Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-12-22
THE SEED CORN PRIZES.

Si'iAu " IN iSN VI 30 5OS' W. -i'' - AhNiti'
Smith.
These are the awards of Messrs w.
s. Wilkerson. J. l.. Rainey and c. J.
Hughes. the committee Of three vel.
known, experienced farmers, picked by
Mr. J. r. Ashe, president of the Farm
ers' Union TO act as judges of the
contest.
There were five entries in the con-
| test, Messrs. w. f. Land, ~ S. Black.
C. H. Smith, j. A. Steele and ]. l..
Wood The last two contestants nam
ed submitted thirty ears Of corn each
and the ether three submitted ten ears
each. 1t was a fine showing 1t all
made, too, a showing that was well
calculated to delight the eyes Of any
good farmer who knows corn.
The members of the committee met
in the editorial sanctum of The En-
quirer office last Saturday, all three
having come from their respective
homes for the especial purpose Of in
specting and passing on the corn sub
mitted in this competition, Mr.. Will
kerson from near Hickory Grove, Mr..
Rainey from near Sharon and Mr..
Hughes from the Beersheba neighbor-
hood.
The corn was laid out in five lots,
| that belonging to each contestant to It
self, with nothing before the judges to
indicate ownership except the sealed
envelopes with names inside, and the
first step toward the discharging Of
| the task in hand was to number the
different envelopes and place them
back with the samples Of corn to
which they belonged. This was to
guard against possible confusion, and
to facilitate distinguishing reference to
the different competing samples.
All of the preliminary arrangements
having been completed, the editor Of
fered to go out Of the sanctum and
leave the matter with the judges. mo,
you stay right here, we don't mind
you at ALL" one Of them said. The 9TH
ers assented, and the editor was really
glad to remain and see how these well
known experts would dispose Of what
looked to him like a pretty knotty
problem.
All three went silently to work. 1t
was several minutes perhaps, before a
word was said Then MI Wilkerson
turned to the editor and broke the 81
lence with. Now, what are we to un-
derstand is the object of this selection?
Is it to tell you which Of these sam
PIES in Our judgment gives the best
promise as being most desirable for
seed purposes?"
THAT Is it exactly" was the reply.
And on this understanding the
judges got closely down to work. 1T
Is all fine corn" said one of them and
the others agreed. Then they took in
to consideration the sizes Of the ears,
the regularity and compactness of the
rows Of grains, the perfection with
which the ears We're covered, the size,
color, depth and shape Of the grains.
the size and color of the cobs, the
hardness Of the grains, even the rotten
grains toward the end Of some Of the
ears, and the weevil holes in the grains.
They also remarked the perfection
with which the corn had matured
and the numerous other details which
the editor had never thought Of: but
which to the judges, seemed a matter
of course.
Purity being the first requirement
in seed selection" finally remarked one
Of the judges, that lot over there will
have to go out. There Is one full red
ear, and there are some strawberry
cobs 1t is nice looking corn all right;
but we will have to discard that lot on
account Of the mixture" The other
two judges We're in exact agreement.
and the lot was discarded.
We'll, this is the finest corn in the
lot" said Mr.. Wilkerson, there is no
question about that" Exactly the con-
clusion | had come to-" said Mr..
Raney. Yes" Mr.. Hughes remarked,
L think anybody would agree to
that" But" continued Mr.. Will
kerson, 1T is evidently a one ear
corn, and while Williamson says that
Is the best, l am not we'll enough sat-
isfed to take the responsibility Of say
ing so.' Two ears Of this" commented
Mr. Hughes as he picked up a speci-
men that all agreed was Of a prolific
variety, will outweigh one Of that"
That is right" assented Mr.. Rainey,
and that cob is too big" yes; but
YOU know it takes more grains 10 go
around big cob" remarked Mr.. Will
kerson, and all three laughed But,
continued Mr.. Wilkerson, I'VE are all
agreed that this Is the finest exhibit,
and we seem to be agreed that we are
not willing to recommend one cared
corn as the best for planting. l am
frank to say that 1 am not clear on the
subject: but lean to good prollhc.
But we cannot get round the fact that
this is the best exhibit. SO what say
you to the idea Of giving this man the
first prize, and awarding the other
two prizes to the two next bestE Il
think that Is right" assented Mr..
Rainey, and Mr.. Hughes said it was
also his idea and 50 it was settled.
The name in the envelope showed that
the corn belonged to Mr.. j. l.. WOOD.
The three remaining samples were or
prolific varieties. All three Of the
Judges had examined each of them
critically, and with no difference or
opinion they agreed that two were the
best. Mr. Rainey declared In favor
of a red cob. One of the samples had
red cob and the other white cob.
He said that as a rule a red cob corn
could be relied upon to keep sound un-
der conditions where a white cob corn
would rot. But he agreed with Mr..
Wilkerson and Mr.. Hughes that the
white cob sample showed slightly
greater evenness of the grain rows and
had an appreciable advantage In COM
pactness. He therefore waived the cob
theory in favor Of the other sample,
and made the Judgment Of the commit
tee unanimous. The name In the en-
velope showed that the second prize
went to MI Black and the third prize
to Mr. Smith.
Mr.. Wilkerson took three ears or
the Black corn to plant He said ne
would plant the corn on a rich spot on
his plantation at a considerable dis
tance from any other corn, work 1t In
strict accordance with the Williamson
plan and see what he could do with
il. Notwithstanding the fact that ne
had voted for the Black corn as thel
best sample Of prolific, Mr. Rainey re-
iterated his preference for the red COD
Smith corn, and said that he would
certainly get a bushel of 1t for next