The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1914-03-18
TESTING SEED CORN
BRINGS BIG YIELDS

tfon Tests. Full Explanation Of
How to Make Tests at No Expense
and In Short Time.
Clemson College, March 16.-Every
farmer in South Carolina who plants
corn should begin selecting his seed
Tor planting at once, is the advice of
Prof. w. l.. Hutchinson, Of Censor
College. Prof Hutchinson urges cy-
cry farmer to make a termination test
OF his seed, which numerous expert
ments have proved beyond doubt
Will result in a large increase in yield.
An car-to-row test with seed that has
been tested for terminating powers
Will be sure to pay farmer hand
somely in future crops, but even if he
makes only the termination test this
year, he is likely to have his yield in
creased from five to ten bushels an
acre. at least. The tcst is so simple
and requires so little time in proper
tiOn to results that there is no farm
er in the State who cannot make it.
The average farmer in this state
selects his planting ears by sight
alone, picking out the ears which ap-
pear sound. Unless he is an expert
and has had training in corn Judging.
this method is not Of great value to
him. What he should do is to select
his best looking ears and then put
these through a termination test
After selecting the best looking
ears, arrange them side by side on
planks, driving a tcnpenny nail after
every tenth ear The ears should
then be numbered consecutively, which
Z can be done by marking the number
OF each ear on the plank with lead
pencil. They should then be left I'M
til after the termination test is com
pleted, except when they are taken
out one by one for the purpose of get
ting kernels from them
One OF the simplest and best meth
ods Of testing Is tho use of Il sawdust
box. Use box about two feet square
and four inches deep. Fill the box
10 within an inch and half Of the
top with sawdust, we'll packed Sc
iect piece Of white cloth a little
larger titan the box and mark this off
in two inch squares with a pencil
numbering enough OF the squares to
tell the number Of any Of them with
out trouble. BY leaving outside rows
vacant all around the box, there will
he about one hundred squares. Tack
the cloth inside the box so that it
rests firmly and smoothly over the
sawdust.
With the box near at hand take the
ears from the plank, one by one: Sc
lect from each ear six kernels, TAX
ing them from different parts Of the
ear and no two from the same row.
Place the six kernels from ear No. !
in square No. I on the cloth, and SO on
with all the ears. Kernels should be
laid with the germ side up. Put each
ear back in it's place on the plank.
When each square in the box except
those in the outside rows, contains
it's six kernels, sprinkle water into the
box until the corn and sawdust are
thoroughly moistened, taking care not
TO disturb the kernels. Then place a
dry white cloth carefully over the
kernels and another cloth on top Of
this one. Finally, cover the top cloth
with sawdust until the box is level
FULL.
Keep the box in fairly warm room,
leaving 1t undisturbed for seven days.
Then catch the ends Of the top cloth
and raise the cloth carefully from the
box This will take off the top lay
er Of sawdust without disturbing the
corn. Raise the second cloth, still
using great care, and 1t Is then pos
sible to read the tests. See which
kernels have terminated we'll and
which have terminated poorly. IF
square No. 16 shows poor germina-
tion, go to your plank and take out
ear No. 16, throwing IL into the feed
pile. Do this with each ear whose
kernels show poor terminating pow
ers. The ears left on your plank will
then be good ones and you are ready
cure good crop you can feel certain
that 1t was not the fault OF the seed.
Use one box for every one hundred
ears. If desired, however, larger