Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-03
EXPERT CORN GROWER
Why Professor P. G. Holden 1s
Worth Millions to Iowa.
AN UNPRECEDENTED CROP YIELD.

|
vice the Corn Yield Has Been In
creased More Than IOO.OO0.oOo
Bushels Over Last Years Record.
What Farmers Have Learned.
The state of Iowa has been paying
5000 year for the last two years to
a man who In the last twelve months
has earned 100000, says special
dispatch from Sioux City. Ia, TO til,
New York Herald. His name is Pro.
fessor z. G. Holden. He Is an agrono-
mist.
Iowa farmers laughed at the idea Of
| man with such a title trying TO teach
| them, the best corn growers in the
world, anything about the art OF rails
ing corn. But they do not laugh now.
Instead they flock by the hundreds to
hear Professor Holden talk, and they
SO away and do exactly as he tells
them. AS result In large part OF fol.
lowing his advice they have raised
about 1O0.OOO.000 bushels more corn
this year than in any year Of this CEN
! tury, and they expect to add another
10000 900 bushels TO their crop next
year.
| Professor Holden became an agrono-
mist-that is. an expert in grain rails
| tng-by accident. When he taught
! school in Michigan he got up a corn
growing contest among his pupils. lie
! induced the boys to pick out the ear
! lest, biggest and most perfect ears
from the fields, save them and plant
| from them the best and most perfect
kernels. The result aided by scientific
methods of cultivation. was that the
| boys raised more corn on their Ettlo
/ patches than anybody had ever dream
ed Of.
Professor Holden worked on his sys-
! tenn until 1t was perfected. His fame
/ spread, and the Funk brothers. who
owned $4,000 acre farm I'm Illinois.
/ offered him a big salary to run II. He
planted 10000 acres Of corn a year for
them and added to their yield more
than 100000 bushels the first year. The
state Of Iowa thought he was a good
thing and engaged him to occupy the
chair Of agronomy in the Iowa Agri-
cultural college In Ames. The chair
was created especially for him.
Professor Holden made the farmers
! more about corn raising than they did
He travelled all over the state I'm spe-
cial trains last spring and winter max
ing tail end speeches aud getting
better crowds than any vice presiden-
/ tial candidate saw later in the season.
He told the farmers how to select
their seed corn, how to plant and cul-
Hvate ii, and on what sort OF ground
to plant different sorts of corn and
how to handle it under different con.
ditions.
Iowa had not been raising good corn
crops for several years. The farmers
were discouraged. Iowa was in dan
ger of losing her place as the first corn
state. and realiZa ton of this fact led
to the engagement of Professor IIol-
den I'm the agricultural college.
Professor Holden invites farmers To
go to Amos in the winter and attend
his school of seed corn selection and
termination. They go by hundreds.
and each returns an apostle Of the i'm
provement idea. The professor goes
tail ending" through the state early
in the spring. This year he Travelled
several thousand miles the railroads
furnishing him free trains and adver-
Using his trips.
The results are read in the crop re-
ports on Iowa's corn yield this year
The average crop OF Iowa corn for
1904 IS forty bushels to the acre For
nine years IL has been tweuty-seven
and one-half bushels. This years crop
will aggregate 350.0O0OOO bushels.
about 125 900 900 more than last years
yield. The crop is worth about S3C,-
100000 more than a year ago, and
Professor Holden is universally credit
cd with third interest In the extra
yield.
Evidence in the professors favor is
overwhelming The counties I'm which
he made speeches did better than the
others. Those I'm which he had the
largest audiences did best OF ALL There
are fields, worked under careful APP
plication of his methods. which have
produced more than hundred bushels
to the acre. Those with so bushels are
frequent, and 81 bushels Ia n common
yield.
Every farmer IL reading Holden lit
erature this fall, selecting his earliest
and best ears Of corn for seed, testing
its terminating qualities, preparing
his soil according to Professor Holden's
directions and getting ready to break
adj records next year. 1t is estimated
that there will be 10 per cent increase
In the corn acreage next season. and
the farmers propose to make 1t aver
age SO bushels to the acre. Great prep
arations are making for farmers in
stitutes in every county, which will be
addressed by Professor Holden when
he can attend, and otherwise by grad
yates of his school