The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-09-22
AS 10 SEED CORN
Practical Suggestions as to How
to Select it
PROPER WAY TO DO IT
Valuable Information Given Farm
ers by Experts of State Aqri-
cultural School

| SeIecuon Is the Keynote of prog
ress the world over. 1t is by the pro-
| cess. of natural selection" that. in
all her kingdoms, Nature continually
improves upon the quality of her
gifts to men. 1t is by selection that
the best places in the activities of
society It is by selection that the
speed of the race-horse has been de-
veloped; that in place of the in
ferior cattle of our sires, we have the
| superb Short Horns, JERSEYS Guern-
| seys and Herefords of today. Selec-
ton has given US the Berkshire, the
Poland-China and the Chester White
| hog in the place Of the razor-back of
| old. Equally, selection is capable of
| giving us better crops on our fields,
if only its methods are intelligently
and persistently pursued.
Particularly has this been proved
true of corn. By the testing and Sc
! lection of varieties and by the selec-
| ton of seed from the varieties found
capable of doing best under Mime
sofa conditions as to soil and climate,
| it has been demonstrated that corn
once deemed an exotic here-can
he made largely productive over al
most the entire area of our state
And by pursuing the process in as
+! ISOLATION with intelligent tillage, it
is practically certain that the pres
ent average yield of thirty bushels
can be raised to sixty bushels to the
acre.
| The proper selection of seed corn
is such a vastly important step in
| the work of so increasing the yield,
that the Extension Division of the
University Farm is making strenuous
| endeavors to bring about a general
| observance of Seed Corn Week."
Sept. II to II, inclusive The en-
| rhusiasm with which the Division is
| pushing this idea of selecting seed,
will, it is to be hoped, prove gener-
| ally contagious. The governors
| proclamation, seconding the Divi.
sion's proposals shows how large
would be the gain to the state if both
| the acreage given to corn, and the
| product per acre, should be raised to
| CT w
no movement which more truly
| boosts" Minnesota than this for the
observance, by every farmer, of some
ore day in the week named, by go
ing through his corn-field and select
| ing the best ears for seed.
The short. SPACE bulletin, No. 9,
which the Extension Division has is
| sued on the subject. and which gives
| the best method of selecting and
storing, should be in the hands of
every farmer. The University Farm
! people hold that there is no seed
| which will do so we'll, on the whole.
| as that of corn which has already
done we'll on the farmers own land
The following extract is taken
| from Extension Bulletin No. g:
Spend at least one day during Seed
Corn Week, September 18th to 18th,
| selecting seed corn. Go through the
| field with a sack over your shoulder
| ard select at least forty ears for each
acre you expect to plant next year
This will allow you to make further
careful selection next spring. after
each ear has been tested for gerlnina-
ton, as but from fifteen to twenty
ears are necessary to plant an acre.
Select only medium-sized ears,
that have matured early enough to
indicate that they will ripen in even
unfavorable years. Large ears are
net necessary to large yields. For
Southern Minnesota select Dent corn