The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1915-12-31

then 90 ahead
life giving element does not fall upon
the silk OF the ears there will be no
corn except imperfect, dwarfed grains
OF no vitality After the beautiful silk
has performed It's life work II turns
brown and blackens and finally dries
up completely
One more application Of nitrate three
weeks later in order to give the plant
abundant strength 10 mature the grain
and Joe's work with the corn was end
ed. Time and nature alone could do
the rest
Full OF the iden Of breeding better
variety. Joe provided himself with
some strips OF white cotton cloth about
foot long and an inch or two wide.
Then row by row he systematically eI
amined the cornstalks. hill by hnl In
the FIRST row he found ten stalks with
three ears on the stalks. the third be
ing unusually imperfect About the
two largest and best stalks with the
largest and best third ear In that row
be tied the white string to mark for
seed
In next TO the last row. To his great
Joy, he found nm enormous sturdy stalk
with three perfect ears on IL and be
low the third ear faint. rudimentary
fourth enr just n suspicion Of an ear
II was the only stalk Of lis kind In the
whole acre.
This stnlk he decided. was TO be the
parent OF variety that the next year
would show thru good ears and q
more clearly defined fourth one. He
would plant the seed In patch by IT.
self, so the pollen from inferior var.e-
ties could not fall upon the silk and
check the upward tendency OF the new
variety. BY doing this year after year
his four cared variety was certnin.
Remember Davy Crockett" said his
father one day. BE sure you're right.
then 20 ahead"
Hey. Joe" called countryman one
day. refining up his team. Il want TO
get some OF that corn for seed, VIII
you sell it,
yes. sir. after II has been measured
by the committee. Can't touch II until
then.
"All right; want some. What do
you ask for it,
Two dollars and half a bushel for
selected seed"
"Sufferin Moses. that's mighty steep.
Joe,
Yes. and it's mighty good corn too.
II will make three times as much as
you have been getting. with the right
treatment"
well. ! reckon it's with It, Put me
down for two bushels. and I'll norate
the news around that you'lI sell for
that price"
The last week in July brought the
first open cotton boil There we're hun
dreds OF others cracking. ready to
burst with the beautiful snow white
mass of fiber
Joe remembered reading that the alb
sence of trash grit or dlscolorations In
cotton was worth several dollars n
bale. He recalled how his father and
the other farmers would do-wait until
nearly the whole crop had opened be-
fore starting the picking. The lowest
limbs OF the cotton stalk matured their
fruit first, and often the wind or rain
would cause the cotton TO fall TO the
ground. to be beaten into the dirt, dis
colored filed with grit and sticks and
leaves
Then the picking would go. forward
In n rush. The sacks the pickers car.
ried would be emptied right on the
ground at the ends OF the rows and the
cotton scooped up from there with a
shovel. pitchfork or in armfuls and
thrown into an open wagon bed. Then
some one. often with muddy feet. would
tramp the loose cotton In the wagon,
ln1lcting more dirt aud discolorations.
Joe determined his cutton should be
handled differently. There was an
abandoned negro cabin near the held.
He swept II out twice, then with n
pine top busted It thoroughly. He col.
lccted all the empty cat, corn apd ,A.Aai