp tho classes in agriculture for
the farm boys, and the shop work for the
town boys, nor the laboratory and practice
rooms and kitchens for those who are to
be the wives of our productive workers
arid the mothers of the next generation
of our American ciliiiens. Is emphasized as
I ever before. And college work, - ox
tension work, continuation schools,
tho classes for mothers, also1' the
res arch designed to place the plain
Industries and the keeping of homes on a
scientific basis, have no more effective
champion than tha subject of this sketch.
School System of Future,
Mr. Hays sees tho little rural school
of such glorious and blessed memory 'pass
away with the spinning wheel and the
grain cradle. He sees in its place the con
soliated rural and village school to and
from which the farm youth are transported
mainly In school wagons. These schools
can supply far stronger work than now
in the studies common to all schools and
in addition studies in agriculture and home
making. Above the local schools are high
schools splendidly combining the technical
and the vocational school subjects, some
of them veritable colleges of . the people,
splendidly equipped to teach agriculture,
thus to supply the closing vocational
courses for those who return from the
secondary school to thearm or to teach
the rural school. The stale normal schools
and the state colleges of agriculture and
mechanic arts stand at the top of the
system.
There is inspiration in figures. Of d.000,000
rural school pupil this educator estimates
that 6,000.000 live In . rural communities
where there la sufficient wealth tq sup
port the large consolidation rural and
village school with an instructor in agri
culture and another in home-making hi
each school. The other 1,000.000 live In
communities too Isolated or sparsely set
tled to make It practicable to have the
consolidated rural school w ith Its "wagons
with which to trausport the pupils lo and
from school, but will adhere to the littlo
district school.
Thirty thousand teachers of agriculture
and 30,000 teachers of homo science and art
living in daily communication through the
active children with 5,000,009 farms and
farm homes, think of the speedy evolu
tion of the countryside. What a field
of work for 00,000 teachers trained in
hundreds of high schools highly equipped
to teach farm subjects, and 200 state col
lege of agriculture and state normal
schools, each with It department of agri
cultural education!
Army of Trained Workers.
A nobis body of trained farmers and
model home-maker would bei sent back
to school district by agricultural high
schools, Ilk. those of Minnesota and
Georgia, equipped to accomodate with a
high-grade secondary schpol course SWO.OuO
American farm boy and girls. What an
Inspiration .000,v00 farm boy and girls
would carry to the farm homes from fifty
agricultural college hundreds of agricul
tural high schools, and 30,ouo consolidated
rural and village schools! A vast body of
ntv knowledge of new strain of plant,
and of new families of highly efficient
pure-bred animal would spring from th.
fifty experiment station farms at the
state college, 00 branch station farms, and
30,000 ten-acr. farms In connection with
th. consolidated rural schools.
But not th. least Interesting -ar. the
fact developed In Mr. Hays' investigations
upon which h. base hi vUion of the
educational riches In store for th. farm
boy and girl. Th. fifty agricultural col
lege, of th. respective atate. and terri
tories; th. agricultural high school which
ha and other, hav. d.veloped In th. Unl-
.vcjouy v juuiuwuiA, ana u. orooa or
-Tor or fifty progeny In several state north
and aouth; and th. 600 consolidated rural
schools In Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and other
atatea hav. forecast th. entire future
schema. The. Utter achool ar. so auc-
Track.
3231.
cessful that it would be like bavins tries
to stop the progress of the thresh Ins; m;v
chine, "r mowing machine, to try to stn
their soon possessing tho land.
That they will cost tens of millions will
not be a deterrent, because they will
increase production hnnd.cds of million
and even billions. with brior.' worth of
Increased efficiency In our homo life and'
In civilization for the Rreat productive,
classes all thrown In extra. Someone has
finely aald that putting this vision Into
actual operat .ii will turn the tide way
from the false socialism. Mr. Hays said:
"Tou cannot pcafantlze a common people
who havo been educated In their vocations
and broadly schoo ed In the traditional
subjects a peoplo possessed of the new
Bciontifio knowledge of agriculture will
not bo mere workers of the Uuul, they
will also be Its owners."
For the t'lty. Too.
Mr. Hays' vision of a tchome of In
dustrial education Includes also the boys
aud girls of tho city, as well as of tha
country. He sees In the city schools
departments for mechanic Industries, art.
and trades, schools of business and
courses In home economics In all srlwols.
He has advocated numerous state and
national laws, a number of which aro al
ready on the statute books. Those educa
tors who at first feared that vocational
studies would narrow our schools are
slowly, but surely coming to a Unow'edgo
that the science and art of the Industries
and home-making of the peoplo adds
breadth. Interest, efficiency and even
scholarship to our schools.
Mr. Hays has a keen arrreclatin of
those changes which are leading; the In
dustrial corporation to pell as much stock
as pousibl to its employes, thus to bring
capital and labor Into effective i u-opera-tlon.
Nono sees more clear'y the national
value of co-operation among farmers and
other producers to enable them collectively
to care for such parti of tliir business
and their needs, as the Individual cannot
so well do for himself. II.- cxnr'.cs the
bri ef that the next great step It so to
conserve and devtlop the native abilities
of our boys and Kills, that they will best
earn for and utilize all our natural re
sources. Next In Importance to the life
resources of people he places the life r?
Eoiiices of our domestic plants and ani
mals. If by seeking out, segregating, multiply
ing and using tha best strain in each
species of plant and animal, Instead of tha
common kinds, we add nearly $1,000,000,000
annually, and if by giving technical indus
trial training to our boys we could add
more than S2.000.000.000 annually to our pro
duction, all our taxes for national, state
and local publio expenses would be re
turned to the people. Hut . the larger
service Is In showing how to organize our
schools so as to keep th? boys and girls
studying longer, how to Increase their gen
eral and ethical culture, and witli thia
training of the man because of his liiylier
nature to train him In supplying fur him
self and his family the larger needs which
com. with education.
Th. Paula of V. . U.
In tha wrecking of th. Puritan of the
Graham & Morton line on Lake Michigan
there wa disclosed a bit of new which
had been concealed from tha public. The
signal for "help" In th. wireless codes, I
no longer th. famous C Q V. but 8 6 H.
Thia change, th. wireless telegraph Com
panies say, they wer. forced to niak.
through th. abuse of the C Q 1) signal
by amateura who practically appropriated
It for their own amusement.
Laws governing th. us. of wireless' tel
egraphy ar. long overdue in view of .the
mischievous interferenc. with commercial
system by amateur. When a cod. signal
upon which Uvea and property depend I
exposed to abuse th. need for government
Interferenc. becomes, AppartuU-Chica'.
Poat. . - - .