Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-01-02
500 AN ACRE
GROWING CORN
+ w. Haw Asserts That a Few
Years Will See Corn Fodder
Crop on All Farms.

1t has been a topic of considerable
speculation as to the future CT corn in
this county and it may not be amiss to
set down some of the conclusions which
can be drawn from the experience of the
Better Farming Association upon their
plots this past summer.
/ made the assertion at the recent
county corn contest, that in ten years it
will be possible to r Use as much feeding
value upon an acre of land sown to corn
here as is possible at the present time
in southern Minnesota. l made this
statement upon the basis of three con-
illusions which have been drawn from
experience in raising corn in this county.
First-That in two years we will be able
to raise our seed of a dent variety. If
we are able to raise our own seed IN two
years, in five years we will be able to
obtain fully matured corn.
Secondhand although corn at this
latitude will never produce as much
green fodder per acre, it will be enough
richer in dry matter feeding value) to
offset this larger amount of crude
material.
Third-That altho 'gh We can never
produce ears as long or of equal diameter,
or ears which have as ceep %i<ernals, as
those raised in the present corn belt,
still, there is a strong tendency for the
corn plant in this more severe climate,
to produce more ears per stalk to such
an extent as to have an equal amount of
corn as that which is raised upon a stalk
south of here.
II these three points are granted any
person open to conviction can readily
conceive of the possibility and very
strong probability that my first asser-
ton, that we could raise an equal
amount of feeding value, could come to
pass. Briefly the facts from which the
above conclusions are drawn can be
stated as follows: [ believe we can
raise our own seed in two years because
with poor seed, raised over two hundred
miles south of here, planted on poorly
prepared land and grown during one of
the worst seasons which has yet been
experienced, still with all these factors
working against US, we we're able to
select some ears on most of our north
western dent fields which we're far
enough matu red for seed. This seed has
since been tested and terminates suf-
ficiently strong to warrant sowing next
spring. Is 1t too strong a statement
then to say that in two years seed will
be raised in CaYalier county for our W
use? 1t in two years we can obtain
plenty of seed, in three years more with
selection and care it should easily be
possible to bring it to full maturity.
This supposition is of course made with
the expectation, that corn raising is
gone at in a systematic manner and that
it is given the best chance possible.
l would base my second conclusion on
two facts, First that the slower the
growth and the cooler the climate the
heavier the grain gets, and likewise the
richer the plant itself gets IN dry matter.
This is a commonly acknowledged fact.
Especially is this true of the protin con-
tent of the plant or that part which goes
toward the production of bone and
muscle in the animal body. Second,
that those who have wintered over
cattle both here and in the corn belt
on corn stover say that cattle thrive
much better and com through the
winter in much better flesh when fed
the fodder raised up here. There is
also to be added the fact that cattle
will eat the entire plant here, whereas
with southern grown fodder, the plant
is SO much more woody and coarse that
a considerable part of the plant is not
eaten at all. Third, as for the reasons
for my conclusions. Those who have
worked in the corn fields of Iowa and
southern Minnesota, have notice a strik-
ing difference in the amount of ears
which. the stalks bear, in that country,
barren stalks are common, and entirety
barren hills frequently found. At this
latitude on the other hand, all of the
stalks bear one ear, many of them two
and a considerable number have three
good sized ears. Those who have paid
particular attention to this characteristic
will bear me out in the opinion that an
average teld will bear two ears for
every one to be found in fields in what
is now known as the corn belt. 1t is a
commonly observed law of nature that
a plant CROWN in severe environment or
under unfavorable conditions, seems to
concentrate It's energy in the production
of a maximum amount of seed, as if to
ward off determination in every possible
way. A pruned plant, Towering plants
on dry poor soil, both redouble their
energy toward seed production, it is
then no more than a natural tendency
; which prompts the corn plant at this