Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-24
RULES TO FOLLOW
The First is That Home Grown Seed
Should Be Depended Upon for the
Main Part of the crop-PIanter
Should Be Thoroughly Tested-se-
lection of Seed.
peeial to TImes-Republican.

my, IdS prepared Il lSllSL III
which he covers the subject in a thor
ough manner In his circular Professor
Holden says:
In my opinion the following points
iare among the most important to be
considered:
"First-That it is very important that
we should depend upon home grown
seed for the main part of the crop and
not upon imported seed.
"Second-That we should select ears
of corn for seed which have kernels of
as nearly uniform size and shape as
possible, otherwise 1t Will be impossible
To secure an even stand with any
lplanter.
"Third-Do not fail To test the plan
ter thoroughly with the seed you In
tend to use, and stay with 1t until it
drops regularly the required number of
kernels in each hill.
.Fourth--Test the vitality or germi-
mating power of all corn intended for
seed. This is especially important this
year.
\ LII SeSS stils ---d WI "a - Pu'
chased from seedsmen insist on having
it shipped to you in the ear either in
crates or in barrels.
| "Sixth-All of this work, that is. the
testing OF the vitality, tie sorting she'll
ing and the testing of the planter.
should be done now ana he sooner the
lbetter. If put off until the hurry of
spring work is upon us there is dam
ger that it will not be done.
/ No farmer can afford to depend upon
/ imported seed corn for the main part of
| his crop. Seed corn Imported from a
distance. and especially from a differ
ent latitude seldom gives satisfactory
results the first two or three years, even
tho the seed may be the very best,
which oftentimes is not The case.
| 1T is we'll known That most of the
seed corn put on the market by seeds
men is bought of farmers in crib lots.
shelled. screened and sacked ready for
sale, little or no attention being paid to
the selection, in fact it is generally
handled with the SCOOP shovel and is
known as the scoop shovel method of
selection
THE chances are that the farmer has
in his own crib better corn than that
which he purchases from seedsmen at
four or five TINES the market price.
And then he runs the additional risk
that it will not mature IN his locality.
IF it were simply matter of losing
the price of the bushel of imported
seed corn it would no. he serious, but
when we consider that Il bushel of seed
ought to produce 400 biehels of corn
worth from $3.50 to $3.50 the serious ma
ture of the question is y-ry apparent.
If for any reason my own corn was
not satisfactory for seed l would cer-
tainly not send away fer seed corn, but
purchase of some one n the vicinity
whose corn had given good results DUR
ing the past three or four years.
1T will be an excellent plan, how
ever for two or more persons In a
neighborhood to secure n small amount
Of some of the standard varieties of
this and of other states. and give them
la good trial. In this way it is proba-
bic that varieties will be found which,
after they have become acclimated,
will prove of considerable value to the
community.
Il would recommend The purchasing
iof the seed corn only in the ear. This
enables the purchaser TO see exactly
what he is getting and if 1t is not sat-
sfactory he can return it. 1t also en-
ables him 20 throw out any undesirable
ears. The scotsman can not improve
the corn by Smelling it, so there is no
good excuse for him to refuse to ship it
to you in the ear.
In order to secure good stand 1t is
necessary to exercise great care in Sc
lccting and sorting the seed. All ears
with very large or very small kernels
should be thrown out no matter how
perfect they are in other respects The
same is true of all ears With Very thick
OF Very thin kernels, or with Very short
or long narrow grains and the irregular
butt and tip kernels should be shelled
off. In other words, no planter will
give an even stand unless the kernels
are of uniform size and shape.
Il know of no one thing that would
do more to increase tic yield of corn
on every farm in Iowa than the careful
selecting and sorting OF the seed corn
both In the ear and after 1t is shelled.
and then stay with it until the planter
will drop the desired number of kernels
at least ninety-three to ninety-six
times out of one hundred tests II
may be necessary to have the plates of
the planter drilled or get new ones, or
take more care in sorting out the large,
small and irregular kernels. The main
thing is to stay with i; until the work
is satisfactory. The prena ration of the
seed corn and the testing of the planter
should be done during The latter part
of February and the fore part OF March |
If this important work is put off until
April or May it is very likely to be neg
lected, as is too often the case. This
ie simply a matter of good busin+ SIS
management and no one can afford to
neglect it, for there is so much OF our |
success depending upon every bushel
of the seed corn we plant.
at is good plan to make pre-
l!minary test of the vitality of the seed
before the sorting is done to determine
whether ii is fit for ssed purposes or
rot. This can best be done by select
ing from the pile say fly or one hum
bred ears and removing two or three
kernels from each ear md testing them. |
II the termination ties. shows 81 per
cent or above. the seed will certainly |
be in good condition.
ut is important that each ear of corn
be shelled by Itself so that 1t can be
examined more closely before it goes in |
with the rest OF the corn. If the kerr