The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-09-06

rolls, but it did not s,afd over IS
inches high. That is a perfect
p'aht" ! remarked, but we will not
take any bolls from it. 1t is too
small. Never select a runt pig for a
prize winner at fair. If had an
acre Of such plants they would not
9oid as much cotton as I want"
in this way We went over The t,s.-
acre plat and secured 200 pounds Of
seeG cotton. This was carefully stor-
ed and ginned.
The next year there were three
times as many perfect stalks in the
field as the previous season. In
| three years nearly every plant was
q model and we had a three-bale
crop.
In making selections never pick
| boil for seed except from n plant
that is just what you want your crop
to be next year. You can not buy
| such seed. Raise ii.
|
years crop.
| Ginning and Cleaning Seed Cotton.
Store your selected seed in a dry
| place and wait until the steam gins
are nearly through; then carefully
| clean the gin, put down a sheet to
catch the seed and run your select
ed lot through. Store in dry place
till it is time for planting.
Before planting, run this seed
through a tanning mill, blowing out
any seeds that may be light and
screening out any that are too small.
| Follow this method just as closely
as possible. A peck Of such screen
ed seed will produce more strong
plans than a bushel OF the seed
commonly planted.
improvement OF Corn by Seed Sc.
! lection.
| Corn is one Of the easiest plants to
modify with which the farmer has
| to deal, and there is no plant that
L
will respond more quickly to intelli-
gent efforts at improvement. Corn is
also v"-y susceptible to the effect Of
CHI. a of climatic or soil conii
tions; hence, it is very difficult to
predict that the best variety at one
place will prove to be the best in
another locality. Owing to these facts
we are liable to many disappoint-
| ments in purchasing new varieties Of
| corn, and this emphasizes the i'm
| portance of at least one farmer in
| ness to select his seed corn with a
view to obtaining the best variety
for his section. VI Fact this i'm
provement of corn by selection is SO
| simple that there is no reason why
| each farmer should not give it his
| attention. Unless this is DONE seed
will soon deteriorate and it will be
| necessary to purchase improved seed
| corn if 1t is desired to obtain the
best results. Farmers Bulletin No.
229. entitled The Production of
Good Seed Corn" is a treatise on the
| selection and care of seed corn whicn
should be in the hands of every
| farmer.
The following is a brief outline Of
just how to select seed corn:
The corn it is desired 10 improve
should be planted on a specially pre-
| pared plat and we'll cultivated. When
| the plants have silked. go through
| the field and remove all. plants that
have not started an ear. After this
and before harvesting, go through
| the plat carefully and select the best
stalks, marking them so they can be
| readily distinguished.
An ideal stalk is one without suck
ers, thick at base, with well-develop-
ed roots, as shown by it's vigorous
growth, and bearing a good ear or
| ears about 4 feet from the ground.
The stalk when mature should be be-
| tween and 10 feet high.
If it is desired to produce an early
variety, only those stalks that mature
! first should be marked.
Select stalks that are free from
smut or disease and are not in the
immediate neighborhood OF other
diseased stalks. The stalk should
have two good ears upon shanks 4
or inches long. and these ears
should show a decided tendency 10
turn down.
Gathering and Storing the Seed
Ears.
AS soon as the corn is sufficiently
dry 1t should be carefully gathered
and housed N g.