Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1907-11-07

upub bue sbdtS VI S5utti 1dhNst Hhh
Union county by the prizes he won
with his corn at the recent National
Corn Exposition in Chicago. In q
letter to the Canton leader last week
Mr.. Wimple explains how he bred his
corn up 10 the prize winning point.
Mr.. Wimple's letter is as follows:
Beresford. S. d., Oct %, 1907
NY Dear Mr.. Linn: La your corn
write up you stated that had 63 sam
pies composed OF yellow. white and
red corn. Allow me TO correct this, AS
! sent but three samples, all OF which
were "Wimple's Improved Yellow
Dent" sent SO ears in class A Lot I,
open TO the world: 10 ears in class A
Lot l3; and 10 ears in class NJ Lot Z.
The last 10 ears were the best that /
could find and they proved TO be good
enough. 1t is due the people of the
state to know something of the his
tory OF this corn, and | will give a
short ped gree as follows:
Four years ago made up my mind
thoroughly TO grow seed corn for the
market. About that time or a little
before, the Iowa alton al Ames is
sued bulletin on corn breeding by
Prof. Holden, agronomist. This
bulletin fell into my hands, and as /
was in the market for such informe
zion digeste1 the whole thing and
am authority as to bulletin r. for |
committed it 10 memory as il were.
Having this guide and some private
advice from Prof. Holden, | planted 40
ears Of select domeslicated corn ia 10
separate rows; each enr had its own
row. The corn grew well bus some
stalks grew IA feet high and some
but s and others all heights be
tween IA and s feet. AL harvest time
| gathered each row separately aud
placed the ears in crate, weighing
each row or the product from each ear
separately. ! was surprised to find
that one row yielded but % bushels
per acre, while another row yielded
l20 bushels per acre. The best ten rows
yielded 10 bushels per acre. The who e
plot, which was one acre, yielded 50
bushels.
This experiment gave me base
from which to select good ears 10 nlant
my plot the following year, and you
may be sure did not select from the
row that represented Is bushels an
acre. | omitted TO say that | de-
tasseled each alternate row before the
pollen ripened, rLis is very necessary
In corn breeding, as it prevents in
breeding and makes it possible for the
breeder TO change the Type OF his corn
to suit his fancy. This is very par
tlcular and tedious job; particular.
because to get the best results it must
be done every day for about IL days,
and those days come in the midst OF
haylng and grain harvest. had l00
acres OF timothy tn harvest that season
and every morning for II days all
hands had to take part in detasseling
the corn. which would take one man all
the time 10 do if done by one man
Tedious, because the tassel grows or
| top OF the stalk and it puts the mus
| cles OF mans arms and neck in {
position they are not used to aud they
become very tired To be a success
tull corn breeder man must be AT
| enthusiast and take a delight in the
work or he will make dismal failure
of the undertaking. But there is nc
work that is more profitable to The
producer and the consumer alike
than the Thorough breeding and grow
ing OF improved corn.
| A. j. WIMPLE.