Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1896-03-20
SELECTING SEED CORN.

SELECTING SEED CORN.
great many farmers who regart
themselves US quite careful i'll the sc
lection..of seed content themselves witt
making the selection at husking time
or from the crib, being guided by the
appearance of the ear. This is no,
sufficient, however, to secure the best
results. Professor H. j. Waters, Dean
of the Missouri Agricultural College,
narrates a direct experiment on this
point. The field was gone through
and fine ears were selected from the
large, thrifty stalks having an abun.
dant leaf growth. Another lot of ears,
equal in size. was gathered from stalks
smaller and less thrifty. After the
seed had been gathered, the one LOT
could not be distinguished from the
other SO far as the appearance of the
ears went. The only difference was in
the kind of stalk that produced the
ears. A field was planted with these
two lots of seed. All through the sea-
son that portion which had been grown
from seed taken from the thrifty stalks
could be distinguished from the plant
ing made from the seed taken from
the less thrifty stalks. At harvest
time the difference in favor of the seed
from the large, thrifty stalks with
plenty of leaf growth was seven bushels
per acre, and Professor Waters thinks
that If this process of selection was
carried on for series of years vari.
ETY. of corn could be considerably i'm
proved on the one hand, or almost en-
tirely run out on the other. 1t fol.
lows, therefore, that the selection of
seed ears from the same crib, being
guided by size and general appearance
OF the ear simply, is not sufficient, and
that it is quite as important to know
the kind OF stalk that produced the
seed ear as it is to know that the ear
itself has the size, form, etc., which
suit the purposes of the farmer.-
Western Farm Journal.
NO MISTAKE IN PLANTING FRUIT TREES
The fact is we expect too much from
old orchards. They have already paid
for themselves, many times over, and
have outlived their usefulness. Still
they are permitted to occupy valuable
ground, and besides yielding nothing,
are an eyesore, greatly detracting
from the natural beauty of a place.
During the winter months these unin-
teresting and improbable objects
should be removed and cut up into
firewood. In spring, new orchards
should be planted on well.prepared
ground. under-drained and subsoiled.
Notwithstanding the prevailing low
prices, no mistake can be made in
planting fruit trees. The rich lands
which are at our disposal, and the re-
markably favorable climate which we
are blessed with should be taken adj
vantage Of. There, is question rs to
the advisability of spending labor and
money on some kinds of crops, but
the fruit.grower can, if he will, con-
tinue to make an honest and good liv-
ing at this pursuit for years to come.
The trees we plant live to bless the
world and enrich the inheritance of
our children long after we are laid
beneath them; and with the return of
each successive season, to shed their
fragrance on the air and crown with
golden fruits the harvest of the year.
l have the pleasure and qualification
of stating that the insect pests and
fungous diseases which few years
ago threatened the entire destruction
of orchards aud vineyards, have been
SO controlled by remedies and pre-
ventatives that no great injury need
be feared in the future, so long as or
dinary care and diligence nre exer-
cised by the orchardist. 1t is true
that the beneficial effects resulting
from spraying cannot be fully esti-
mated until the treatment is more gen.
eral, yet enough has been learned to
satisfy the most incredulous that
spraying is success, If not an abso.
lutte necessity. Through the efforts
of the Department OF Agriculture
great progress has been made in Cali
fornia in checking the ravages OF in
furious insects by introducing para
sites, and the result is SO satisfactory
that the fruit-growers there believe it
to be possible to overcome every in
sect pest by means OF its natural para
site. President W. g. Barry, before
the Western New York horticultural
Society.