The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-09-21
Save Seed Corn in September.

rms is the month to save seed
corn. GO in the field and select the
pest formed ears, as soon as the ker-
nels are well dented.
See that the stalks on which the
ears grew are strong and vigorous.
The ears hanging about waist high.
| Remove all husks and silk. Gather
at least twice as much as will be
needed for seed next year.
| Take it at once to your dwelling
house and store in a room that has
good ventilation and artificial heat,
that it can be fire dried. Place the
ears on racks or Slated shelves or
hang them with Irvine, that will in
sure free circulation of air between
the ears
open the windows in dry weather
and close them in wet or damp
| weather.
Keep UP the fire heat until the
ears are thoroughly dried.
Fire dried seed corn has muclr
more vitality than air dried seed,
grows stronger and yields better.
Never allow any dampness where
seed corn is kept. While moderate
cold may not materially injure~ seed
corn when we'll dried, the tempera-
ture OF the room, attic or basement
ii dry and warm where seed corn is
kept should never fall to the freez-
ing point.
When Smelling seed corn, just be-
fore planting, reject all tip and butt
kernels, also any ears that may have
nodded or appears unfit for seed
! from any cause.
l
Sort the ears according to the size
OF the kernels and she'll separately 10
insure uniform dropping by the
| planter.
By following strictly the foregoing
methods during more than forty
years on an Iowa farm l never had a
| poor stand or replanted on account of
poor seed and with an almost perfect
stand OF three stalks to the hill.
While there were three serio.- S
failures of seed corn in Iowa during
the twelve years | was a member of
the Board Of Control, the saving of
seed corn at our state farms received
my personal attention and the fore
going method was the rule.
| Result: Not a single hill was re-
planted on account of poor seed and
Invariably a full stanu secured, with
out waste of time in testing.
During the last % years the farm
ers of Iowa have lost millions of dol
lars by failure to gather and save
their seed corn in proper manner.
| Had my advice in regard to saw
ing seed corn been taken. now given
for more than an average life time,
through the press ana at farmers and
other meetings, the additional yield
of corn in Iowa if sold at market
price, would have hard surfaced ev-
cry public highway in the state.
This article is written, printed and
mailed to every newspaper and agri-
cultural journal in Iowa at my own
expense, and l trust it will be printed
| by those receiving it.
And if the advice here given is fol-
lowed by every farmer in Iowa, poor
seed corn will never be heard of
again, full stand will be secured in
each and every year, and hundreds
of millions of dollars added to the
wealth of our state that have here
tofore been lost.
Soliciting the publishing of this
article by every newspaper and agri-
cultural journal in Iowa, let us all
unite as one man to Danish forever
from our state the possibility of poor
seed corn, in any year and when this
/ result is secured my object in writ
ing and publishing this article will
| be accomplished Cownie.