New Ulm review., 1913-09-17
OF Utmost Importance.

| As was stated in last weeks is.
sue, this week has been designated
bv Governor Eberhart as "Seed Corn
Week." !, 1t is very important that
all concerned in the betterment Of
farming as a business should make
| it a matter of personal concern to see
that the community is thoroly enlight-
ened to the urgent necessity of max
ing careful preparation for the seed
of a new crop. Looking at the dried
up corn fields Of Iowa and Nebraska,
shriveled and blasted by weeks of
draught, one realizes that an I'M
mense yield will be called for next
year to supply the deficiency caused
by the shortage in this years crop.
If Southern Minnesota farmers are to
profit by the situation that must de-
velop they must see to it that they
are supplied with seed corn that will
produce required results. Governor
Eberhart says:
"Good seed corn is important in
| every state, but it is especially I'M
portant in Minnesota, because varie-
ties of corn must be planted that will
mature in from a hundred to hum
dred and twenty days. Minnesota
cannot successfully depend upon i'm
porting seed corn. The best seed corn
for Minnesota farmers is carefully
selected seed corn that has been pro-
duced on their own farms. Good
seed corn in Minnesota may easily
mean an increased yield of five BUSH
els per acre. This will be worth to
the state at least 100000 annu-
ally, or more than $40 per farm"
1t seems natural for everyone to
like to select large ears of corn. 1t
is, of course, more desirable to grow
large corn than small corn, but this
desire to get large corn has resulted
in much loss due to the failure of
such corn to mature. Really, the
first consideration that should be |
given to an ear of corn that is Sc
lected for seed is whether or not it |
is likely to mature in the locality IN
which it is to be grown. If 1t will
not mature, it has no value for seed.
The fact that corn has matured in
the neighborhood, while desirable
fact, is not sufficient assurance that
it will mature every year, because
the seasons vary greatly in their test
on this quality of early maturity in
corn. During favorable years the
plants with the later maturing quail
tiles are likely to develop and pro-
duce the largest and best ears. De-
ferring selection until all of the corn
is ripe results usually in the selec-
ton of the later maturing ears, be-
cause they are larger and better.
On this account, the Minnesota Agri
cultural College urges the selection
of corn at date represented by the
expected first killing frost. Corn Sc
lected at this time one year may rea-
sonably be expected to mature at
that time the following year. Like
wise, corn that has matured ten or
twenty days later than this time,
because of unfavorable conditions, is
likely to be caught by frost the fol-
lowing year ten or twenty days be-
fore it is mature.
Select the largest, highest yield
ing ears Of the best variety of corn
that will safely mature in your To-
cality. If large, high yielding ears
are selected without proper care, ma
turity may be sacrificed for yield.
A bad bargain! On the other hand,
if very early ears are selected for
seed, yield may be sacrificed for ma
turity. A bad bargain! To avoid
selecting ears for seed that will not
ripen in the ordinary season on your
farm, select your seed ears from the
standing corn at the time that prac-
tically all the corn in the field should
be mature. In any field of corn can
be found late plants that in very fa-
vorable seasons mature good ears,
but when frosts come at about the
usual time or a little sooner, they
are still Green and dO not store we'll !
feed we'll, nor grow at all well. If
the seed is selected in the late fall
as the corn is husked, in favorable
seasons many of these late maturing
ears will make fine appearance and
hence many will find their way into
the seed-corn pile when they should
go to the hogs. The seed of such
ears if planted, will produce late
corn with nothing but trou-
BILE ahead in ordinary seasons.