Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1908-09-30
HOW AND WHEN TO Sc 10 SEED
Some Advice to Farmers CIsosInIlg tie
Selection of Ssed-corn for Eafg5 Ields.

| oGiGGilUl! vi oGGu-0utI lUl EatES&st ttlQo
The North Carolina Eieu1 1bll
raj experiment station algh
sends out the following aB
tion of great interest t. 6
The practice of selectiA md
corn from the barn late II tha
spring costs the farmers Of NORTH
Carolina, in decreased yields c:
shelled corn, ar amount equal tt
more than five million dollars an
nually. Just SO long as this
method is followed. just : Ions
will the grove rsesff~ Z, q ; 55ate
lack this amount of producing
what they might with tbs same
treatment under Identical condi.
tions were they to use better
methods in the selection of their
seed-corn. The proper place to
select seed for planting purposes
next year is in the field this. fall.
One day spent in the field in
selecting seed-corn properly will
pay better in increased yields
than most any labor performed
during the entire year. There
are many ways in which this Fork
might be done satisfactorily, the
exact method depending rpon
conditions and practices. Eeono-
my of performance of the opera
ton is always to be looked after
but not ut a sacrifice of efficiency.
Where corn is gathered !rom
stalks in the field in the e1aual
way, good method for the corn
grower to use is to sling a cotton
picking bag over the shoulde or
take basket in the hand and 60
through and make the selections
from the field of corn which he
has that is little above the aver
age in productivity. Take two
rows at a time and select seed
from those stalks which hav>. I've
we'll developed ears per stalk, re-
membering that in the select ION
of seed one, should select f. a ~
stalks tnat will yield the largest
amount of shelled corn per stalk.
The reason why it Is advised Sc
lecting from two-eared stalks is
because in testing and studying
varieties of corn during the past
eight years Oh the Experiment
Station farm and elsewhere, it
has been found that the best
yielders of shelled corn per stalk
and hence per acre were those that
averaged near two ears per stalk.
Take both ears if they are good
ones and reject both if they are
not. Do not give much attention
to the shape of the ears and grains
during field selection, but reserve
this for some rainy or snowy day
during the winter and have the
young boys around to help, as
there is no form of farm work
that will interest them more or
lead to take a deeper interest in
the work of the farm. One reason
why so many boys leave the farm
is because they are not taught
there is something more in farm
ing than the mere drudgeryt con-
nected with it. When going
through the field selecting these
ears it might be we'll to have the
boys along too if they are old
enough to appreciate the value
and Importance of what is being
done. A cart or wagon might be
at one end of the rows aud when
you get there each time empty the
basket or bag. Enough corn
should be gathered in this way so
that when the more careful selec-
tion is made during the win
ter at the barn, having in
mind the best shape of ears and
kernels, enough will be left for
planting, after throwing out the
ears Of poor shape and those hav-
ing kernels not up to the proper
type it is wished to use for plant
ing. Select from the field three
to five times as much corn
as is expected to be needed,
SO that a very rigid selection
of the ears may be made dur
ing some winter day. Make Sc
lections from stalks that only
bear two well-developed ears, but
from those that have a good leaf
development and large root sys-
tenn. Select ears that are borne
at a uniform and convenient
height, for such ears are more
oaui1v and chaa n1v oatharad thoro