The Williamson enterprise. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1907-1911, 1911-02-16
Testing Seed Corn.


/ without testing that any particular ca
| of corn issin perfect growing condition
The corn may have ripened thoroughly
may have been gathered at the prope
time; may have been carefully hung i
the attic or corncrib; and may hav
passed thewinter without visible harm
But sometimes attics and corncrib
4 leak where they are not expected t
l9leak. Sometimes the snow blows i
where 1t is not expected to enter. ]
does happen that little moisture at
critical time leads to disastrous free7
ing. Or the corn may mold, as it oftel
does. The fact is that corn may b
dead without the keenest eye bein,
able to see that it is dead.
| So the one sure way to know the see,
condition Of corn is to test it.
An unusually careful farmer mad
an ear-to-row test for me last season
When the corn was ready to cut, h,
saved sample lot of ears to carry OF
the experiment this year. Then h,
carefully put the corn in basket
hanging the basket in safe place
But he made a little mistake. Til,
samples from different rows were sep
arated by means of sheets of paper
and the result was that the corn die
not get enough air, and so heated and
grew, and was worthless. No farmer
can be too careful with his seed corn
How shall the corn be tested2
Make box a foot wide, four fee,
long, and two inches deep. Fill it with
sand and set in a warm place. Then
lay it off in tWo-inch squares by means
of Irvine fastened to lacks placed al
two inch intervals along the sides and
ends Of the box. Beginning at the cor
ner, number along the side of the, box
from to "a; and from the same point
letter across the end from A. to G.. The
corn planted in the corner next to and
A will be numbered AL; that in the
opposite corner will be GA.
A box of the size described will pro-
vide for testing IA 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 a fairly satisfactory test;
tho,,rb como &, r,,arS , 20 sa+;s6ad -. ~
FIVE, and others, including myself, pre-
fer to-use ten grains from each ear. A
two-inch square will accommodate ten
grains fairly we'll.
In planting the corn in the tester,
great care should be taken. Taking
the grains from the first ear, press
them in the sand in the square num-
bered 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 earfrom which it is planted Az,
and SO on to the last corner, GA, if
you are testing IA ears. If YOU
have but fifty ears to test, much
smaller box will serve your purpose.
After the corn is planted in the
tester, sprinkle enough sand over the
box to cover every grain completely,
though it is not necessary that any of
them be covered more than a. quarter
to half an inch Over the whole boy
spread an old blanket or few thick
nesses of burlap. Then sprinkle with
water often enough to keep the sand
moist. In few days, if the room S
reasonably warm, the corn will begin
to sprout. In from week to ten DAYS
all of it that is good ought to be up.
The condition of the corn can be exam
med from day to day by turning back
the cover.
When most of the corn has begun to
show above the surface of the sand, it
may be necessary to remove the cover
ing. If most of the corn is up in ten
days, it will be safe to guess that the
rest is dead or too weak to be fit for
seed. Then the careful work of count
idg must be done. If square D13
shows only half as many sprouts as
there were grains, it will be safe to
feed Ear D13 to the chickens. If any
square shows two dead grains, it will
be well to discard the ear from which
that square was planted. Indeed, it
IS not wise to use any ear of corn as a
seed car if more than one grain out of
ter. fails to grow in the tester.
By the careful use of a testing plan
similar to the one here described. any
farmer can know the seed value of his
corn, and can practically assure per-
feet stand by rejecting the ears that do
dot show perfect seed condition, AS
the result of using such tester. many
farmer may find that bis own seed is
not worth planting. Then he will
make money by buying from some one
who has good seed. But the seed that
is bought should be tested as carefully
as any other; for all of the dealers are
not careful to sell only tested seed
corn. d. ". WORKING.
Superintendent Agricultural Exten-
sion.