Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1910-03-03
Valley Bank Testing

$500
Valley Bank Testing
Seed Corn
The Valley bank of this city
is doing Q great work and
showing a public spirit that is
to be commended. They have
bought one of the Holden's
Ideal Water Testers, manufact-
ured by the National Seed
Tester Co, of Des Moines, Ia,
and are testing from ten to
twenty ears of seed corn for
just as many farmers as will
bring in a sample.
1t is certain that the seed
corn is 80 badly damaged by
the heavy frost October 1st
that less than one.half of it is
good for seed; and every
farmer should take advantage
of this opportunity to learn
just what condition his seed
is in.
The official test made at the
Iowa State College at Ames
during the Short Course Corn
Show proves that on this good
corn that was brought there
for exhibition purposes as
prize winners, less than six ears
out Of every ten should be used
for seed.
The Des Moines Daily Capt.
tai held a public seed corn test
under the supervision of Prof.
P. &. Holden and out of one
hundred ears, only eight ears
fit to plant were found, fifty
nine were absolutely dead and
thirty-three ears showed life
but were too weak to plant.
We would urge our readers
20 take advantage of the op.
portunity offered by the Valley
Bank and bring in at once from
ten to twenty ears of the very
best seed corn you have and
have it tested. A careful rec
ord will be kept and you will be
advisedas to exactly how many
ears are fit to plant and in this
way you can judge as to the
condition of your seed corn.
Pick the ten ears at random
from your seed corn so as to
get an average of the entire
lot.
Six kernals are taken from
Zach ear, put into little cup in
the tester and thoroughly
soaked and then let stand for
forty-eight hours and all corn
fit to plant sprouts and those
that show strong vitality have
a we'll developed root system
while those that are weak have
but one or two very weak roots
Bring your corn in at once
and get it in the first test.
But four hundred ears can be
tested at a time and it requires
three to four days to make the
test. Ten ears can be tested
for forty different farmers or
twenty ears for twenty differ.
emit farmers on each test.
There is no charge for this as
those interested in the work
feel we'll repaid in helping the
farmers of this neighborhood
to produce a good corn crop
this year.
The Agricultural College at
Ames has sent out a general
warning in regard to seed corn,
the Agricultural Publications
have, without exception, run a
large number of editorials urg-
ing the farmers to test corn
and it is, at this time, the most
important problem the farmer
has to solve.
By testing the seed and dis
carding the bad ears, a much
larger crop can be raised. An
ear with a thousand kernals
should produce a thousand
stalks and each stalk an ear o,
twelve and one. half bushels Of
corn. Every time a bad ear is
discarded and a good strong ear
planted in its place, the cror
should be increased from ten to
twelve bushels per acre.
On the basis of the Daily
Capital test there was not one
good ear in ten found in the
one hundred ears tested. The
Holden tester discards absolute.
ly every weak or dead ear and
every farmer should call at the
bank and see the tester work.
Bring along a sample of your
corn at the same time.