The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-04-18
AN AGR|CULT LTURAL KINDERGARTEN"
BY Robert MouIton i'm Rural Life
illustrated Article Reproduced by Courtesy of
This Popular bIication--ExceIIent Letter
From County Superintendent j. j. KoehIer.

Will Rag Babies be the saliva
'tion of the corn crop? Put this
question to the average farmer and
the chances are that he will think
you are joking-maybe crazy. This
is because the average farmers only
notion of Rag Baby is little
Mary's homemade doll. Explain to
him just what you mean, however,
and in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred his interest will be awaken
ed, then his wonder, and finally his
enthusiasm.
The so-called Rag Baby is simple
device for testing seed-corn-so sim
pie that any boy or girl can learn all
about it in a few minutes-and by
its use any farmer, anywhere, is
guaranteed an increase of ten bush
els an acre in his corn crop. This
isn't theory, but a solid, substantial
fact which has already been demon
strated time and again in different
localities.
While it is true that in recent
years many farmers have come to
realize the Importance of testing
their seed corn before planting, the
majority of them have failed to do as
well DIS Iu6y huOW III IillS ludlI0l, DS-
cause the most of the methods rec
ommended for this purpose were too
troublesome. This is not the case
with the Rag Baby, however, which
is simplicity itself and costs practi-
cally nothing.
Prof. Perry G. Holden last year Sc
lected forty ears of seed corn, ap-
parently exactly alike, from an Iowa
90 or'e
taken from each ear and terminated.
One ear was dead. The kernels from
some ears terminated very strong,
from others fairly strong, from 9th
ers weak. The seed from each ear
was planted in separate row. The
kernels from the ear which showed
the most vigorous termination pro-
duced at the rate of ninety-two BUSH
els an acre. The ear that showed
the weakest termination produced at
the rate of twenty four bushels an
acre. There you have a difference
of siXty-eight bushels an acre as be-
tween good and bad seed. But no
man on earth could have picked the
good from the bad ears merely by
looking at them. You may be able
to tell some ears that will not grow,
but you can never be sure of that
which will grow without test
Now, If good seed will produce as
much as ninety-two bushels an acre,
isn't it reasonable to suppose that
our average corn yield, which is only
twenty-six bushels an acre, could be
increased to thirty six bushels with
little care in selecting seed?
The Rag Baby method of testing
seed corn, as introduced into the ru-
raj schools, is creating a lot of in
terest and enthusiasm. Many of these
agricultural kindergartens, as they
might be termed, have been estab-
lished in various parts of the coun-
try, and the farmers are profiting
through them no less than the chill
dren.
The Rag Baby test is conducted in
the following manner: A piece of
good strong sheeting nine inches
wide and four or five feet long is
about two and one-half inches wide,
running through the center of the
strip. The squares are numbered
from one to twelve as shown in the
ILLUSTRATION. Twelve ears of corn are
then selected, these also being num-
bered from one to twelve to corre-
spond with the squares on the cloth.
EThe cloth is then thoroughly mois-
tened and spread out in front of the
bars to be tested.
Next take up ear No. l, and, with
he point of a pocket knife applied
10 the edge of kernel, remove six
kernels from the ear and place them
n square No. 1. 1t is a good plan
o take the kernels from different
parts of the ear, because it some
i ines happens that one side or one
Continued on Page Three.)