Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-26
IOWA SEED BAD
FARMERS MUST EXERCISE CARE
IN CHOOSING CORN FOR
SEEDING.
TO PURCHASE FROM ILLINOIS
Professor Holden, of State Asricultur-
al College Issues Warning Bulletin
Has Made Trip of Investigation to
Succor State and Purchased Seed.

wi
have to go to Illinois for it's seed corn
for the coming year but that is the
condition of affairs at present. Pro-
lessor Holden, of the department of
agronomy of the state agricultural col
lege at Ames, has recently been to H.
llnois for the purpose OF purchasing
seed corn for Iowa farmers. He has
issued a bulletin in reference to the
supply of seed corn in this state that,
to say the least, is rather an alarming
one for the Iowa farmer.
Professor Holden went to Illinois in
the Interests of the state agricultural
college and of the leading grain deal
ers OF the state who have agreed to
furnish the farmers of Iowa with the
best seed corn available at cost. For
the past two years the Iowa corn crop
has been a practical failure owing to
extreme moisture. The corn crop has
been only from so to SIS per cent of
what it was in former years.
Fearing that the farmers of Iowa
VIII attempt to plant very inferior
grade of corn this year, the state agri-
cultural college and the Des Moines
grain dealers have started a move
ment which has for it's object the
purchase of the best seed corn that
money can buy in Illinois, which has
raised good grade of corn during the
years the Iowa farmer was beset by
the elements.
The bulletin which Professor Hold
en- has just issued reviews the condi-
lions obtaining in Iowa and says:
Conditions Are Serious.
The condition of seed corn through
out Iowa this year is such as to cause
the gravest apprehension. Personal
examinations of corn in every section
of the state have been made and the
station is now making extensive tests
of samples sent in for termination
There seems to be a general i'm
preston that since the corn apparently
dried out last fall that there will be
no danger of having poor seed. The
fact is l have never seen so large a
per cent of the corn which was killed.
Frequently one ear will be good and
the very next one por, one side of the
ear may be alive and the other side
dead, and often of two neighboring
kernels on the same ear one will die
and the other will not.
''This peculiar condition is probably
due principally to three causes:
.First-The season was slow and the
corn did not properly mature, and as a
consequence there was an unusually
large amount of moisture left in the
corn. The shrinkage experiments which
have been carried on by the station
show that the corn contained an av.
erage of about "a per cent of water at
the beginning of the cribbing time.
'Second-The dry weather during
October dried the corn off and it ap-
peared to be dry when in reality ii
was not. Many were confident that
the corn was dry and would keep so
that no pains were taken to store it in
a dry place.
"Third-The unusually cold weather
during the middle of November when
the mercury dropped for two nights in
succession to degrees above zero
either killed the germ or greatly weak.
ened it, except where the seed was
protected or where unusual pains had
been taken to dry it out thoroughly.
seed corn that was stored in dry
place such as the attic during the early
part Of November or earlier, is in good
condition, except in some cases where
the corn moulded or grew, or both from
lack of thorough ventilation.
Farmers should at once begin pre-
pairing their seed corn by selecting the
best ears and taking four or five ker
nels from different parts of each ea1
and make termination tests of a large
portion of their seed corn"
Many grain dealers have made ar
rangements to work together with Pro
lessor Holden in distributing this corn
Unless the farmers of the state are
furnished with good grade of corn II
is held that this year will witness the
poorest crop Iowa has had in mum
Der of years.