The Butler weekly times., 1913-11-06

Selection for seed insures good
corn; for show, prizes. Selection of
corn for seed is as necessary as Sc
lection of live stock for breeding and
for the same reasons. Care pays. The
farmer who selects can sell. The
time OF the corn breeder is here.
Cylindrical Most Desirable Shape.
The best shape for an ear of corn
is cylindrical. That is, it should car
ry about the same thickness from
butt to tip. A tapering ear will have
less weight of corn on it than a CYL
indrica one Moreover, the taper is
partly due to shallow kernels toward
the tip and the fact that the kernels
will, therefore. not all be of the same
size and shape makes it impossible
for a planter to drop them evenly.
The proper length of an ear of corn
will depend upon it's diameter. In
general the length should be to the
circumference as is to ), or a 10.
inch ear should be 7R inches around.
measured at one-third the distance
from butt to tip. Ears medium in
length should generally be selected
Ears slightly above medium size are
best
The butt of an ear of corn should
be well rounded out with deep. reg.
mar kernels, compactly and evenly
arranged about cup-shaped cavity,
the diameter of which should be
about an inch. The diameter of the
scar where the ear was attached to
the stalk should be about three
fourths of an inch in medium varie-
the ear will be hard to break off in
hushing: if it is too narrow the ear
may blow off Clean. compart butts
mean careful selection; and coarse,
wide butts poor selection,
The tip of an ear should be we'll
covered with kernels. Too much a..
fention should not he given to Gov
ared tips. however, as there are very
teN ears that have them and they are
usually the shorter ears
An ear OF corn should be solid and
|
the rows of kernels Wide furrows
mean rounded instead of deep ker
rels, aud this is not the type Of the
highest yielding corn for Missouri.
Cob Is to Corn as Bone to Animal.
The size of the cob should neither ;
he very large nor very small. Cob
bears the same relation to an ear of
corn as does bone to al animal. 1t
may be either toe fine or too coarse.
4 large. coarse cob indicates poor
quality and poor selection. An ear
having such usually dries out slowly
and hence the vitality of the corn is
often injured by freezing during the
winter. An understood cob either
bears grains that stand out like the
fans on the wheel of windmill and |
hence are easily shattered, or it has
pointed grains with narrow, contract i
ed germs, the vitality of which is
usually low.
In general the deeper the kernels !
and smaller the cob, the better the f
ear, but it is possible to have kernels t
50 iOHS dS cODS So SllIH dS W De
'aulty This fault is rarely found 6
however, the most common fault be- {
ng in getting cobs too large. \ 1
cob with kernels that E
are wedge shaped. but not pointed, c
md that fit compactly from top to t
,ottom, is to be preferred. G
The length of the kernels should c
,e about one and one-half times it's |
width at its widest part and 1t should /
,e of uniform thickness from one end d
o the other. The germ should be T.
arge. smooth and bright-not discol- Z.
,red, blistered wrinkled or rough @
med When broken open it should q
how a fresh, oily appearance. c
Seed corn should be selected in the a
all, preferably from the field after it f
S well matured, and before any
leavy frosts have occurred. One of d
he best methods is to go through the c
eld with basket or sack and select t
he best ears from the best stalks. +
An ear of corn may be a good one n