The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1905-04-15

/ by giving particular attention 10 the Weeding
ont Of barren stalks and other undesirable
;Ypes in his seed 6eldS saccestled in prednc-
/ ing a type of improved corn. Ehich bg called
the Booae County White. THIS type was
/ determined upon Aboai 1875. and by continued
selection irum year 20 year II has hccn Im
proved. uniil At the present time ], : the mcst
popular variety Of white corn grown IN Indiana
aud Illinois AT the Illinois station. the
variety on, yielded al other varieties Of white
corn in the comparative tests.
The fact Of the matter =. thai careful breed
ing and selection result in more profitable
typsz of corn. The valuable Fesaiss trom i'm
proved breeds Of live stock have increased the
wealth ofihs American farmer millions % Dol
lA-. The results from Improved breeds of
corn indicate thai ~e may Obtain equally sAla
Able rpsnlts from kEbly bred varieties Of corn,
Rarres staIk. ta Fields
b, carrfal counts made 10 yarioas counties
in Ilioais, Tor The last three years it -As ioaud
by the farmers that almost one third of lbe
sssiks in the Seld seFe tzrTcn- These bAFrea
sta IS are weeds Of little 40 value 10 the
farmer. They probably take neariy - much
fertility FROM the sol a. shc stalks heaaug
ears. aud they cost a. much to gvaw the
fertile stalks Ga lhc l37 farms Of The Nihlry
estate. Ford eoanty, Illinois. Il was taaad iAss
nearly - per eent of the stalks wsFe harFca.
Ga this estate. especial attention has beca
givsu to seed selection, and she prohab'',iss
are that the corn on these farms j. mere free
from this eondiiioa than on the average taras-
By looking over the corn 10 the cribs IN any
OF the corn sections OF Tbs Hited States,
very saall proportion ot uniform perfect ears
are found. The majority are very Srak IA
some particular. As in shape Of ear, filing oRi
A. buits ard tips. depth and shape Of kernel.
purisy OF color and other points. That the
average quality OF corn "a very poor Is shows
BY the sversge yield per acre. The average
yield per acre ia the great corn States. accord
ing 70 government statistics. 81 about 30
bushels per acre. lfevery stalk IA ball pro
daeed a well developed ear. at ,he average
width Of planting. feet inches by Zee,
inch~s. With oniy two stalks in ball, The
Weld would be about 100 bushels per acre.
As = matter OF fact, the average number Of
stalks per hill = more than t~o- Hos can
we account then. for the difference betWeea
loo bushels per acre and The actual yield of
about 50 bushels pr acre This aIfcrencs
must be due 10 the fact that every stalks anes
not produce an ear and that the majority n'
the ears tha, are produced 30 uoi become
veil developed ears.
Gers Brseder~' Organizations
In yieN of these facts. fsw extensive corn
growers oFHAnized the Illinois Seed Cora
Breeders Association in ie0o. The object Of
this organization is To systematically improve,
through cooperation With the State ESperi
ment Station, the breeds OF corn ia this State.
R@-ulIs From Improved seed Corn.
As result of the work Of the breeders Of
this association. improved and carefully
lecied seed has been sent to the farmers uf
various sections Of the corn belt. To show
the results from such work, few instances
NiIl be cited in the following discussion.
A corn grower Of Mclean county, becOm-
ing interested in Improved seed, secured
enough well bred seed to plant eighty acres.
In this body Of land there are about 10000
acres devoted TO corn. On this field the yield
per acre was within one-half Of t~euty three
bushels more per acre ihAn in Sny OF the other
fields of the farm. This corn g.nEer hes Sc.
cured enough well-bred seed for l.i> coming
season to plant the entire corn lHno ~ the
farm. The total increase in 1902. due TO good
seed has been estimated st 70,0o0 bushels.
In southern Illinois another farmer secured
enough improved seed to plant l20 acres.
This field yielded Is bushels per acre more
than any other Geld on the farm or in the vi.
cinity where the yield was obtained. This
farmer paid $40 for the seed, aud figures that
the net profit from the investment was $40,
all of which was the result of planting i'm
proved seed corn.
Standard Varieties of Cora.
At present there are seven recognized ysri-
cites Of corn, (whitel Boone County White,
Silver Nine, and White Superior; and (yel-
low) Leaning. Rileyis Favorite. Reds Gel
low Dent. and Golden Eagle. The varieties
will doubtless be added TO in the near future
as the types are grown under different eondi-
tions of soil and climate.
Methods OF Corn Breeding.
The system of breeding is as follows: The
variety must be kept pure and free from all
mixture. This is difficult problem in most
cases, because the pollen will drift at least 80
rods. The breeding must therefore be done
where the breeding field can be protected
from other corn fields, as by hedges, timber,
or other natural barriers TO pollen drifting. or
in very large field of the same variety that
is being bred. This last plan has been used
with good results in developing sweet corn
varieties. but is not so quick IN results as the
plan of isolating the breeding fields. This is
due to the fact that if the breeding field is 10.
Gated where il will he poilinated by the pollen
of inferior stalks. even of the same variety,
this fertilization will be detrimental to the de-
velopment of the variety and the wedding out
of the unfayorable types. A field of about an
acre in size of the best corn land is selected.
The character of soil is of extreme im-
portance. The placing of the breeding plat
in poor soil single year may destroy the
work of many years careful breeding. The
land should be carefully prepared, according
10 the best methods of fitting the seed bed in
that locality. The plan is TO plant each ear
by itself in this field, either in plats ten hills
square or in row.
The plat and row systems are being used by
corn breeders, and it will take several years
to demonstrate the most successful plan. For
simplicity the row will system be described,
and the same principles will apply to the plat as
to the row plan. Select thirty.two typical