The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-01-15
BETTER CORN YIELD.
fcontinued from page one.J


buildings. Music will be furnished by
the Eastern Star orchestra.
The sessions today were held in the
Knights and Ladies of Security hall.
Increase Corn Yield.
An increasingly low corn yield per
acre on many Kansas farms has been
a source of concern in this state. Con-
sequently a paper delivered before the
members of the state board of agricul-
ture this morning by S. G. Trent of
Hiawatha on How Shall We Increase
the Yield of Corn was particularly in
teresting at this time.
More Corn in Kansas.
According to this corn expert an aver
age yield of from SO to 10 bushels per
acre would be had in Kansas provided
the soil is enriched. the seed is i'm
proved, and better methods of cultiva-
ton adopted. The ten year average
yield per acre for the state is but
22.4 bushels per acre.
Mr.. Trent went on to explain that he
does not believe that the average yield
will ever be as high 60 bushels to
the acre because of the fact that much
corn is always planted on coil that is
particularly adapted to the growth of
other crops.
Prepare the Soil.
First of all your land must be fit
for corn" said Trent. "If it stands
under water part of the time, or
has been corned and corned until it is
worn out, you cannot expect to raise
a strong healthy crop. No matter
what kind of seed you plant, your eff
forts are wasted unless you have good
land II you have low. wet land, it
should be tiled or ditched, or kept in
grass. Thin land should be sown to
clover or other enriching plants for at
least three years, and then when it is
enriched again. plant it in corn for
two or three years.
"Do not use it more than this time
II you expect TO get a good corn crop
from it. If you follow this advice, in
ten years your land will be as good or
better than when you commenced, and
you will get good crops of corn and
the hay besides. There will be ma
terial increase in your yield until the
thousands of acres 'corned to death
land has been enriched: however, our
farmers are wide-awalSe and with our
modern up-to-date farm papers this
soil enriching movement has been
started and has already shown good
results.
"Pure Bred" Seed.
Every farmer should use pure bred
seed. In 1904 / sent to the state of
Illinois for a bushel of pure bred seed
This one bushel of pure bred seed
corn was the best investment I ever
made, as 1 have won first prize at the
Kansas state show for seven successive
years. also holding the record yield Of
III bushels
by using pure bred, tested seed the
average yield can be increased from
ten to twenty-five bushels per acre.
Seed of strong vitality insures a full
stand and increases the yield per
stalk. A good stand from vigorous
seed planted in good soil means a
yield of from so to IS bushels per
acre The stand OF corn in the corn
belt has not averaged in any year over
60 per cent. The farmer who has
plowed. planted and cultivated 40
acres OF corn has had stalks growing
on only "a acres. the other 16 acres
being bare. 1t is hardly possible to
get perfect stand, for with the very
best of tested and graded seed, mice,
insects and weather conditions affect
tested and graded seed and watching
our planter closely, we have usually
been able to get nearly perfect stand.
Do not plant corn in cold ground.
After getting a good stand, thor
ough cultivation is necessary. Care
should be taken not to cover the small
plants as every stalk means an ear of
corn. CultivatOrs should be carefully
adjusted SO as to throw just enough
fine dirt to the corn to cover all small
weeds. This is very important for if
you do not get the weeds in the first
cultivation, you are not apt to get
them at all. You cannot increase the
yield by having weeds and corn on
the same field. Cultivation should be
frequent and kept up as long as pos
sible. The man behind the cuitivator
| can increase the yield from ten to fiji
teen bushels per acre by being careful
and paying close attention to his
Live Stock a Necessity.
There is no permanent system of
| agriculture that does not include the
handling of live stock, according to
G. f. Thompson of the State Agricul-
tural college. He spoke before the
members of the state board of agri-
culture this morning with particular
reference to western Kansas.
The most successful farmers in
any country he continued, ''are
those who grow the crops adapted to
the soil and climate and then convert
them into the highest priced product
possible before turning them on the
market.
THE successful western Kansas
farmer, unless he is specialist must
have three or four principal sources
of income.
THE average farm in western Kan
sas can increase it's income by grow
ing some well adapted grain for sale
not be neglected, for Kansas has ex-
celled all other states in growing that
crop. I realize that it is difficult to
talk dairy farming or diversified
farming to a man who rides in an
automobile because of the wheat that
he has sold. Yet it is an established
fact that wheat growing has caused
more farmers in the western third OF
the state to go broke than it has made
rich"
Last Nights Meeting.
Miss Jessie Field Of New York, Sec
rotary of the town and country de-