Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-12-24

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these have been selected with care anC
are Of q desirable type as to size, shape
market condition and character of the
kernel, they should be planted on one
side of the field where the conditions
are most favorable. Thus limited
area is grown from the best seed. This
portion Of the field should yield super
ior corn for seed for his future crops
When this plan of selection is repeated
year afteryear, corn is grown which is
we'll adapted to the latitude and con.
ditiona in which 1t is raised.
Corn In the ear also, is the farmers
strongest guarantee against the frsudu,
lent practices of INSCRIPTIONS seeds.
men who often purchase entire fields OF
cribs of corn and shell 1t and ship 1t
without care for selection or real
merit.
Seed corn handled in this manner
is Of inferior type and quality often
lacks vitality and must necessarily give
poor stand and low yield.
Again, when seed corn is received in
the car, two or three kernels from each
ear should be removed and tested.
Those ears which show poor germinat-
ing qualities can be rejected. On the
other hand, If shelled corn Is purchased
the kernel from the ears of low vitality
or terminating power are mixed with
the others and cannot be separated
The result must necessarily be a poor
stand aud reduced yield.
Experiments show that all the kernels
from an ear generally possess approx
mately the same degree of vigor and
therefore the vitality of an ear can
generally be determined by testing a
few of its kernels.
If every purchaser in Iowa will de-
cline to receive any seed corn except in
the ear, the most important step tend
ing toward the Improvement of seed
corn will have been taken.
Reliable seedsmen will stand ready to
supply seed corn in the ear whenever
the demand is such as to warrant it.
The purchaser, however, must not
expect too much. Good ears of corn,
those approaching perfection, are few in
number. Seed ears, such as are exhi-
bited at corn shows, are hard to find
and the farmer must not expect to re-
ceiye corn from any source which is up
to the standard Of show corn.
However, uniformity of shape, size
and color of both ears and kernels, such
uniformity ss indicates good breeding,
trieness to type, strong vitality and
f.soosA-1a from mixture should character
ize every ear In the shipment.
The question of seed corn in Iowa
for the season of 1903 is important for
upon the type and quality and germi,
mating power of the seed planted will
depend in large measure, the stand. yield
aud quality of nearly ten million acres of
corn next year. Too much emphasis can
not be placed upon the fact that success
or failure in corn production is based
very largely upon the seed planted.
Iowa now has annually nine and one
quarter million acres in corn, an in
crease Of one bushel per acre, means to
Iowa farmers over two millions dol
lars.
Unusual care should be exercised
this year in the drying and storing Of
seed corn, owing to the excessive mois
ture which 1t contains as result Of the
early frost.
See1 corn should be purchased In the
ear as 1t enables the purchaser to know
exactly what he is buying. Ifit is not
satlsfactor he can return it. In the
case of shelled corn the purchaser is un-
able to determine its purity, uniformity
and type.
Corn In the ear enables the farmer to
select the choicest seed ears from which
to grow his seed for the next year, and
1t also makes 1t possible to discard any
of the ears which are of a low vitality
UT Wnlcn, LOT any reason, are unit for
seed.
1t protects the buyer from the
methods of unscrupulous dealers who
make it practice to buy indiscrimin-
ately from farmers who have paid no at.
tention to the selection and breeding Of
corn, and advertise it as pure bred seed
corn.
When every purchaser of seed corn
in Iowa declines to receive any corn, ex-
cept in the ear, the most important step
tending to the improvement of the
corn crop of the state will have been
taken.
The farmer who purchases seed corn
in the ear must not expect perfection
He can feel confident, however, that
the corn which he receives is the best
that the scotsman can send out.-Bul
letin, Iowa Experiment Station, Ames
Iowa.