Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1912-06-07

tons. Zell ZODeOa Recently
Butter in ST
It is highly important to make a
test Of the reproducing power of your
corn in the field. Some ears will pro-
duce fifty bushels per acre and 9TH
ers only 100, and some will rlpen
earlier than others. A breeding plot
test will show you which ear is
which.
The entire practice is based upon
the fact that a sound ear of corn will
retain it's vitality from two to four
years. This leaves one year for the
preliminary test before the bulk of
the ear is used for seed. The writer
has endeavored to adapt the test to
farm conditions where hand labor is
at premium.
The test of production is very
simple one-four or five rows are
shelled from the ear and used to
plant a test row. The illustration
shows the sack used for the shelled
corn, it being fastened with rubber
band after placing the corn in it.
This is a common candy sack-size
No. 8. If any corn is left in the
sack after the planting is finished it
can be filed away in dry place.
The remnants of the ears are
rolled in paper and stored in dry
place to await the results of the test
The only reason for not Smelling all
the corn into the sack is that the
breeder usually wants to look over
the shape and character of his win
ming ear after the results are ascer-
tanned in the fall.
1t should be stated here that the
farmer who expects to gain anything
from the test should plant at least
one hundred ears. Many people
argue that it takes too much time,
but one hundred ears will probably
take about three hours longer than
fifty. The preliminary process must
all be attended to in either case and
all the extra time required is simply
for planting and husking. By using
one hundred ears the breeder can
discard three out of every four and
still have twenty-five high ears from
which to produce seed.
Two sizes of plots are in common
use among breeders. The first, fifty
hills-two rows of twenty-five each
is considered as 100 of an acre
Those who use this sized plot shrink
the produce of each to 70-pound
bushel before weighing. The second
size is forty-four hills-two rows of
twenty-five hills-considered as 1-s0
of an acre. On these plots the corn
is weighed when it is shrunken to
eighty pounds per bushel (field con-
dition). In either case the pounds
per plot is equal to bushels per acre
and no figuring is required. The
rows are three and one-half feet
apart and hills three and one-half
feet apart in the row.
Pick the best twenty-five out of
the one hundred ears. A few may
be found that have enough extra
quality to offset bushel or two to
the acre. But on the whole it is the
heavy producing early maturing corn
that fills the cribs to overf1owing.
Pick out the poorest producing
twenty-five and feed the mother
ears, which you have saved, to the
roes. The medium may be used for
seed. for the general field, as the
chances are that they will furnish
more quality than the average SEED
ears.
In the remnants of the ears pro-
ducing the best twenty-five plots the
breeder has enough seed to plant
more than an acre. This is the best
blood on the farm and should be con-
centrated for seed purposes. The
method the writer advocates is likely
to call out many adverse opinions,
but it is one that any farmer can fol.
low and it is sure to give reliable
seed so far as vitality is concerned
at least.
Shell the twenty-five remnants in
to their twenty-five original sacks
used in the test and plant them in
twenty five respective rows Zone to
an earl on the south or west side OF
the general corn field. Give them
the same attention that you do the
regular field.
In September you always want to
snap corn for hog feed. Go to this
high yielding acre at least month