Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1912-04-23

president with the big smile, but
they do not want him for president.
They do not want the interests with
which he had ALI d himself to
rule"
The Charles City Intelligeneer
says it looks very much as If Prea-
dent Taft was being made to suffer
for the political sins OF his friends.
Most forms of contempt are UNI
wise; but one of them seems to us
peculiarly ridiculous contempt for
the age one lives in.-Henry James.
GOOD SEED CORN.
John Cownie: In an experience
of over fifty years saving seed corn
in Iowa, / had but one failure and
then it was my own fault in trying
to save my seed corn without arti-
fetal heat.
That lesson cost me $4,000, and
ever since my seed corn has, when
gathered, been placed at once in
chamber over the dining room
where it is fire dried, register oy-
er the heating stove in the dining
room supplying the heat.
For more than half a century,
with the single exception Of the one
year noted in the foregoing, do not
believe ever planted a kernel Of
seed corn Of my own saving that
did not grow, and of strong vitality.
But with the one exception, the
corn for seed was always kept in
the dwelling house and fire dried,
and 100 per cent terminated, re-
gardless OF weather conditions in
the corn planting season.
On assuming the position Of mem
Der of the board of control of State
institutions, soon learned that SER
ious losses on our state farms had
been experienced on account Of poor
seed corn. and having mastered that
subject myself, / determined that
there would be no further losses to
the state, on account of poor seed
corn.
With the aid of the chief execu-
tive officers, room with FIRE heat
was assigned for the seed corn at
each institution, and a circular let
ter each fall was sent to all super
intendents, giving full instructions
for gathering and saving seed corn
before cold weather.
The rooms selected for saving the
seed corn were in the easements of
the main building, with steam heat.
or in attics, or work shops, all with
fire heat. and my instructions were
that the corn must be taken direct
ly from the field and before cold
weather, to these heated rooms and
dried by artificial heat.
Now, note the result, not a single
hill Of corn at our state institutions,
with on aggregate of about 1000
acres of land, was, during the
twelve years / was member of the
board of control, replanted on ac-
count of poor seed corn, and on
tests that made every spring in
the state house in cigar boxes fill
ed with earth. practically 100 per
cent of samples of the corn from all
the institutions terminated, with
strong, vigorous, uniform growth. as
shown by photographs taken of the
growing corn when four or Ave
inches high.
And it must be borne in mind,
that the greater part of this seed
corn was saved by insane men. and
feeble minded boys, and through
neglect to gather early and fire dry
their seed corn, the farmers OF Iowa
in possession of all their faculties.
lost in the same time over one hun
dred millions of d liars. by follow
ing improper methods in saving
their seed corn.
In June, 1910, made tour OF
our state diagonally from the south
west corner to the northeast corner
for the purpose Of examining the
corn fields and ascertain with math-
ematical accuracy the true condi-
ton OF the stand OF corn that had
been secured.
In that tour, the first of the kind
so far as / know ever made, al
though had practiced this method
with excellent results on my own
farms for more than 25 years.
counted the stalks In SO hills of rs
different fields, $3.50 hills in all.
and found about two-thirds Of a nor
NAL stand, some of the corn waist
high, while large part replanted.
some two and even three times, was
from to inches high that could
not, and did not, ripen before frost.