The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-01-30


Today is Better Country Life
Day" at the triple convention, and
there is a large number Of people
from rural communities at the. meet
ing this afternoon. The separkers OF
this afternoon are men who have been
working along the line OF better re,
l!gious, social and industrial condi.
tons in the country and who are In
close touch with conditions. Among
the communities which has sent q
large number of people to the meet.
ings today is Lake Crystal. Among
the men from there who are In Man.
kato are Hon. George W. Norman,
l.ucius Moses. Peter Christensen and
George Austin.
Mr. George Author will be one OF
the speakers at this evenings session
and Hon. George p. Tawney of Win
ona Is also expected to be present.
The meeting will be of special in.
terest 10 Development league en-
thusiasts
n. NJ. Green Presided.
II. NJ. Green. president of the Blue
Earth county Pure Seed association.
presided over the afternoon meeting
at which there was a full program.
Mr.. Green brought before the audi.
Cnce the fact that the annual meeting
of the county association will be held
in the Elks hall Saturday morning
at ten o'clock Professor II. Z.
Dawes Of South Dakota gave the
opening address of the afternoon. He
took up the qualities which are nee.
cssary in the makeup of good corn.
lie showed a number OF ears Of
corn. and showed how they were
immature by the soft cob. This corn
he said is good only for ensilage.
for ensilage.
Mr.. Doves scored an ear OF the
show corn, showing the points which
are considered. Score cards were
passed through the audience so that
the farmers present could follow the
work accurately.
Talked About Corn.
Professor I. b. Hutchinson. assist.
ant secretary of the Minnesota Crop
Improvement association spoke on
Corn Breeding" and based his re-
marks particularly on The expert
meIts at the college OF agriculture.
We are apt to think of corn
breeding as something new. In
years gone by the Indians regarded
the var.-colored. soft corn as the
Lest. The early settlers used sim
ply the corn that was left over for
seed corn.
About fifty years ago the first
movement was made toward choos.
ing seed corn carefully. Ten years
Ggo Minnesota was not considered
in the corn belt. This year the av.
crage yield was forty bushels to the
acre, only one state having a greater
yield.
There are two methods OF selec.
ton, mass selection and pedigree
selection. The first Is selection by
appearance. and the second Is by
what II win do.
Il nawt 10 say. too. that I Is not
wise to bring too many varieties
Of corn into the state. II takes
three or four years TO acclimate
corn. so We can't afford to waste
time by trying new breeds.
The best way to select corn for
testing is TO 90 into the field just
before harvest. After you have a
hundred ears or more go through
them again. and throw out half OF
them.
Each OF these ears should be
PAINTED in a separate row. So that
poor varieties win not be crossed
with the good ones. The four OF
FIVE best rows should be chosen for
The breeding plot. Half OF each cal
should be chosen to plant the mex,
year. II il proves good in testing.
People In Minnesota have proven
that they can get from six to fifteer
bushels more TO the acre by plant
ing selected seed than mot using
sekcted seed. That will make
about an average OF sixty bushel.
rreater yield TO bushel OF SEED
corn. There Is no question abou
seed testing being profitable"
Address BY Mr.. Willis.
Professor C. Willis. editor OF The
Farnstead, gave the opening address.
OF the afternoon. speaking on 9Th,
Agricultural Press and the Farmer
Mr.. Willis referred to the flying
squadronr trip taken last fall In com
pany with Secretary Deets and othel
speakers. and told of the pleasur'
OF tho trip.
Il do not believe" he said. "tha
there is a man In the room VIII.
does not read some good agricul
tural paper. but II there is some on
who does not take, one, he shoul,
commence at once.
Farming Il the greatest business