The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-02-16

By Dan Fink, Of Goodrich 7o.Dnslip.

,odrich 7ownsliip.
ture Of clover to store more of this
organic nitrogen than it needs for its
own use and this surplus is left in the
ground for the following cereal crops
to draw upon Glover can be sown
for about $l.00 per acre, and it may
be cut twice the first year, thus max
ing 7. per cent Of good hay. The
second year it may be cut once, maxi
ing from 2 to 8 tons per acre. The
second crop this year should be plow-
ed una er for fertilizer and the year
following we find the farmer taking
from $500 TO $40. 90 per acre increase
from the land.
Corn is affected more by changing
its latitude than. any other cereal.
The farther south the larger the ears
grow, consequently the longer it takes
it to mature. But we can bring corn
from the south and in three years or
so it will become adapted to this Sec
tion. However It is advisable not to
60 south if it can be obtained from
any other source. Iowa's annual corn
crop 10 estimated ct 269, 8l2. 600 BUSH
els. Dividing this by the number Of
acres that was planted our corn aver
aged only 49, bushels per acre. The
average weight Of an ear Of corn of
this section is about IL ounces. In an
acre Of corn there are about 1856 hills,
and figuring each hill 70 produce one
good ear our yield should be s.. s BUSH
els per acre. So with two or three
ears to the hill % corn should produce
We ought to raise 60 to 70 or even 100
bushels to an acre, the weather and
season permitting. Mr.. John Sund-
berg Of Monona county, last year
raised 1853 bushels per acre without
any more work in tending. Ofcourse
he used extra good seed and good fer
tile land. Judging from this some-
body in the corn belt has been tilling
poor land and planting poor seed.
Thus we come to the most impor-
tant step in successful corn growing
methods Of selecting and saving seed.
This 10 all important to the grower OF
corn who would secure even an aver.
age crop. Take for example, the
successful stock breeder. He does
not wait till the last minute to GEL
new stock to head his herd. He has
his ideal breed and selects his parent
stock and aims to reproduce this Il
the young herd. Likewise with thu
corn farmer-he should be in the brsl
! field OF corn the first two weeks il
October selecting his seed. Eacl
farmer has his idea Of the corn b,
likes best. Let him select his idea
ear and then 60 into the best field o.
corn and pick for the same. II be
does not get enough Of his choice from
his own fields he has plenty Of tims
to get 1t from his neighbors who ma,
be more lucky than himself. Espsc
isl care should be taken to get til,
seed in the ear for several reasons
When the corn is purchased in til,
ear the farmer can see just what b,
has paid for and il there are any
undesirable ears they may be thrown
out. II shelled the undesirable ear
are inseparably mixed with the good
He may test four to nix grains Of eacl
ear and those that show poor GERM
mating qualities reject. If seed il
shelled there is no way Of testing i
80 these poor ears must necessarilyre
suit ina poor stand and reduce.
yield. A third and very importan
reason for purchasing the seed in thu
ear is that the butt and tipp kernel
may be shelled off. They are un
desirable for seed as they are stunt
ed in growth. irregular in size, an,
generally Of low terminating power
Several tests were made which show
ed that of the butts IS per cent germ
mated. of the tipps q per cent, an,
q = d s.
of the middleh 95 per cent. This i.
especially worth noting.
Do not wait until spring to get you
5|seed- then use any old ear, butts
tipps. and all. That is what has Gu
our yield down. A good way to selec
seed is to 60 early in October into th'
best fields far enough to fill . sacl
with your ideal ears. All should b
filled out nicely on the butt and tipp
be not TOO pointed and have straight
even rows. The irregular ears ant
pointed ears show lack Of vitalit,
and q tendency to run out. Ther,
should be nice color Of grain. true
ness to type and breed. and TIL