Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1914-04-29
SEED CORN FOR PLANTING.
Department of Agriculture Tells How
to Prepare the Corn.

OepaFemehe OF Agriculture Tells How
to Prepare the Corn.
requests are now reaching the de-
partment of agriculture for informa
uon i'll regard to preparing seed corn
for planting. The most vital part of
seed corn selection work can be Der.
formed only at corn ripening time in
the fall.
Every corn grower should now spend
day or more getting his seed corn
entirely ready for planting. The pres.
ent work consists of diScarding unde
s1rable ears. termination testing, nub-
b1ng. classifying the ears sheling and
testing the accuracy of drop of the
corn planter
The quality and productiveness of
the seed supply can now be improved
by discarding the poorer ears and the
poorer kernels.
The seed corn should now be las dry
as bone," and among the ears that
appeared desirable last fall some un-
desirable ones will now be found
Discard any that have discolored ker-
nels, small size. very sharp beaks.
germs of poor development and appear
ance. etc.
All the ears retained should show
good development and maturity be
heavy for their size and contain solid
vigorous looking kernels of fairly uni
form size and shape. These desira-
BILE ears should now be tested to de-
termine whether all the kernels will
grow.
termination Testing.
Although good seed selection and
preservation usually make separate
testing of the termination of each ear
unnecessary, it is advisable to exercise
precaution by demonstrating that the
ears will germinate well. Ten kernels
from each of fifty ears can be tested
by one of the various methods that
have been so well described in litera-
ture. This demonstration that fifty
representative ears germinate satisfac-
torily is sufficient evidence of the use
IesSness of testing each ear of the en-
tire supply. If ears of poor germina-
tion should be found it will be adyis-
able to test each ear of the entire sup
ply in order to be able to discard those
in poor termination.
Discard the small, partially developed
kernels from the tip of the ears. Why:
Because such kernels do not yield well.
Careful field experiments have demon
strated that they grow into small, bar
ren and poor producing stalks.
Discard the round; thick kernels from
the butts of the ears. Why? Because
the corn planter cannot drop evenly if
they are inciu5ed With tie other @er
nels
Kernels that have been injured by
mice or weevils or that are otherwise
undesirab Bile should also be discarded
before the ears are shelled.
Classifying the Ears.
As it is highly advisable that the
corn planter should drop an equal num-
ber of kernels in each hill, which it
cannot do unless the kernels are of uni
form size and shape, it is advisable to
classify the ears before shelling them
Those having large kernels should be
included in one class and those having
medium size kernels in another class
Each class should be shelled and bag
ged separately. To these bags the
planter plates that testing has shown
will drop regularly the proper number
of kernels should be tied for conven-
ience at planting time.
Shelled seed corn can be cleaned and
graded by expensive, properly adjust
ed grades, but the method just de-
scribed Of classifying the ears before
shelling is more satisfactory.
How to Shell Seed Corn.
Seed corn should be shelled by hand.
Careful hand shelling pays the man
who plants but few acres, and it
pays to a greater degree the man who
plants hundreds of acres Each ear
should be shelled separately into a
hand sieve. This permits the chaff
from the cob to fall through and the
kernels from each ear to be closely i'll
spected before being dumped into the
general supply. The value Of this close
inspection is lost if the ears are run
through corn shelter and some of the
kernels cracked or broken.