Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-07-09
THE FARM AND HOME.
a VALUABLE METHOD FOR lM-
PROVING SEED.
Something About the Time 20 Water Anl
EnaIs-surfaee RoofS-cnfnpostlnE
nlAnure-swInc Notes and
Home Hints.


An Indiana farmer writing for The
Orange Judd Farmer gives valuable
metho1 not generally known for In
proving seed:
Select q small plot Of oae-tourth %
sne-half Of an acre entirely away
from where Any other cora will p
planted; make tbs plot very rich ~
the application OF the best fertilizers
suitable 70 ths soil; break we'll and
have the land in q high State OF iill-
age then mark out both ways and e
lect enough uniformly good typical
ears OF some choice varieties OF cora
well adapted 70 the locality Plant
four hills ami leave two then four and
leave tEo. thus planting tWo-ih!r4s q
tie plot Wait until the arst planting
Just begins 70 come through the
ground. then plant ose OF the two
hills left wait until these begin 10
come through aad then plant the
remaining hills The object % this
method Of planting is 10 distribute the
replants al over the plot, cultivate
well and as soon Rs the tAsse.s begin
70 appear 90 through and eut oai all
imperFect and diseased stalks, al
stalks that show any signs o. smut on
stalk or blade and al that show suck
ers 10 this With the replants as
vel as the first planting, By this
method We get pedigreed corn viz 3
We kcow 70 a certainty that every ear
has been fertilized by healthy prOaue-
tive pollcn The object 81 the second
and third planting Is 20 keep Up a
supply 81 fresh pollen 70 insure com
plete feFtili alton o. all the grains on
each ear The Grst silks which ap-
pear ara the p.stlls from the base
grains These become iertiliEei first
then the next grains and 80 on up the
ear and The tip grains send out
their silks or pis:i!s last several days
after the first grains were ieEtiized.
No doubt many have observed the
outer silks dead and dried up while
the ceuteF silks are still gr-ea-
These are the pistiis from the tip
grains; II the plot hal all been planted
az the same time TIE pollen from the
tassels would mostly have blown
away and pi,tils from the ZIP grains
be left uufertili1ed, the result would
be no grains en- she tip % The cob.
but the second and third plant.
ings coming out later keep up
a supply % pollen Ill. al the
grains are fertili ed thus securing a
perfectly developed ear A. sooa ~
the corn IS ripe husk and select the
best ears FOR planting the fields aaa q
few % the very best ears 70 plant the
small plot again rs this sys,sta 81
improvement which i inc peusive
simple and easy Kept up for a long
series Of years / bCIiey. we caa vcry
largely breed out the nubb,nS suck.
ers anG smut and have @ corn which
Is far more proli6c ana beautiful ard
that will command a higher price than
the common scrub corn In selecting
cora TO begin the improvement I
would recommend corn that &.
adapted to the locality. a variety TIM,
vii! be sure TO mature 10 an ordinary
year and kind tha; viii produce the
largest amount OF shelled corn 20 tbs
cob 4 large cobbed ear should b
avoided as Q large cob contains %
much moisture that il Will not dry out
in autumn. and when bulkcd IN The
crib the cob will mold and sour III,
germ and this will de.ract from both
the seeding and feeding Faluc Of u.
corn The germ Is the most nutrt
tious portion OF the grain II III,
cob is small il dries out quickly ant
the germ is sweet Gad sound