The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-23
THF SELECTION Of CORN AND COTTON
SEED FOR SOUTHERN FARMS
This was carefully stored

! seed cotton. This was carefully stored
and einned.
The next year there were three
times as many perfect stalks IN the
field as the previous season. In three
years nearly every plant was a mOdel
and we lac a th~ree-bale crop.
In making selections never pick a
boil for seed except from a plant that
is just what you want your crop to
be next year. You can not buy such
Select your seed early for next
years crop.
Ginning and Cleaning See Cotton.
Store your selected seed in a dry
place and wait until the steam gins
are nearly through; then carefully
catch the seed, and run your selected
lot through. Store in a dry place till
it is time for planting.
Before planting, run his seed
through a tanning mill, blowing out
any seeds hat may be light and
screening out any that are too small.
Follow this method just as closely as
possible. A peck of such screened
seed will produce more strong plants
than a bushel of the seed commonly
planted.
Improvement of Corn by seed Seiec-
ton.
Corn is one of the easiest plants to
modify with which the farmer has to
deal, and there is no plant that will
respond more quickly to intelligent eff
forts at Improvement. Corn Is also
very susceptible to the effect of q
change Of climatic or soil conditions;
hence, it is very difficult to predict
that the best variety at one place viii
prove to be the best in another local
ity. Owing to these facts we are liza
bic to many disappointments in pur-
chasing new varieties of corn. and
this emphasizes the Importance of at
least one farmer in each community
making it a business to select his
seed corn with q view to obtaining
the best variety for his section. IN
fact, this Improvement of corn by
selection IS 50 simple that there IS no
reason why each farmer shouiG not
give it his attention. Unless this IS
done. seed Will soon deteriorate and
it will be necessary to purchase i'm
proved seed corn if it Is desired to
obtain the best results. Farmers Bul-
letin No. 229, entitled THE Produc-
ton Of Good Seed Corn" is a treatise
on the selection and are Of seed corn
which should be in the hands Of
every farmer.
The following is a brief outline Of
just how to select seed corn:
The corn it is desired to improve
should be planted or a specially re
pared plat and we'll cultivated. When
the plants have silke, go through the
field and remove all Ola1-S that have
not started an ear. After this and
before harvesting. go through the
plat carefully and select the best
stalks. marking them SO they al be
readily distinguished.
An ideal stalk is one without suck
ers, thick at base, with well-deVeloped
roots, as shown by its vigorous growth.
and hpSTino a good car or "a PC a hnIt
4 feet from the ground. The stalk
when mature should be between 8 and
10 feet high.
If it is desired to produce an early
variety. only those stalks that mature
first should be marked.
Select stalks that are free from
smut or disease and are not in the
immediate n~eighbOrhOOd of other dis
eased stalks. The stalk should have
two good ears upon shanks 4 or )
inches. and these airs should show Il
decided tendency to turn down.
Gathering and Storing the seed Ears.
AS soon as the corn is sufficiently
dry it should be carefully gathered
and housed. IN gathering for seed,
gather only from the selected stalks
that have two ears. If there are two
good ears on a stalk, take both. If
one Is. poor, select only the good one.
Gather for seed only those ears that
have the end we'll covered with a
close-fitting shuck. as this is q very
effective protection against the weevil.
Except as stated. not much can be
done in selecting the ear at this time.
store = ears in q cool, dry, we'll
ventilated place and not In too great
q bulk. so there will be no danger
OF heating. Seed corn should also be
kept from freezing.
When the opportunity presents it
self during the winter, this seed corr
should be carefully shucked and the
best ears selected.
The Ideal Ear.
An ideal ear of corn is nearly cvIin-
dTlcal in shape. tapering only slightly
from the butt to the tip. The tip
should be fairly abrupt. The rows
of corn should be straight and COM
pact, comm encing close to the shank
and pxtanHino clear over the end of