Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-11-06
CORN BREEDING;
why AND HOW
|Cale in Selecting Seed Will
Increase The Yield
EXTRA WORK PAYS WELL
by MHNEEW ocHAMPl1N, South
nakota Estate colIege.9

The total, corncof! the United States,
be as large as the empire of Germany.
The total production is $1,000 600 900
bushels. The average production per
acre lis abort itWenty-six bushels. Nov,
If there + three stalks in every hl!l
of COR and the hills are planted forty
each stalk of corn has a seven.
inch ear on it, the yield would
be close to 100 bushels per acre. With
larger ears the yield would exceed 100
bushels per acre. The main reason
that the average yield is so low is that
| people hate to go to the trouble OF
doing the extra work that means all
the difference between simply existing
and succeeding with corn culture. This
extra work consists in selecting the
seed, testing it, grading it, planting it
.skilfully, %cultivating it thoroughly and
~acclimating it to local conditions. We
will here outline a method for improv.
/ ing corn by breeding it. ENery ear Of
| corr has many kernels. Each kernel
| may have a separate father and
mother and therefore separate indiyid-
ualjtX. All of the kernels or one ear
have the same mother. 1t is apparent
then that by finding out which Of
these are the best ears We can increase
the Yield of corr per acre by using
seed descending from such ears.
| = :. ). 90
SELECTING sEED-All seed corn
in South Dakota. should be gathered
from the field and hung up to dry be-
fore Oct. d. September 8 is a:good
date to begin for the northern half
and Sept. % for the southern half. Go
through the field with eack OF basket
and pick 'Da1t all of the ripe ehrs ii
1,they grow Oh good stalks and in good
position on the stalk. The stalk
should be rather large at the base and
show ability to stand up. The ears
l,should be inclined to hang over rather
than to stick straight up and {Reji at
tached about as high as a mans waist.
BY continuously selecting such seed
it is possible to have a large per cent
of the ears growing at a convenient
height to husk. After the seed has
been picked from the field it should
be laid sout'on the floor, or better on a
bench, and selected for the best ears.
These best ears should be hung up to
dry. To hang up, wire. string or the
husks can be used.
\ I! !.
TESTING THE SEED.-After thu
tested. To test the seed arrange the
ears on a rack from left to right. Take
one kernel from near the tip, turn the
ear slightly; take one about one-third
the distance towards the butt, turn
the ear slightly again and take a third
from about two-thirds the distance to
ward the butt, and again turning
slightly take the last one from neal
the butt. Place these four kernels ir
a cell in a tester at the left end of the
row and arrange so that your low mum
Der is always at the left. In that way
you will not get mixed up and be un
able to tell which ear is represented
by any certain cell. Different tester:
require slightly different methods O
handling, but for all tests moisture
and a temperature OF about 80 degree!
Is required. For the Holden tester tn,
water should be left on the corn abou
twenty.four hours, then drained int
the tank below and the corn shoult
be left In the tester four or five days
Then the trays can be removed an
the corn counted ont. Every ear tina
shows any kernels that have failed Il
grow should be thrown into the fee,
box. II the corn has been selected Il
the Held early there will not be man,