The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1912-02-29
Condition of 1912 Seed Corn.

belt. Missouri is in no way escaping
the scare and the condition is no less
serious. In most localities the late
f,ll rains caused the corn 10 be Of late
maturity, and, in a great number OF
cases, to be injured by excess ot
moisture. On account Of this ccpdi-
ton, the rush Ct fall work kspt many
f.rmers fIom field gathering seed corn
and consequently seed corn was not Sc
lected until husking time, and lar too
often not even then.
In order to determine the actual con-
dition Of the seed corn, and thereby
better advise the many irquirsIs, the
experiment station had collected in
three different sections OF The state
central, southwestern and northern
representative samples Of corn. These
samples were collected from corn which
the owners said would be used for seed
in the spring. In some cases the coTn
was field gathered, others selected at
the time OF husking, some taken from
the crib, and in extreme cases taken
from corn still in shocks in the field,
These samples Of corn were brought
10 the experiment station and germi'
mated with the following results:
Field gathered seed, carefully stored,
96 per cent termination.
Seed selected at gathering, SO. 10
per cent termination.
Seed selected from the crib, $3.50
per cent termination.
Seed selected from the shock, 53.70
per cent termination.
In some cases the crib selected corn
ran as low as IS to 20 per cent, while
in others, where the cribs had been
we'll protected and where the corn was
we'll matured when harvested, the ger
mination was much higher.
These figures show clearly that unless
due precaution is taken much poor seed
corn will be planted this spring. As it
is possible for one man to test enough
corn to plant twenty-five acres in one
days actual time, it can be easily seen
that such work would be highly profit
able during the bad days Of February
and March. The value OF such work
becomes al once apparent when we re-
alize that an increase Of 5 10 Oper cent
Is frequently secured in the yield.
The testing Of each ear that will be
used for seed is not such difficult task
and may be accomplished much more
easily than might be imagined. This il
done by securing box about so inche'
square and 5 or 4 inches deep, filling
the box full Of sand. Then drive nail
CT tacks D IL inches apart all the wa!
around the edges Of box and over thcsC
nails stretch a string back and forth 81
so as to mark the box off in D ID incl
squares. The squares are then mum
bered on the edge Of the box.
The ears Of corn to be tested are thel
laid on the floor, il no rack is available
numbered, and ten kernels removed
from various parts Of the ear. Thes
are placed in the sand point downwar'
50 as to be about ID inch below tn
surface. A very good method Of mum
bering the ears is 10 pin bits Of paper t
the butts OF the ears. This can be don
very easily with ordinary pins. TIL
kernels from ear No. are put in squar
No. /, ear No. Q in square No. 2, etc
The box Of sand containing the corn
then thoroughly saturated with water ;
about blood heat, covered With ol
sacks or carpet, and placed near th
stove or open fre, where it's moistene
down daily 50 as to hasten termination
The temperature should be kept at b
tween IS and 90 degrees il possible.
This method will in FIVE or six da.
enable one to detect the poor ears
their failure to germinate, and they ca
be discarded, leaving only the 60;
ones Tor seed In case your Sc,
seems too poor and you cannot e
field selected seed near home, write
the Agricultural Experiment Static
Columbia, Mo-, for the list OF reha1
seed corn breeders OF the various va
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