Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-11-05

Our corn crop just about equals in
value the expense of running our Gov
eminent. A billion dollar crop is of
such vast magnitude, it demands our
careful consideration.
The corn plant is modified by environ
ment more, perhaps that any other ce-
real, varying in growth from two to
fifteen feet high, and requiring from
two to seven months in which to ma
ture, depending upon variety, climate
and culture. While grown by the In
dians-no one knows how long and then
by the white man, little improvement
in the plant was made until quite recent
years. Indeed the sexualty of plants
was unknown until about two hundred
years ago, aud the laws of heredity and
variation, but little understood. Not so
now. In the Corn Belt during the last
twenty years, the. experiment stations
having adopted the plat system, have
achieved wonderful results. They have
produced crosses resulting in distinct va
rieties unlike either parent, and much
better; they have bred 'in and in and
also produced unrelated varieties; they
have shortened or heightened the time
of ripening; depending upon variation,
they have seized upon freaks in ma
ture" and when the characteristic was
good, have established it, by the
law of heredity; they have also changed
the size of the stalk, ear, kernel and
cob and, best of all, have bred more oil,
starch or protein into the grain itself,
as desired. This last fact is of vast i'm
portance to the dairyman.
Thus briefly of the West. How about
New England ? Instead of seeking to
raise more corn ourselves, at less cost,
we have, in this section, practically ig-
nored the crop at home and purchased
of the West greatly to our financial
loss. To this practice there is need of
a.business, whoa
With yearly influx of a million i'm
migrants, all consumers, and, with but
few producers and with our own in
crease in population largely segregated
in cities, the price of all grains, in the
future, corn included, must be high. 1t
will pay US to raise it, Not long ago
Vermont and New Hampshire produced
more corn per acre than any other states
in the union. Why question our ability?
Two years ago the writer produced corn
meal at less than one dollar hundred.
With clover sod and chemical fertlliz-
ers, not used in this case, far better
showing could be made.
But a single experiment proves little.
There should be concurrent action, on
the same line, by the many.
Suppose we farmers, in Addison
county should try at first, to settle a
few simple but fundamental facts in
contrasting, after this wise: Ascer-
tain first the variety, Or varieties of
corn best adapted to our soil and climate.
From recommendations of seed-men and
! leading farmers, let the oranges select
dozen or more varieties most highly
approved; then let all the farmers, who
will, be requested to plant one hundred
hills of each variety, side by side in
checks three feet apart each way, with
three, four or five grains to the hill, as
may be agreed-all following the same
plan. The time of planting, number of
civilizations, nature of soil, days in
ripening, and other matters, with the
yield of shelled corn should then be re-
ported and data collected and published.
Getting some light upon this ''funda-
mental" we then seek, in a similar
way, to solve other questions, such as
these: Will three, four or five stalks
to theahill, grown in the usual way,
yield the greater profit? In every acre
there can be 1910 hills three feet each
way or 1860 hills with checks three feet
by two feet Have we experimental
proof of which way of planting is best ?
Can western dents be grown here profit
ably compared with fiints And so so.
Thus we farmers, by concerted action,
might settle, with reasonable certainty
many simple but important items prop
erly belonging to ourselves, and leave
to the experiment stations more COM
plicatedIwork. The latter, no doubt,
would gladly aid US by producing
through the law of variations and
heredity, distinct and approved types
of corn, and through cross polli-
nation unrelated kinds of great vigor,
and thus enable us in a few years to
greatlysincrease the yield of this golden
grain for the enrichment of our Green
Mountain state"