The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-09-15
DRYING
OF Corn For Seed And Ad-
vice In Selecting The Ears

Air and plenty of it is of great i'm
portance in properly curing seed corn.
The corn should be Selected as early as
possible in the fall so it will get per-
fectly dry before hard freezing wealth
er comes, says contributor to the
Country Gentleman. Because much
corn was planted late last spring ex-
ira precautions will be necessary this
fall to gain this point When thorough
ly dried before severe cold weather
comes and then kept in an airy place,
seed corn does not seem to be affected
by extremely low temperatures. This
fact is emphasized by the good results
obtained by some farmers who still
practise the old-time method of leav-
ing on a few husks to tie the ears to-
gether, and hanging them in an open
shed, leaving them there all winter ex-
posed to the lowest temperatures.
When such seed corn is tested in the
spring one is likely to hear the re-
mark that every Kernel grew" Be
yond the extra labor required this old
mtehod is not to be criticized.
The writer has been using home
made drying racks for several seasons
with good results. Two styles of racks
are used, both of which are easily and
quickly made.
In one style board IL inches wide
and about five feet long is used. Four
rows of tenpenny wire nails are driven
through the board, the nails being
placed about four inches apart. A hole
is bored in the top of the board so it
may be hung on spike. If the nails
are driven through the board with lit
tie slant upward the ears of seed corn
that are stuck on the nails will stay
in position better, besides giving the
cobs at the butts of the ears a better
chance to dry out than when the butts
are placed square against the board.
The other style is made from a
piece of scantling with row of ten
penny nails driven on each of the four
sides. The nails are driven about an
inch into the timber and then the
heads are cut off with a wire cutter.
The scantling has a hole bored In the
top end so it may be hung up.
The racks of corn are hung on joists
in a shed that is partly open at one
end and has a window at the other
end which is kept open all fall This
allows for good ventilation while the
corn is drying. The seed is left here
all winter, though the air gets practic-
ally as cold as outdoors.
A common custom in gathering seed
corn is to select the best ears when
the corn is husked A much better
way, for at least two reasons, is to
select the seed ears before the corn
is cut First, the corn has a longer
season to become thoroughly dried be-
fore very cold weather comes. Second,
the grower then has the opportunity OF
noting to better advantage the stalk
that grew the ear.
Selection of the stalk is as import
ant as that of the ear, and by choos-
ing the ear before the stalk is cut one
can Judge whether it i early, medium
or late maturing. II an effort is made
to choose ears that are growing on
stalks of uniform grade of ripeness,
the chances are greatly improved for
more uniform ripening of the corn in
next years crop.
1t Is best to choose ears at medium
height from the ground. The lowest
ears are likely to be the earliest matur-
ing, and the tallest ears the latest.
Deep kernels should be selected, and
| the tip OF the ear should be well filed
|