Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1904-12-23

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lied industry. Like stock breeding
the development of corn varieties will
4 always be more or less in the hands o1
Z q comparatively few men who devote
their lives to this particular work.
Ali great progress will be made BY
those especially fitted for work Of this
kind As the field is broad and tht
results profitable, many will engage
in the business Of seed corn produc
ton.
The general farmer. however, will
never breed corn. He must secure
seed from the specialist and from this
source procure improved strains.
Eventually on the average farm the
valuable characteristics will be lost
by mixing and careless selection.
.Then.i will be necessary to secure
]. . supply of seed corn from corn
breeder In such cases the farmer
must secure strains of corn as are
adapted to his conditions Of soil and
climate. Otherwise the beneficial
effect of the special breeding may b
lost,
The field for this branch of farming
is very great as is shown by the fact
3 that the corn growers of the United
States use annually over fifteen mil.
! lion bushels of seed corn.
OF course it isn't necessary that this
seed be secured from the breeder fresh
every year, but as rule, seed will NOT
remain pure more than four or five
years 1t then becomes necessary Ia
again procure we'll bred seed. As yet
the demand has been but little devel.
oped. Farmers are just beginning to
realizSthe importance and benefit Of
we'll bred improved seed, but even now
corn breeders are not able to supply
the demand. That this demand will
increase far beyond the capacity of
corn breeders to supply. there is no
doubt. T.s
The advantages Of improved seed
corn are numerous and the grower
quickly reaps the benefit. For instance.
improved corn tends to diminish the
percentage of barren stalks. This is
important because the barren stalks
represent direct and great loss to
the corn growers. Statistics secured
with great care show that loss caused
by barren stalks in many fields ap-
proximate ten and even fifteen per
cent. This one cause alone. is equal
I, to the rent charged for corn land in
this locality. when the yield is forty
bushels per acre and the price thirty
cents per bushel. Again it is true
that in the verage field the ears Of
corn are not uniform in size.
Only a, small per cent are large.
The majority are irregular, many be.
ing very small and stunted. 1t is the
function of the corn breeder to in.
crease the uniformity Of the crop by
4 eelecting and preserving only the best
ears. These ears in turn having been
selected from rows that after being
planted separately from q single ear
each, had produced the greatest
amount of CHOICE ears Of corn. The
proportion of corn to cob, shape of ear,
the filling ont of ends are all subject
to the breeders influence. so that by
continuous selection of q uniform ear
and by persistant use of the knife on
], the pollen of irregular and barren
stalks before the pollen ripens An
improved type may be raised for the
benefit of the grower. This benefit is
{ ont of all proportion to the increased
cost OF. seed for improved strains.
In buying an ear of corn the growers
\ Ut Thousand individuals capable Of