The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1914-03-26
Is Your Seed Corn Ready.


1t is not the size Of the field, however
which altogether cages the amount Of
the crop. 1t might make the average
man feel good in the spring TO be
able to say he had fifty acres Of corn
but we imagine it would make him
feel whole lot better il ne could say
at gathering time thar he had pro-
duced Ghy bushels Of corn per acre.
Many can say this any good corn year
in Missouri but many mere can not
because the average man only gets
around thirty bushels per acre taking
good and bad crops for a period Of
years, Thirty bushels Of corn per
acre may make wages for the fellow
who grows it but that is about all.
The farmer who is growing the aver
age crop Of thirty bushels per acre is
his own hired nan that is all.
There are four important factors en-
tering into a good corn crop-the
seed, the season, the soil and the
cultivation. Three OF these are abso-
lutely in our own hands and the other
is partly SO. The last named factor
the season--can not be controlled
altogether by the farmer but he can
greatly reduce the bad results Of a
poor season by providing good seed
a fertile soil and giving good cultiva
ton The easiest factor for the man
to control is good seed and yet it is
just as important as any one OF the
other three and it is with this subject
good seed-we want to deal with
in this article.
How many farmers in the corn belt
90 into the field in the fall and select
their seed corn7 One in four! One
in ten OF all the men who grow corn2
doubt it very much and yet in the
light Of all we know that is the only
time to be absolutely sure about get
ting good seed. There is something
more to good seed than the mere fact
that it should grow. 1t should not
only grow but it should send up
vigorous stalk 10 be able TO Withstand
the attacks Of insects and plant dis
eases and the vicissitudes Of the wealth
er. 1t must not only possess these
habits as we may call them, but it
must grow a good ear and not exhaust
itself in producing a big stalk with
little grains as we sometimes have seen.
But it is now too late to look out for
these things for this years crop l
merely call your attention 10 them TO
show their importance and trusting that
another season will not 60 by without
every reader Of The Missouri Farmer
who grows corn having his seed corn
selected in the fall.
By investigation it has been found
that in a good corn year only about 90
per cent OF corn taken at random from
cribs throughout the country will grow
in bad years it is much worse than this.
Last year being poor corn year it is
safe to say that large per cent Of the
corn in the crib on account Of its I'M
maturity and poor keeping quality will
not grow. Then why plant it and
worry the season through with a poor
stand? A good stands costs little
more than poor one then why not
start with a good stand and have
chance for full crop2 1t only takes
ten 10 twelve ears OF seed corn to plant
an acre and by making termination
test you can be absolutely certain that
every kernel is good at a cost Of only
few minutes time and that may be
given on some rainy day when other
work can not be done.
One Of the simplest methods for
testing a small amount Of seed is TO
take for each one hundred ears TO be
tested a box 80 inches square. This
box can be made OF lx3 inch lumber
putting in bottom Of any old boards
OF thin lumber so the box will not be
heavy. Fill the box with sand or
light sandy loan, pure sand is just as
good and cleaner to handle. Il is on
ly necessary to put in about two and
a half inches OF sand so that If there
are several boxes they may be put one
upon another. Next with twine
stretched across the top Of the box
both ways divide in to 100 squares OF
about 2-l-2 inches leaving some
wider margin on the outside. The
twine is easily fastened on with carpet
tacks Now number each row from
/ to 10 and also each square from l to
10, these numbers placed on the sides