The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1904-02-25
AS TO GOOD SEED CORN

Prof. Holden, of Ames College writes
an lnteres ting Circular Letter
Relating to Good Seed Corn
Prof. P. G. Holden, chief in Agronomy
in the Iowa College of Agriculture at
Ames, has prepared circular letter
which lays stress on the Importance
and profit of being sure of good seed
corn before the planting season and
which gives many practical pointers as
to selection and testing.
No farmer can afford to depend upon
imported seed for the main part of his
crop, says Prof. Holden in his circular
letter. Seed corn imported from dis
tance, and especially from different
latitude, seldom gives satisfactory re-
suits the first two or three years, even
though the seed may be of the best,
which oftimes is not the case.
1t is we'll known that most of the seed
corn put on the market by seedmen is
bought ofsfarmers in crib lots, shelled,
screened and sacked ready for sale,
little or no attention being paid to the
selection. In fact is generally handled
with 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 of the seedmen at
four or five times the market price.
And, then, he runs the additional risk
that it will not mature in his locality,
If it were simply a matter of losing
the price of a bushel of imported seed
corn it would not be serious, but when
Ixxy<,n | Ion hot ~ 80.
ought to produce 400 bushels of corn,
worth from $13O to $3.50, the serious
nature of the question is very apparent.
If, for any reason, my own corn was
not satisfactory for seed l certainly.
would not send away for seed corn, but
would purchase from some one in the
vicinity whose corn had given good
results during the past three or four
years.
1t will be an excellent plan, however,
for two or more persons in neighbor-
hood to secure a small amount of good
seed Of some of the standard varieties
of this and of other states and give
them a good trial. In this way it is
probable that varieties will be found
which after they have become acclimat-
ed, will prove of considerable value to
the community.
| would recommend the purchasing of
seed corn only in the ear. This enables
the purchaser to see exactly what he is
getting and if it is not satisfactory he
can return it. 1t also enables him to
throw out any undesirable ears. The
j seedman cannot improve the corn by
lshelling 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 it is
necessary to exercise great care in
selecting 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
or very thin kernels, or with very short
or very 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 ker-
nels are of uniform size and shape.
know of no one thing that would do
more to increase the yield on every farm
in the corn belt than the careful select
ing and sorting of the seed corn, both in
the ear and after it is shelled; and then
stay with it, until the planter will drop
the desired number of kernels per hill
1t 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 it until the
work is satisfactory. This is simply 6
matter of good management and no one
can afford to neglect it, for there is 81
much of our success depending on every
bushel of the seed corn we plant.
1t is good plan to make prelimin
ary test of the vitality of the seed be
fore the sorting is done, to determin.
whether it is fit for seed purposes o.
not. This can best be done by selectin.
from the pile, say so or 100 ears, and re
8 moving two or three kernels from eacl
/ ear and testing them. If the germina
!, tion test shows 81 per cent or above
u the seed will certainly be in good con
u dition. 1t is important that each ear O
r corn be shelled by itself so that it can bt
e examined more closely before it goes il
J. with the rest of the corn. If the ker
r nels are shrunken at the tips, too point
S ed, discolored, or the germ is small, in
9 dicating low feeding value, the Who'll,
l. ear should be discarded. If the ears O
9 corn are all shelled together it woul,
g be impossible to select all the veal
II kernels.
+ After the corn has been sorted, shell
Q ed and thoroughly tested in the planter
it should be put back in sacks, about
" bushel in each sack, and hung up in
e dry place in the loft or where there i
n thorough circulation of air, and wher
e it will be free from mice, but do no
" hang it over a stable.
IS About the 10th of April, thorough
It termination test should be made. Their
st are many methods of doing this and an,
e of them will be satisfactory. The i'm
VI portant thing is not to fail to make tn
test. About 100 kernels should be take
from each sack by running the han,
down into the sack 60 as 70 oat a fa /