The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1912-04-04


better to drill the corn in the breed
ing plot since it is too narrow to cul-
tivate to advantage crosswise. Two
or three border rows should be planted
around the edges of the plot.
Care of the Breeding Plot.
The breeding plot should not be fer
tilted any better than any of the 9th
er fields on the farm, and the prepara-
ton of the seed bed and cultivation
should be the same. The prime OBJ
ject is to develop strain of corn that
will yield we'll under average field con-
ditions. The extra work that is put on
the breeding plot should be applied to
the corn itself and not to the SOIL
About the time cultivation ceases all
suckers should be cut off. This can be
quickly done with a straight bladed
corn knife These suckers take nour-
ishment needed by the good stalks
and produce inferior pollen to fertilize
the silks .......g5 rsi.sr,,---f
The most important part of the work
is detasseling When the tassels begin
to appear go through the plot and
carefully pull them out from every
other row. This should be done every
day for a week or more-as long as
tassels continue to appear. At the
same time any imperfect stalks In the
other rows should be detasseled. If
there are any rows that show mark
ed tendency to sucker, carry the ears
too high or low or have any other
marked defect, they should be detas-
seled also.
Comparing the Yields.
AS soon as the corn is all ripe the
ears from the twenty-five detasseied
rows should be husked. keeping the
produce of each row separate. The
corn from the tasseled rows, as we'll as
from the imperfect rows that were de-
tasseled and from the border rows
should be discarded. At the time OF
husking the detasseled corn any pc
culiarity of the stalks in row should
be noted. The number Of stalks in each
row should also be counted. The
weight of the corn from row divided
by the number of stalks in that row
will give the weight per stalk, which
| is the proper basis for comparison. Il
will! be found that there is very great
difference in yielding ability, some
rows yielding twice or three times as
much as others. This yield. togeth
er with the number of good seed
| ears to the row, forms the basis fol
determining from which row to select
ears to plant next years breeding plot
The rest of the ears worth saving
should be stored away to plant in thu
increase field. III 80 a5f4; @+&
The increase field is not for the pur
pose of improving the corn, but merel!
to secure larger quantities of tina
which has been improved in the breed
ing plot. Each year seed from thu
highest quality and best yielding O
the individual rows is saved to plan
the next years breeding plot and th'
| remainder used in the increase field
In this way the standard keeps i'm
/ proving from year to year. Ten bush
els to the acre increase is by no mean
the limit to which the improvement
can be carried Indeed, almost tn
only limit is the care and time be
slowed upon the breeding plot.
The Seed Corn House.
Where several hundred bushels o
corn are to be saved for seed. as /
the case where speciality is bein
made Of well bred seed corn, 1t, is nee
essary to have some sort of specia
seed corn house This may be file
with Slated racks. on which the cor
is laid, or the ears may be hung froI
the ceiling with binder twine. Th
latter is the better method. as 1t pei
mits a more thorough circulation Q
air around the corn. The use Of tw