The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-12-06
Care of Seed Corn.

1t has come to the notice Of the Sta.
ton that from time to time IN the
spring on the number of farms in the
State. there is a scarcity Of good seed
corn. The question of how to prevent
such deplorable conditi~" then arises
and the usual advice gl for meet
ing this poor seed corn situation is to
test the terminating power Of each
ear. This is good advice when 1t does
not become yearly habit; but, the
termination test is very discouraglng
unless the seed corn is gathered and
dried early in the fall, thus causing
the seed to retain full productiveness
which the termination test cannot
restore Or even properly reveal. No
matter how carefully the seed corn
NAV be tested in the spring, the best
seed and the highest vitality cannot
be had unless selection of mature seed
that have all the vcharacterlstlcs
of a good yielding, acclimated variety
has begun in the fall and good care ta-
ken of it during the winter.
It has been demonstrated that the
early fall use of seed corn racks will
increase the acre yield of corn by sew
eral bushels on practically all farms.
The initial cost is slight and the racks
can be used for q, life time when pro-
perly taken care of and stored away
when not in use. The sure way for
the farmer to avoid using land and
labor in plating seed of reduced
productiveness is by selecting seed
early and caring for it. A small mouse
could be built on each farm so that
all seed for spring planting could be
kept therein. Such a house should be
and ventilated and so constructed
as to he inaccessible to rats and mice.
This could be done by inverting COM
mon galvanized pan over the pillars.
Then beginning about 2 or 3 feet from
the wall a tier of shelves is built
inward from the floor These shelves
are made preferably of Stats instead
Of solid planks so as to allow of SUI
fcien+ ventilation between the ears.
About 6 inches from this tier another
tier of Slated shelves is built and so
on in pairs across the room. TWO or
three feet is left between each pair
of tiers to permit man with a basket
to pass through, placing the ears on
the shelves. The husked ears are
placed on these shelves after selection
in early fall, and will soon dry out
thus lessoning all danger of freezing
and thereby loss of vitality of seed in
spring.
A cheaper initial cost can be had by
stringing heavy wire 1 IL feet apart
across from one side of the building
or in dry, we'll ventilated house on the
farm and hanging the corn up 10 these
wires by means of a double string. The
ears are laid in the two strings of ears
which are then crossed, another ear
put on, and so on until the string
is just about two feet from the floor
when tied to the overhead wire. This
method permits of perfect ventilation
between the ears but the weight of the
undried corn sometimes breaks the
wire or pulls it out from its fastenings.
Another method in common use is to
use the upright wires of an old elec-
trically welded wire fence. The diago-
nal wires are cut off short enough to
reach about 1-2 the length of ear, and
the ears of corn are stuck On these dia-
gonal wires, tips upward. Usually
these wires are bent upward at a
slight angle to give firmer support for
the ear. These wires should be hung
on supporting wire as in case of the
strings. When the building in which
they are stored is proof against ro-
dents, these wires can be hung on
nails from the cross pieces.
Any one of these methods insures
the farmer against moldy, diseased
corn and against seed of low vitality
caused by alternate freezing and
heating.
F. H. Jeter,