Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-04-21
POOR
SEED CORN
WHAT 1T COSTS
HOW TO TEST 1T
BY D. w. WORKING,
Superintendent Agricultural
Extension,
West Virginia University.


As result Of testing eighty ears Of
corn selected at random from those
| exhibited at the state corn show III
| January the students of the short
course at the College of Agriculture
found that 20 per cent, or one-fifth,
of them were worthless for seed.
Planting an ear which will not grow
I means loss Of from two to five bush
els per acre at harvest Thus the man
who plants ten acres of corn with
| seed of which one-fifth fails to germl-
| nate loses from 60 to $50 bushels Of
corn worth from $50 to SIS at 80
| cents a bushel
1t is known that seed corn through
/ out the central states is poorer as re-
CARDS termination than it has been
( for years, so that the wise farmer will
! test his seed corn at once or buy only
that which has been tested and is
1 guaranteed over 95 per cent perfect,
which he should check by making his
own tests of it.
| The termination Box.
| Make box a foot wide, four feet
| long and two inches deep. Fill 1t with
sand and set it in a warm place. Then
| lay 1t off in two inch squares by
means of Irvine fastened to lacks
| placed at two inch intervals along the
! sides and ends of the box Beginning
at one corner, number along the SIDE
of the box from l to "a; and from the
c LOFT ba
| A to G. The corn planted in the
| corner next to ! and A will be num-
| bered Al; that in the opposite corner
| will be GA
Taking the Sample.
| A box OF the size described will
provide for testing 144 ears of corn
enough if four-ffths of the ears are
| good. to plant eight or ten acres The
kernels should be taken from different
| parts of the ear. Six grains are enough
for fairly satisfactory test; though
| some farmers are satisfied with five
and others, including myself, prefer to
use ten grains from each ear A two
| inch square will accommodate ten
, grains fairly we'll
Arranging the Sample.
| In planting the corn in tester great
| care should be taken Taking the
| grains from the first ear press them
in the sand in the square numbered
Al, and Immediately give the ear that
number Plant from the next ear IN
the square numbered B1, and so on
| till the row is full, marking each ear
| to correspond with the square. Then
| begin the next cross row and number
| the ear from which it is planted AZ;
| and so on to the last corner G23, ii |
! you are testing 144 ears. If you have
| but fifty ears to test a much smaller
box will serve your purpose.
Care of the termination Box.
After the corn is planted in the
tester sprinkle enough sand over the
box to cover every grain completely. |
Over the whole box spread an Oil
blanket or few thicknesses of bur
lap. Then sprinkle with water often
enough to keep the sand moist Keep
the box in a warm room as heat is
| essential for satisfactory termination
In few days. if the room is reason
ably warm, the corn will begin to
sprout In a week all of it that is
good ought to be up. The condition
of the corn can be examined from day
to day by turning back the cover
The Results.
When most of the corn has begun -
show above the surface of the sand
it may be necessary to remove the
covering. If most of the corn is up il
a week, it will be safe to guess that
the rest is dead or too weak to be fit
for seed. Then the careful work OF
counting must be done. If square Dt3
shows only half as many sprouts as
there were grains feed ear DID to the
chickens. Indeed if any square shows
any dead grains it will be well to dis
card the ear from which that square
was planted.
Try II.
If you plant but one acre of corn
such a test will pay you better for a
few hours time than any other way
you can spend it. Cost is practically
nothing If consistently used its value
will surprise you. So try 1t!