The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-19
Hf7N 7NEW[Jan2aaV V[EW)feEFARNER]|
CONDUCTED BY PROF. .. F. puGeAR.

CONDUCTED DIX fROF. .. F. DUGGAns . should be of sufficient sise to hold up the ears. should have plenty Of foliage of vigorous appearance, be free from disease and bear ears of uniformity at a convenient height. There should be no barren stalks. The ears should be of good size, we'll shaped, yielding high percentage of shelled corn to cob. and possess uniformity in shape, size and color Ears with long kernels generally give the highest percentage | of grain, but the kernels should grad ually broaden from the point of at- | tachment ron the cob to the cap leav- | ing the least space possible between | them.
 Buyers should always insist that seed corn be delivered on the ear. They can thus judge more accurately as to the foregoing points and have | sort of guarantee as to the kind Of ears the seed is likely to produce. More important still they can discard any poor, small or imperfect ears and | also remove the small and imperfect | kernels from the buts and tips of the ears before smelling for planting. Other things being equal the nearer home the seed is produced the better l Seed corn. like any other seed brought l from a distance Is likely to be poorly
  corn should be imported from else | where only when suitable native seed cannot be secured or only when it IS vastly superior to the native seed in some respect.
 Now is a good time for farmers to be looking around the fields of their ac- quaintances to find better variety in case they need to make a change. Now | one can readily ascertain just what
 
 growth, it's uniformity of type, the I percentage of barren stalks. the num- | Der of ears to the stalk, and the | height at which they are borne, the | time of maturity, the adaptation to soil, the approximate yield. and other l points about 1t impossible or difficult | to ascertain after the corn Is harvest | ed. After once securing suitable seed keep 1t pure, prevent any accidental | admixture of ears or kernels of any | other kind and especially take some care to keep 1t from being mixed by cross pollenization. The wind blows | the pollen from the tassels of one plant to the silks of another The re- | sulting seed inherits its character from plants equally and if the parent plants are of different varieties mixed plants result Such mixtures take place at distance of several hundred feet. The seed corn for planting the next | year should be grown at a distance | of a quarter of a mile or more from | any other corn. The most important l and effective means of securing better corn Is the actual improvement by the | selection of the best plants fin the field. This work must be done now before | the crop is harvested. The first step in | this process and a very important one l is to decide on the character of plant and type of ear and time of ripening | for which one is to select. These mat ] ters would depend on the needs of the | individual farmer It is good plan to reserve for comparison an ideal ear. | Then select only those plants and ears that conform to the ideal type, passing l by all others no matter how valuable they may be In other respects. Com plete success depends largely on strict | adherence to this rule from year to year. This work of selection should | be done before and not in con- .nection with harvesting.
 1 Pass along the rows and when a 1 stalk of the proper type bearing good sized ear at the proper height Is seen strip back the husk to find the character of the ear. If this also con forms to the desired type, pick and | save 1t. In this way one would gather enough to plant his entire crop. He should certainly gather enough to plant a field in the following year | from which to plant his whole crop the | year after. In either case he should l gather considerably more than he will need since on closer examination of the ears some will be found not quite up to standard set and would better be discarded. Of course all ears should be fully cured when gathered. Store in a dry, well ventilated place where | there is no danger of being lost or | becoming mixed with other corn or | destroyed by vermin. Some time be- | fore planting time these ears should | all be again examined to more care | fully determine their characters and | those of the kernels Those not con- | forming to the standard type should be discarded. Before shelling the ears for planting remove the imperfect ker- nels at the buts and tips It would be a very good plan to pick out a dozen or more of the very best ears for a select seed plat The seed from these very best ears should be shelled and kept separately and planted each in a row to itself. At harvest time some | of these rows will be found to be more productive and producing better ears than others and 1t Is from these that seed for further improvement should | be saved.
 Such work may seem rather tedious. but if properly performed will be found to amply repay the time and trouble. Properly grown and selected seed will produce 10 to Is or even more bushels per acre more than or dinary seed of the same variety. A bushel of seed will plant six acres or more, so that estimating corn at 30 cents a bushel such seed corn bears an actual money value of SIS to $27 | busheL
 TakOsis a Contagious Disease of Goats.
 We call the attention of our readers who are interested in the Angora goat to bulletin No. 45 of the bureau of ani- nal industry, United States depart
 ment of agriculture. cn takosis which Is d contagious disease of goats and something quite new, giving descrip- tion of the disease as 1t has appeared in goats brought from the south into the northern sections,
 The first observable symptom is the listless and languid appearance of the animal. which lags behind the flock, it's ears dropping and its eyes drowsy. The pulse is slow and feeble and sub normal before death. The goat still eats and ruminates but finally becomes weak and is readily knocked down and trampled on by its fellows. Ere uuently there is a fluid discharge from
 the bowels during the last few days which is very offensive, but this symp-