Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1902-10-24

4 fateAfsl kEADER u tAs 0asss ef Econ
CANTON. 90
Selecting Seed Corn.
The season 10 now 1t hand whom the
careful farmer will be selecting his
seed corn for next year. In many Sec
tions Of the country It will be some
what difficult matter and on many
farms In northern sectionsi II will be i'm.
possible to get satisfactory seed. Farm.
ers who have made Z careful investiga-
tion Of their corn fields this year, tell us
that even whore the crop promises six
ty bushels to the acre, It iss very rare
thing to find . perfect ear. Even
when the ears are large and we'll filled
out at the tips and butts, there will Oft
en- be deficiency on the under side
from lack Of pollina,ion. the result Of
the heavy beating rains when pollina.
tion was going on. Farmers will there
fore have to be satisfied with poorer
ears than they have been in the habit
of selecting.
The task Of selecting the seed corn
for next year will be more difficult
over much Of the country than during
ordinary years. The type Of ear to be
will vary with the different
localities. The first thing to be determ-
ed is the typeof ear that will mature
before killing frost. We suppect that
our readers In the northern sections, en-
BY the late frosts Of the last
two OF three years, have been growing
larger corn than was safe. and have
been nipped this year. Il will not Be
safe for them to 60 to the other extreme
and select too early maturing ears. It
is better 70 grow g large an ear as will
develop IN 10 the AVERAGE year. the loss
in years like this being less than the
loss Of productive capacity during av-
erage years through growing too small
! type Of corn. II is better to plant
early, cultivate thoroughly. and thus
push the larger type forward than TO
plant with an early variety, which
while 1t will mature earlier, will yield
less tAan the natural capacity Of tho
soil could produce.
Many farmers perfer . long ear to
the medium sized. If they will ex.
anime this long ear carefully. will dry
ont and weigh and shell 1t. they will
usually find an unprofitably large cob.
That is, they will find that s-sven these
ears will not produce So pounds
Of corn for "A pounds Of cobs when
dry. Long corn with small cob
would be the ideal corn to grow. We
have occasionally seen this, but seldom.
Nor should the farmer aim to pro.
duce corn that has too small proper
tion Of cob Twenty per cent Of cob is
the legal standard; that is IA pounds Of
cob to 20 pounds Of corn. This is quite
too large per cent Of cob for profit,
and corn can be purchased that will
shell out 90 per cent Of corn and even
more. We think from 86 to 50 per cent
Of corn is about the right standard,
That is, corn Of that quality will pro-
duce more food value than with the
larger cob or the exceedingly small
one.
Having determined the qualities of
the corn desired, with respect to ma.
turity, length Of ear, and size of cob,
the rest Is comparatively easy to the ex-
perienced and practiced eye. but diff
cult TO the inexperienced. There are
some men who can carry the ideal ear
in the eye. That is, having once select
ed standard ear, they can go into the
field and pick every ear that 10 like It
Or nearly like It, O,her farmers can.
not, and these should get the man that
can select their corn. As nearly as
possible. the ears should be filled out -
perfectly asipossible. Whatever type
should be cylindrical instead
Of tapering. There should be the min.
imum Of space between the rows. The
rows should be straight instead OF
winding around the cob; and above oil
things, all ears that show tendency to
flintiness at the butts or tips should be
rejected9 Why. Because these ears
are degenerating, going back to the
dint tppe, and should be rejected on
the same ground we reject stock or
grain of any kind that is running down;
that is, reverting to the improbable
original type. The same is true Of ears
Of corn that show q tendency to great
width between the rows. that 10, the
grains do not fill up the spaces. All
this marks degeneration, and degen.
crates, whether in men or animals, or
corn, should be avoided.-Wallace's
Farmer.
Cure Your Catarrh Now.
V. Van Dorm. 2011 Avenue B. Birm-