The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-05

- ~ fSS&x$H could be wceded
3&$3S%H out, and he went 10
AAhs&EsSS VI rl< y 4 e n L y
w. #. Massey. year after year, 60
ing through the neld row by row and
pulling III, tassel from every barren
stalk before il had ripened pollen. lie
did this pcrsistently. until now he
has corn that will make corn on every
stalk iii the field VI the time of my
visit ne said: "On another part of the
farm | have a different Kind OF corn
that l have been breeding but two
or three years. and there are still
some barren stalks in it, as / haven't
get entirely eliminated them. ! went
TO The other field and did find here
and there tlte stalks without cars and
without tass.ls, too. for he had picked
these out. The first thing then III the
Improvement Of our seed corr is to
get rid Of these plants that make no
corn. This one thing accomplished
will make an immense increase in the
average WELD Of corn. II only takes
patient care ana attention 10 do this.
and any real farmer, one who is
really Interested in the Improvement
Of his crors. can accomplish II in a
few years effort and the adding OF
five to ten bushels an acre TO the crop
is worth Al; the labor and time II
takes to breed out barren plants
How TO Still Further Improve the
Yield.
am often asked what corn it would
be best 10 buy for seed AS 4 rule. Ia
any section where there is intelligent
farming it Will be found that there
is a corn long grown there, which Is
completely acclimated 10 Its environ
ment, and this corn Will be the best
20 breed up by selection. Corn breed
ers practice what is called tho ear
row method. This is II select the best
available cars and plant row from
each car, and use each alternate row
as the male parent, taking out the
green tassels from the other rows and
then selecting the hest seed from the
detasseled rows. as these Will have
the cross, and crossing within n species
is an inviEoratlon to the stock. But
usin.- the ear-row method Year after
year with the same corn Will soon be
breeding too closely, and the breeder
Should get his seed for the male plants
grown elsewhere of thu same stock.
But the general farmer will not take
the accurate pains needed for this
work. and can easily plant seed
patch and give this some attention.
liant the seed patch at distance
from any other corn. and not only
give il the best care in the cultivation,
but watch the pla closely i'll their
habit. You need n corn that not only
gives you ears. but ears properly To-
Gated on the plant. and we should
take The whole plant into consideration
and cndcavor 10 breed to an ideal
PLANT
Go through the seed patch as the tas
sells appear and remove the tassels
from every stalk that does not prom
Use an ear, and from every plant that
does not come somewhere near to your
ideal Of a Eood corn plant, one that is
rot over-tall and that carries its ears
nearly halfway between soil and tassel,
and not up out of reach. Then the
pollen will be furnished by the best
plants in the patch. and as corn pollen
is blown all around there will be cross
ing enough. Grow this isolated seed
patch every year, planting IL with the
best selection YOU can make I'm il, and
your general crop with the rest, and
by constant selection YOU will after
time be able to have the corn come
10 a uniform type. Breed. of course,
10 prolific habit Fine ears are de-
sirable, but lots of ears are more so.
What we want is more corn per acre
rather than particular shape to the
car.
The score card of the corn ear shows
lays great emphasis on the tip OF the
car being we'll covered with grain. 4
you select such ears only, year after
year. you Will soon find that these
well-fnished ears tend to make shorter
ears. while ears that are somewhat
snouty show no. effort of the corn to
grow longer and you will get longer
ears from these than from the cover =
ed-tip ears.
With intelligent farming and the de-
relopment of increased productivity in
our soil, the breeding out of the here
dity tendency TO make barren plants
-
corn plants. we should soon be able to
double rhe average. yield of corn. If
the practice became universal. and, a,
least the intelligent and improving
farmers could prevent the average mar
getting the average so low.
Crimson Glover md Rotation.
From Nottoway County again: "Ir
l9o9-10 I cleared up some dense wood
land and piled and burnt all the brush
TO get the land clean have had 10 cul.
Iivate II three years in corn. and made
an average Of forty bushels an acre
The land is sandy. with clay eight
Inches down. Last fall sowed crimson
clover on il, and had a fine stand But
II grew irregularly. some patches
shorter than others. and the field look
ed irregular. Some thought that the
burning made the short spots. but per.
haps ii was lack OF phosphorus Please
give me rotation for the improvement
the clover for seed, and have IL in the
chaff. How much Of this rough SEED
should be sown an acre? have about
sixty bushels OF them. Some of the
clover ] cut for hay and II cured nice.
~. but there is little mould Tina
is, YOU see nothing of II on the clover
but it emits a dust that is choking
and makes the horses cough. VIII /,
hurt the horses
have made this digest from n yer,
lengthy letter. What should now bt
done is 10 prevent the further loss d
humus. that has made the land pro.
ductive, and TO increase il through {
short rotation, in which plenty Of
iegumes come in. Sow among the corr
whippoorwill peas Just ahead Of tn,
last cultivation, and cultivate them in
Cut the corn off when the ears arc vel
glazed, and cure II in shocks Then
If the peas are not rank, YOU can disl
them down by going over repeated,
with the disk harrow till the surface j.
fine. Harrow in with the preparation 80,
pounds Of acid phosphate and twent,
pounds of muriate OF potash an acr,
and drill TO oats. the Wintei Turf oats
in September.
II the peas are too strong for disk
ing down NOV them for bav aud II Il.