The Columbus journal., 1893-01-18
N HOUSEHOLD.
IMPROVING SEED FOR THE
FARM CROPS,
Better Seed ~Gcin-sheep On Every Farm
Farmers Workshop -Ar.i-
chOkes-StOck Notes and
household sfinis.
Seed Development.

Seed Development. D.
Improvement Is The watch word of
the day. In every department of hui
man enterprise the wheels of progress
are moving forward. except among
farmers only, in the great matter Of
improving the seed for farm crops. In
this there has been a standstill in re-
gard to that most important and val
liable farm crop-corn.
The practice has been to 60 to the
ordinary field and take seed from,
hills with two or three stalks, says
the Journal Of agriculture. This a.
least is making no effort to improve
/ the seed. A portion of best seed
should be taken-it can be had by
selecting from that on hand, or by pur-
chase-and planted in the best soil OBJ
tainable, prepared in the best manner
by deep and thorough blowing; make
narrow burrows so as to break up the
furror, mixing the top and bottom
soils completely. After blowing, har-
row until made perfectly fine; plant
rs early as the ground is dry enough
after being thawed out: or, where the
soil does not freeze to any extent, the
planting should be done as carly as is
practicable. The depth of planting
may vary, to suit different soils. 4
heavy soil will not, generally. permit
as deep planting as a light soil, but
three to five inches may be the limit n
soils. As soon as the sprouts staDv
from the ground run a cultivator close
to the row, turning the soil slightly;
harrow this down, making smooth and
fine, and as soon rs the corn is through
the ground so that the rows may be
seen, cultivation should be COM
menced. The rows should be made
the usual width. but the hills should
be about three feet apart, and but one
stalk allowed to the hill. This will
give each stalk a chance to grow to
the greatest perfection possible,
making it capable of producing the
largest and best ear, with the largest,
deepest and best grain.
The best seed planted in the best
soil with single stalks in a place, with
wide spaces, will give a good chance
to make the best growth, and superior
seed may be expected, which, in turn,
will produce the best crop. Cultiva-
ton should be continued at least once
Il ~week-twice a week would be still
~better-until the grains of the a be-
gin to harden. If cultivation ceases
o n than this the soil is liable to
dry out, and the moisture of plant
food arising out of the earth by capil-
larry action will break through the dry
ground and escape into the air; but if
the soil is kept mellow by cultivation,
the fertility and moisture coming up
will be held at the roots by the mel
low surface, until they are appropri-
ated by the plants, and the greatest
possible growth will be produced.
The general practice of attempting
to cultivate a greater amount Of land
than can well be done, leaves little or
no tine to employ methods of i'm
~provement. and the result is low
Yields of all farm crops and a deple-
ton of soils. Shallow blowing and
poor cultivation of crops go hand in
hand with the attempt to put more
acres into cultivation than can be
properly attended.
1t has been demonstrated that the
soil is capable of producing several
times as much as the average yields;
2j5 bushels of corn have been grown
on one acre: 1000 bushels Of potatoes
on II acre; 135 bushels of oats, and
So bushels OF wheat on single aero
lots: while the average Of these crops
from 1870 to 1890 has been as follows:
Wheat, IL bushels per acre: oats, -
bushels; corn, % bushels: potatoes, 80
bushels.
The large yields referred to were
obtained by extra care in cultivation.
stimulated by the offer of large prizes.
Would it not be better to adopt meth
DDS of cultivation that would bring
the best results possible. rather than
to try to cultivate the largest acreage?
capable of producing as much as is
o obtained from the whole amount
now under cultivation. would it not
be wise to adopt such methods as
would bring out the full capacity of
the soil?
1t is impossible to produce the best
crops from inferior seed. The first
work is to improve the seed of all farm
crops, and then follows improved
methods in all departments Of farm
work. Every farmer, large or small,
can, with very little labor. make great
improvements on seed for all crops.
The true policy is to make the most
from a given amount Of land, but this
cannot be carried out without an effort
to improve the seed.