The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-05

himself There were produced last yea
 in the whole world 2.7oo,000.00o bush
 els of corn; of which the United state. produced 75 per cent of the whole. anc | large per cent. of this was growr | in the States of Illinois, Iowa. Ne.
 braska, Missouri and Kansas.
 Large crops of corn are grown 1T these States, averaging as high. or some farms, as 125 bushels per acre vet when we consider that the largest
 crop of corn grown on one acre wa produced in South Carolina, 1t goes to show what can be dne in the South | by intensive culture. careful selection l of seed and proper fertilizing and more attention should be given to these inn l portant items by the Southern corn grower. T.
 The subject of improved seed corn is too great to be confined to an ordinary newspaper article, but I shall call at- l tention to the main points to be con- sidered, The Western corn-growers | for several years have been paying at- tention to improved seed corn, there- | bv increasing the yield and procuring better stand. It is well known that there is no animal or plant in existence
 more susceptible to the influences oi intelligent breeding than is the corn
 plant, when investigated from cause and effect" point of view. The plant furnishes us a most interesting study, and it is from only such observations that the producing capacity Of corn has been so increased that the average yields of the entire corn belt have been perceptibly increased by the appl1ca- tion of intelligence dissected in the nature of corn breeding and selection, and by a more intensive cultivation. There has been too much of hap hazard way of seed selection of corn from the crib practiced in the South. Out of the 800 samples of corn sent by the farmers of Iowa to Professor Hold en. director of the State Experimental station for testing. over 50 per cent. failed to germinate. This was test made last spring before corn planting time. What a loss that would have made in getting stand if that corn had been used for seed by the Iowa corn growers!
 have no doubt that the reason Of poor stands which we sometimes have in the South. and of Georgia, is largely
 due to want of germination Of poor seed germs. There are three distinct features pertaining to corn improve ment, viz: seed selection, corn breed- ing and corn feeding. Either plan
 will result in rapid improvement, and
 each has it's special good points, and all, handled together. with careful at
 tention to details, work wonderful transformation.
 It can be readily understood that
 when any of these features are neg lected. the performance of the plant Is confined to comparatively low level The poor corn of the State or Georgia is caused, not so much by cll- matic or soil conditions, but from the indiscriminate way of selecting the seed with poor germinating qualities and want of a more intensive system 0f ,,If fxyof{ cnnorinr knowledge of the nature of the corn plant, and fertility needed in it's growth.
 The important chemical constituents of corn are oil. protein and starch. The type of corn to be grown in the South for feeding purposes should be one that contains a large per cent of carbo- hydrates. as we have the cotton seed meal and the cowpea, both containing a large per cent of protein. with which to balance the ration. The corn plant possesses both the male and female organs. the former being the tassel and the latter the silks. The pollen from the male organs of the plant is re- quired to impregnate the germ at the
 base of each Individual silk. on the
 growing cct. otherwise the grain Is not developed It must be understood that plant of this nature, handled as the corn plant is usually grown. that cross pollenization usually takes place to great extent. and it is reasonable to suppose that probably per cent of the silks of an ear are fertilized by the tassel of the same stock. The D per cent. mentioned develops grain of corn that have both parents on the same stalk; all other grains have. a s their female parent. stalk on which they grew. but as the male parent some other stalk. and are consequently cross-bred. Thus 1t can be seen that the person who selects from the field or crib. does not know the full pedi- gree of every grain of his corn and, not knowing the main parent of his seed corn, he is likely to get the grain impregnated with the pollen from bar ren stalks, or from stalks of undesir- able character. The root of the corn plants is well known to represent the food gathering capacity of the plant. One type of corn is much superior to another with regard to this. The leaf age of the corn plant represents the digestive organs. In selecting seed corn we must take into consideration the reproductive organs of the plant. They should be strong and well calcu
 lated to perform their functions.
 Thoughts along these and other lines of consideration relative to corn i'm provement indicate the necessity for corn breeding by careful and intelligent seed corn selection by every farmer who does not buy his seed corn from some one who has given this subject his careful attention.
 I will now explain the manner of seed selection as practiced by the up- to-date western corn grower. believ- ing it to be the practical course for eV