Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-03-10
What Know About Corn and Corn
Growing.
ESSAY WINNING FIRST PRIZE BY RAY
BECK FROM DISTRICT II.

ESSAY WINNING FIRST PRIZE BY RAY
BECK FROM DISTRICT II.
The study of the growth and breed
ing of this cereal is ever becoming
more and more important throughout
the corn regions of the world. In or
der to produce it to the best advant'
age the producer should know the
nature and peculiaritieS of the grain.
The first thing to be considered is
the care in gathering the seed This
should be gathered early in the fall
and kept in a dry place where it will
dry thoroughly. The ear should be
symetrical, not too poiuted at the tip
and the kernels, as regards position,
as nearly as possible in straight rows
In yellow corn the kernel OF med
ium sized ear should be from one half
to three fOurthS of an inch long and
the cob should be red.
When the corn is shelled, care
should be taken not to bruise the ker-
mel and they should be sorted SO as to
drop a uniform number of kernels In
a hill. In Shelling, the tips and butts
of the corn should not be kept for
seed because they are apt to be IN
fertile kernels there.
The next step in the good PROD duc-
tion of corn is the thorough prcpara-
tion of the soil. The ground should
be plowed early in the fall, in August
if possible, to destroy the weeds,
which have not matured their seeds,
and to allow the garbage thus turned
under to decay and serve as a mulch.
Although fall blowing is desirable,
spring plowing has several advantages
the chief one being that it lessons the
number of corn lice and cut worms.
The corn should be planted Oh a
rich, well drained field, thoroughly
cultivated in order to destroy all early
starting weeds and injurious insects.
The time Of planting varies in diff
ferent localities, as in a sandy soil 1t
may be planted a week or ten days
before that in the black loan soil.
The usual time, however, is about
the tenth to the fifteenth OF May, or
when the leaf of the native tree is
about the size of of a squirrels ear
When the time arrives for the plant
ing of the corn the condition OF the
ground should first be taken into con-
sideration. II the ground is wet or
moist, the corn need not be planted
deep, but If the soil be dry, or the cut
worms are apt to bother. a deeper
planning is preferable. On an aver
age the corn should be planted two or
three inches deep, in hills about forty
inches apart and about three or four
kernels to the hill, varying as to the
fertility of the seed. In test OF W
to 95 per cent. three kernels are SUI
ticient.
After planting, frequent cultiVa-
tion should be given the corn until
too large to plow and then it should
be laid aside.
Soon after this step the corn begins
to tassel, shortly after it begins TO
silk, and then ears are produced.
different varieties of corn near each
other or through cross pOlination the
varieties will mix and the result Is a
mixed variety. Cross pollination how
ever is desirous when it can be OBJ
tained as it produces better results
than through self pollination.
When it can be obtained breeding
patch, where only cross pollenation
takes place, is the best method of pro-
curing good seed.
The study of corn is probably the
most interesting of any grain. The
United States produces about eighty
per cent. of the corn raised, which as
statistics show in 1909 was about
2,772, 376, 900 bushels. Corn is now be-
ing used for flour extensively and will,
no doubt, in future time, be sub
stitute for wheat to a great extent for
this purpose.