The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-11-16
Care Of Seed Corn.

There is no experience in agriculture
more discouraging than q failure of seed
to grow. 1t means more than the ex-
pense and trouble of replanting; it
means a backward crop which, as a
rule, proves inferior if not failure.
Every year thousands of farmers real
ize, for lack of good seed corn, dearly
bought experience. Their corn crops
fail to be remunerative because they
neglected the previous autumn to select
good seed and properly cure it.
In order to have seed that will GER
tainly terminate and grow it must be
harvested previous to freezing weather
and Immediately dried. After the cob
has become thoroughly dry it is an easy
matter to save the seed. At the South,
where the seasons are long, this matter
ofdryng the corn is often taken care of
by nature, but the Eastern and North
ern States the cobs, especially of the
larger varieties, require to be cured by
artificial means when the kernels are
designed for seed.
Corn that appears to be thoroughly
dried in the field, in nine cases out of
ten contains enough moisture to render
the kernels defective for seed, unless
cured artifcially. The old-fashioned
way of saving seed corn is still prac-
ticed in many localities, and considered
the best mode by many progressive
farmers. This consists in selecting de-
slrable ears previous to freezing wealth
er, pulling back the husks to the butt
and braiding the ears together by them
in long strings. These strings of ears
are then hung in some dry and we'll
ventilated place, as an attic or loft, un-
til the corn is required for planting.
A Kentucky farmer who has proven
to his satisfaction that if seed corn is
thoroughly dried, cob included, previous
to freezing weather, it is certain to germi-
nate and grow the following season, un-
der ordinary favorable circumstances of
warmth and moisture. Every good ear
for seed is laid upon tight floor over
his cook-stove, where it remains until
spring, when it is shelled and kept in
readiness for planting Corn thus
placed on any floor under which fire
is kept up during the fall and winter will,
in his opinion, always terminate.
There is a diversity of practice in re-
gard to the precise period when the Sc
lection of seed-corn should be made.
Some cultivators gather the seed soon
after the kernel is out of milk and dry
it in the sun. The majority, however,
prefer perfect maturity of seed, but all
who have had experience in the matter
realize the necessity of the thorough
drying of corn before hard freezing
weather.
An ear with large cob is not con-
sidered to be as good keeper as the
one with a smaller cob, for the reason
that the former contains larger guam
tity of sap, hence is liable to retain
dampness. After having sun-dried
seed-corn, the farmers of some sections
store it in lofts of smoke-houses in order
that it may become permeated with the
door OF the meat undergoing smoking
there, and thus gain protection when
in the ground against the depredations
OF field mice, worms, etc. The argu-
ment in favor of this practice is that the
corn becomes thoroughly saturated with
creosote, which is offensive to many
pests, especially squirrels.
For greatest improvement in seed OBJ
serve the time of ripening, number OF
ears on a stalk, size of the stalk and the
perfection of the ears. Corn which
ripens earliest in the field, other things
being favorable, is to be preferred, but
there are exceptions to this general rule.
For instance, when the object is to i'm
prove variety that is very early diff
ferent course is advised. The very
earliest ears often are not so large as
those that come later, and by selecting
these later ones for a few seasons the
size of the corn is improved On the
other hand, if only the earliest ears are
chosen very early variety is gained,
but it is liable to be inferior in size.
Another rule usually observed is Sc
lecting from stalks that have two or
three well-deyeloped ears, selecting the
ear which grows low on the stalk. Of
late years, occasional objections have
been made to this practice, on the plea
that the ears are liable to decrease in
size as they increase in numbers.
A full-sized ear on which the rows are
regular, well filled out at the end and
but little larger at the butt than in the
middle, if it has ripened in good season
and grows low ON moderate-sized
talk and is taken from the standing
corn, is first-class for the variety to
which it belongs.
In selecting seed from yellow corn
the color may be changed from dark
to a light yellow by selecting a Light
colored ear, or vice versa. When It is
desired to retain the corn as you get it
the custom is to select both colors. IF
the crop from which you are selecting
tends too much to bran or chaff, give
preference to the moro fiinty ears =
N, n World