Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-08-26
SAVING SEED CORN

An Illinois correspondent of the Co,a,-
try Gentleman writes as follows: aH
As to saving seed corn, intend to do
it in the following manner, and recon-
mend others to do the like: As soon as
the outer husks of corn ears have attained
pale straw color, shall send or go my
self through the field and select the largest
and earliest ears in sufficient quantity for
seed for my own use next year. These
ears will be spread in the sun, say one or
two days, until the husks are toughened
SO they will stick to the cob. The corn
will then be husked, taking care to leave
enough of the husks on each ear to
handle and hang them up by. The ears
will then be tied together, two and two,
and strung over poles in dry and hot loft
or garret, where they will remain until the
corn is thoroughly dry and the cob seas
oned through. Then, in course of the fall,
the corn will be carried to the smoke
house and smoked as brown as berry,
and there be suffered to stay until wanted
in the spring, and of course getting
a second smoking with the meat. Care
must be taken that the temperature of
the smoke house never exceeds 1909 or
1902 Fair, else the vitality of the germ
will be endangered. Seed corn so gath
cred, saved and smoked, may be planted
in any ordinary soil, as soon as the frost
is out and provided it is not wholly in
the water, will retain its vitality up tothe
time the degree of heat has accumu-
lated in the soil necessary to push the
germ.
As for saving other seeds, it is an ex-
cellent plan to save everything, but the
seeds of all kinds of vegetables which
grow better farther north than in Central
Illinois, would never recommend to save
with the intention of planting. The
| truck-patch men of the South renew their
vegetable seeds every year, and though
the deterioration is not so swift in Gen.
trail Illinois as in Louisiana and Texas, it
is SO considerable that believe nothing
pays better than an annual renewal of
| seed from the north.
As to grains, oats and rye are northern
in their origin, and corn, wheat and bar
ley southern. That is we conclude
so, because better oats and rye
are grown north of 40e than south
of it; while south of that parallel, the
other grains named yield richer and
stronger food, flour and malt. For the
first we should improve our seed by going
north for it; for the second we should go
south, but not too far south, because
there is more danger to the crop In taking
| seed of long summer or seasons growth
to short one, than in the reversal of that
method.
1t is noticeable that seeds transferred
from the north to the south, say not more
than ten degrees of latitude, never do bet
ter than in the first season, while, on the
other hand, seeds transferred from the
south to the north, that distance, do bet
ter in three or FIVE years after than in the
first year. Thus, the best wheat we ever
grew in Central Illinois, was the red Ala.
bama, so much in fashion ten years ago.
When it was first tried it was anything
but a success, and its second and third
trial was rather the result of accident thar
design, but in course of the sue
ceeding five years it had driven all com.
| petitOrs out of the field.