Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-07-01
POOR Seed Is Iowa's curse-speclalist
Declares That Best Way to Improve
Iowa Crops Is to Select Good Seed
Roltaire Former ottunwan.

S3Soo
audience to listen to the gospel of seed
corn as told by Prof. Holden. Gray
haired men, their hands roughened
listened with absorbing attention as
judicious use of their time in March
and April they might hope to rake In
more golden shekels in the autumn.
any idea how much significance few
more bushels Of corn to the acre
would have In state like Iowa where
corn Is king. Poor seed is more than
all other things the cause for the lack
Of small crops Of corn.
The Condition In WapeIo.
The condition in Wapello county as
ascertained by special agents of the
Ames agricultural college who have
visited this section and inspected the
corn, is considered moderate by Prof.
Holden. The two extremes is given in
report Of one farm, where the corn
shows only a fifty per cent of stand,
while in another, that Of D. W. John
son, west of the city, there Is ninety
two per cent of stand. He then pro-
ceeded to tell his audience how they
might 60 about getting the few extra
bushels which would mean so much
not only to themselves, but the pros
perity Of the state.
II am here to talk about a product
which has had more to do with the
prosperity of Iowa than all others put
together" said Professor Holden
When corn goes wrong In Iowa eve
rything goes wrong, too. The greatest
advance which will be made in the
next fifty years in Iowa in any indus.
try will be the growing Of few more
bushels Of corn to the acre. We are
not growing as much corn in Iowa as
we should"
Curse Of Poor Seed.
The principal cause Of this. accord
ing to Professor Holden, is the poor
seed corn used. He then explained
the method of obtaining seed corn
which would make the Iowa corn crop
a thing of beauty and Joy forever.
I'VE have each ear of corn num-
bered," he said, passing his hand over
a lot Of golden ears lying on the ia
ble "Then we take from each ear
six kernels of corn (taking his pocket
knife from his pocket and suiting the
action to the word). These we put in
the little compartments in this box
full of dirt, each compartment being
numbered, and in this way we can tell
Just what ear of corn the kernels
came from. This is called the germi-
nation box. If the few kernels plant
ed are good it is probable the whole
ear Is good and safe to plant for seed
corn.
$50 the good ears are selected and
shelled and the corn is spread out on
the kitchen or dining room table. The
men, women and children of the. fam
lily then gather round and pick out the
black and cracked kernels and the
rest Is hung up in gunny sacks to dry
until time for planting" If this meth
cd is followed out in Iowa Professor
Holden firmly believes great results
will be accomplished.
This testing Of the seed corn will
not take more than a week and can
be done in March and April when
there is nothing else to do between
chores in the morning and evening.
The corn which is used for seed corn
should be harvested not day later
than October Is.
Morning Session.
The third council of the Seton In
dams was held yesterday morning at
the usual hour. Yesterday was maize
day withthe youthful red men and the
corn dance was celebrated. At
1890 o'clock Dr. G. A. Vincent spoke
on 1.-THE Gospel of st. Mark, the Use
of Power in the Twentieth Century"
an interested audience being present
to listen to the earnest words Of this
eloquent speaker. p G. Holden's pro.
gram began at o'clock in the after
noon and continued throughout the aft
ernoon.
Delight Large Audience.
The entertainment given by the I'M
perial Saxophone quartet and Robert
son and Roltaire last night was
splendid one and delighted the
audience that filled nearly every seat
In the large pavilion. Several of the
numbers were heartily encored and the
moving pictures ELECTED enthusiastic
applause.
The rendition of several selections
by the saxophone quartet met with
hearty appreciation. Miss Josephine
Retz, reader and impersonator, and
Homer CARRIER, DanJolst were favor
ties with the large audience and were
repeatedly encored. The personnel of
the quartet is as follows:
A. Lynn Shaw, tenor saxaphone and
clarinet.
Homer Chalet CARRIER, baritone saxa-
phone and banjo.
Madeline Lucette Chalet, alto saxa-
phone.
Rua Estelle Curtis, alto saxaphone.
Miss Josephine Retz, reader. singer,
accompanied.
Robertson and Roltaire.
Charles Roltaire, by his mystifying
performances and skillful manipula-
ton Of handkerchiefs, billiard balls,
ETC., and d. w. Robertson. with his
moving pictures, gave one of the best
sSnd NEST enjoyable exhibitions Of the