The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1906-11-01

wy WIZ vas Will UuO DlVCl-
sifed Farming Special" portion of
the. time, could give his lecture on corn
in each Of the " counties Of Missis-
sippi and to 800 farmers at each place,
it would be worth million dollars
to the state the first year. This is
broad assertion, it is true, but those
who heard this great expert will read
lily agree. His subject is not as
important one here as it will be later
on, + is safe to assert that the maa
who VII. listen patiently to him for
the first five minutes, would cheer
fully remain for three hours longer.
He gave results from an examination
of thousands of fields Of corn tina.
proved them to have from one-half to
three-fourths of perfect stand. They
were ordinary fields and appeared II
be as good as the average. The farm
er was working from ne-fourth t.
o1e-half his land with absolutely nj
result. He then told how they rem
edied this evil Iowa and other corr
states. After selecting carefully
enough of the best and most perfeci.
ears Of corn for planting they were
laid in a row aud each numbered. Then
test box was constructed of about
two by four feet and three inches
deep. This box was packed half full
Of damp sawdust.. A stout white cloth
of equal size of the box was checked
into squares Of about two inches and
numbered to correspond with the ears
of corn. This cloth was spread over
the sawdust in the text box. Then
ear No. was taken up. and six grains
taken from different parts Of it and
placed in square No. l on the cloth,
the next ear the same and so on
through the entire number. Then
second cloth was spread over the
grains, taking care not TO disarrange
them. Damp sawdust was packed on
this to fill the box. 1t was then placed
IN a warm room or green house and
In about seven or eight days opened.
The grains from good ears Of corn
had thrown out healthy shoots and
were fit for seed. Some ears had only
started weak and poor shoots, This
ear was cast aside. Some ears start
ed possibly three shoots, while the
other three lay dormant. These were
east aside also. No ear was accepted
unless it showed perfect termination.
By this means Of testing the produc-
ton of corn had almost been doubled
and the land was made to produce an
almost perfect crop. A very small
matter some one will say, but an i'm
portant item just the same. The aver
age for corn in Mississippi is less than
sixteen bushels to the acre. If this
could be even raised to twenty bush
els, would it not be worth million
dollars to our state7 Assuredly so,
and the idea is, "get your heads in
& the game" aa4
!. That the good people Of Mississippi
are fast awakening to the fact thu !
fairs and competitive shows are gr 1t
educators and stimulators goes witch
out saying. The carnivals, which are
nothing in the world but embryo
fairs, recently held at Brokhay j,
Hazlehurst, Yazoo City, Mt. Olive and
/ other points mean something more
than the bringing Of crowd of peo-
pie to town for DAY or so. Some of
these places have already begun to
make arrangements to effect perma-
nent county fair organization, simu-
lated by the success already attained.
Nothing that would have more bene-
fetal effect could be done. Then too,
there is another encouraging note to
be seen. Some weeks since a colt show
was held at Liberty with good at
tendance and creditable display Of
stock. On September %, at Biggers
Store, in Alcorn county, colt show
which was we'll attended and eathusi-
astically received, was held. On Oct.
18th 4 like event was held at Chester
with dozen nice colts from one sire
and . large number Of others were
exhibited and created healthy in
6erest. Holmes county has already
had two such events this fall, and
+ others that cannot be recalled just
now. This is very gratifying indeed
and goes to show that our people are
not asleep to the benefits Of raising
good stock, and there is nothing that
will stimulate this feeling more than
county fairs.
Our Mississippi farmers might do
well to remember that not 80 much
strength is required to do things, but
that great deal is often necessary
TO decide what is the best to. do.
Brains are just as important in the
handling Of q farm as ordinary mus
cular exertion.