Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-11-23

for leaf development than for bright
stout and strong at the ground and tap
ering to the spindle. The ear should be
set not more than 30 inches from the
ground and prefer "a to 26. Bear in
mind that the location OF the ear on the
stalk has a direct relation TO maturity
and 1t is an easy matter to extend or re-
duce the time Necessary for maturity
when selecting ears for seed.
| want one ear to a stalk but want
one ear on every stalk, and IL the GER
minating power of the seed used is what
1t should be you should have very close
ito 20 600 stalks to the acre when planted
In rows three feet apart With four kerr
nels every Sc inches: When by selection
and skin In growing we reach this yield
of one ear to a stalk all previous rec
lords will be broken. The man whose eye
| is fixed on two ears to stalk is very
likely to overlook the skips all about
him.
| one ear of 40 Kernels gave me the past
season 40 stalks and 40 ears, large and
small As this row was the only one OF
| the breeding plat not detasseled ! shall
rely upon it for seed the coming season.
Those who claim to grow three, four and
L even SIN ears TO Il stain, WIN ShSAS HtetiiN
CARRYING at least two ears are never
seen at our corn shows. It's so much
easier to STAY at home and tell what Il
could have done" More attention should
| be paid the cob. / want corn to mature
| It's first trace of seed ears in 100 to 10
! days, the cobs fully 10 inches long. small,
straight and even throughout. For size
lii pleases me to break a cob less than or
rather more than one-half inch in dame
ter. This is all eight row corn. On that
cob I want 4i0 to 460 Kernels even, broad,
deep, close fitting at top and base, square
and well rounded at top, SO that as the
cob dries one row may be crowded out
q little Seeking the maximum of food
nutrients per acre many seemingly triy-
iai matters become of great Importance.
Years of experience in breeding expert
ments convince me that our greatest
mistake lies In selecting seed from the
bin or at husking time. In every field
you can readily find from two TO five
types Indicating the crosses made in es-
tablishng the variety and the constant
rebellion of nature against any attempted
rfgidty of methods Two laws hold te-
lnaciously, that of heredity and variation
Iferedity is that law by Which we at
tempt to fix specific characteristics, and
variation is that law by which nature
Attempts to assert its independence. All
| Improvement comes through variation
not heredity and wise is he who guards
| conditions ana is able to seize the ear or
| ears showing Improvement and then
| fixing the newer and better type by 4
system of careful selection II you are
seeking either for type or largest pro
duction you cannot afford to go far from
home for seed. Sending out of the State
for seed or to those living under different
soil conditions iii the State, is ruinous
policy, simply for the reason that corn
is so peculiarly influenced By environ
ment Better by far take what YOU have
and gradually weed out the Objectionable
features. lengthen the cars, hasten ma
| turity. and improve in every essential
| The whole problem is in the hands et
| the individual grower.
I want corn yielding from II to II per
cent. protein, where the average is 10.
| Protein is the most valuable item of
| food in the corn and yet we are not con-
sidering it when selecting our seed
want my crib dry corn to shell from GO
to 81 lbs. out of every 20 of corn on the
cob and this upon y per cent water
basis means IS pounds of shelled corn out
of every 100 of corn and cob
There is no question but that the APP
plieation of $50 lbs. of good corn ferti-
lzer, not less than per cent. nitrogen
the very last of July, at the last cultiva-
ton. between the rows, is the most pro-
table step for the grower to take and
plays an important part in fixing the
protein content.
What shape of an ear do you want, one
long or short, tapering or cylindrical
one from the bin or from selected stalks
in the field? If you cling to the cylin-
drical type of ear in flint corn you will
inevitably reduce length and possibility
of yield The score card, as now arrane-
ed, plays sad havoc with the utility
corn crop. There is a symmetry 10 the
we'll tipped cylindrical ear not to be
formed in the tapcring. Yet would
prefer the long ear With one-half inch
of cob extending beyoffd the large. well
filled rows. than thg shorter fully tipped
point.
In fiVe year test Inc Ohio experiment
station found that with five varieties the
hong cars produced IN average OF 5.97
bustel more corn Than tho short ears 1
believe il nlQrc necessary that cach
grower tiTc IN his mind "a type clearly
defined toward which ne is working than
that he follow the type established by
his neighbor. Fortunately this pro-
blem rests upon a few simple propositions
With wide range for personal applica-
ton. Work out your own tyre and then
breed to it and for it. Don't 20 far
aneld in mixing types else all your efforts
viii be futile Select your seed in the
field from strong. vigorous stalks but
only those which answer your conception
OF type wanted. I am convinced that
better seed win be given on ground fair
~ wei fertili2ed than on that heavily
dressed If you want gross yield of
corn get plenty of sunlight all about the
hin, which means an open stand
The yield obtained in 1910 dl9 lilo bush
els) seemed impossible in early September
because there was SO much daylight
through the field. If you want TO pro-
duee seed ears which viii yield heavily
when planted select good ears even
though the stalks were somewhat crowd
ed, and soil conditions not entirely fav-
orable like TO break my seed ears