Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-22
SEED CORN FOR IOWA.
BY p. G. Taft, Extension Professor of
Farm Crops and Soils, Iowa
State College.


tons, to say the least, and is seri-
Gus enough for special attention ev-
lerywhere. 1t is a safe guess that
thousands of farmers do not know
the present condition of their seed.
Thousands of others in the worse
stricken areas fully realize their con-
dition, but not many have taken the
vigorous steps they should to sup
ply themselves.
The seed corn situation can be
summed up in general way as fol-
lows: The northern one-third of the
state has very little good seed, ex-
cepting in a few counties on the west
ern border. The central counties
have considerable seed saved, though
not nearly enough, and most of it is
of questionable value. The same
can be said of the southern sections.
though few localities are we'll sup
piled. The supply of old seed and
old corn in cribs is very limited in
all sections. In only a few cases is
their any organized effort being
made to select the seed from old corn
before it is sold on the market. Thou
sands of bushels of good seed is going
to market weekly from Iowa.
The farmers of southern Iowa can
supply themselves with good seed,
as corn can be more freely moved
about there and have the maturity
assured than it can further north.
Central Iowa can do this to a limited
extent. Northern counties must de-
pend upon seed from its own latitude.
Some serious mistakes will no doubt
be made by introducing seed into To-
calities where it is not adapted 1t is
we'll to remember that home grown
seed will usually yield from five to
ten bushels more per acre than i'm
ported seed. This has been demon
strated by many tests. 1t is therefore
advisable to bend every effort to Sc
cure home grown seed first Then, if
it cannot be found, the supply can be
secured in the best possible manner.
One of the great difficulties with
seed from this seasons crop wherev-
er saved will be the presence o.
molds. OF the many samples of seed
examined, the writer has found but
few entirely free from mold. The
wet and cloudy early fall seemed to
have so favored the growth of mold
that even the mature corn did not
escape. Some of this is hard to de-
tect, as it usually begins at the tips
OF the kernels and is often in small
spots on the ears. These molds may
Or may not have any direct effect on
the termination power of the corn.
However, when the kernels receive
moisture and heat necessary to start
them, the conditions will also be
present to develop the molds AS
soon as the sprouts and roots pro-
trude from the kernels, they will be
attacked and killed. A moldy kernel
in hill with two healthy ones will
probably cause the entire hill to be
destroyed. The spread of molds is
often well illustrated in a germina-
ton tester, where the kernels from
several ears may be attacked from a
moldy ear in the test. By letting the
test remain as long as possible, mol
dy ears can be detected and elimin-
ated. This is likely to be one of |
the chief problems in testing this sea-
son. 1t is the only means of detect
ing the presence of dangerous molds
Where there is no hope of obtain
ing seed, a strenuous effort should be |
made to find seed in cribs of old corn
The favorable season of 1914 makes
it possible to locate many cribs where
good seed can be picked. Not all
cribs contain good seed, however, A
general test from couple of hundred
representative ears should be made
first. If this test shows enough good
seed to make seed selection practi-
cal, the individual ear test can be
made later. Old seed will seldom be
found to terminate more than 80
per cent. 1t will also require long
er to terminate. If the germina-
ton is satisfactory, old seed will be
productive as the new.
Testing seed will be an important
operation next spring. The early
freezes injured much corn, with
large percentages Of moisture. The
testing should be done in ample time
% secure other seed if it is needed.
Community cooperation should be
enlisted in this seed problem this sea-
son. Some counties are now plan
hing to hire a man, whose duty it
shall be to locate seed corn for ev-
Try farmer in the county. Every coun-
y short of seed could well afford to
10 this. This seed corn agent would
1