Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-22

per acre yield In the United states. Did
every corn field in the United States do
as well as the New Hampshire corn fields
in the years from 1879 to 1908. the annual
corn husking Of the nation would produce
10000 more bushels than IL does now
In other words, the brains Of the New
Hampshire farmer, applied to the corn
fields Of the nation, would smite the rocks
OF latent wealth and make a stream OF
gold amounting to S7JO.OOO,Om flow there
from. And even New Hampshire's average
yield per acre is poor farming as com
pared with that which the National Corn
exposition aims to teach.
The old saying that blood will teu'
applies with as much force to plant life
as it does to animal life. In one OF the
recent text books on corn there is an IL
lustration OF the old-fashioned pod corn
car and the celebrated Pascal Ear" which
was the champion Of America in 1907. and
which sold for $3.50, or nearly 10 cents per
grain. The difference between a razor
back. and a prisewinning Poland-C China
hog was never so marked. A few years
ago the various experiment stations
throughout the corn belt began a system
attic study OF corn. They give free infor-
nation and advice TO farmers.
The railroads, with an eye to the mil
lions that may flow into their Golfers d.
rectly and indirectly through an en-
HANGED production Of corn. have given
their aid to the movement by furnishing
Corn Gospel Trains which carry the
good news Of the new evangel OF progress
sive farming to all sections. The farmer
is given object lessons Of what may be
accomplished by correct methods. For
instance. he is shown that at a cost OF only
6 cents per acre to test the seed he sows,
the farmer may vastly increase his har-
vest. One striking picture held up to him
is that of two fields with only a barbed
wire fence dividing them. The seed of the
one was tested. y That Of the other was
not. The result in the tested field was
seventy-seven bushels to the acre. and
that in the INFESTED field was thirty-five
bushels. All careful students Of corn Gull
ture agree that the application Of scien-
tific methods to corn culture through the
country might easily be brought up TO
sixty bushels per acre. AT that rate the
United States could supply the world with
its corn, and have enough left to SUBJ
stitute every grain of wheat grown on the
globe.
The versatility of corn surpasses that Of
any other grain. At a recent exposition
no less than 100 separate and distinct COM
mercial products from corn were exhibited.
Besides furnishing human food in many
forms, and the cup that cheers in many
varieties, It yields the glucose that con-
Etitutes the base of dozens of by-pro-
ducts, edible and otherwise. It produces
dextrin and gums used in sizing and print
ing cloth. 1t furnishes starch for the
table and starch for the laundry. The
stalk furnishes fodder for the cattle, cell
lulose for the protection OF the vitals Of
warships and for the making Of smoke
less powder.
America expects to make much out Of it's
foreign market for corn in the next decade
or two. Eastern Asia is becoming inter-
ested in corn as a foodstuff, and those
who have studied the situation declare
that there are not enough vessels on the
Pacific ocean to carry the vast stores of
corn that will be required to meet the
demand which may be created in the
orient. Furthermore. other parts Of the
world are becoming interested In this pc
culiarly American product, and while
Argentina shows some signs Of becoming
a competitor as a ~corn-growing nation, It
will be many years before it viii be a
formidable rival. .
Pellagra, said to be due to damaged
corn used for human food, is a disease oc-
curing most frequently in Italy and other
southern European countries, where the
corn is Of an inferior quality and where it
is improperly cured. Instead Of injurlng
the export trade in American corn for
human consumption, pellagTa may increase
the demand, since export corn is usually
the best grown on American soil, and can
therefore be used with more confidence
than the inferior kinds grown in southern
Europe.
BY Frederic j. Hasdu.
Tomor=ow-Automobils Show Season.