Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-04-13
MORE CORN, LESS WATER.

The subject OF raising more corn
and less water has been aiken up by
G p. Hartley, who is in charge of corn
in investigations with the United States
denartment of agriculture, and he
says:
It sometimes becomes necessary to
! do heavy work, such as hauling water
! to nut out fire. but what's the use OF
hauling water from the cornfields TO
the feed lot and hauling it back again
to the fields in the shape OF uneaten
cornstalks? Very tall growing corn
when sappy and immature Is almost
all water and SO Is wet cornstalK
manure.
II used to be that many growers
nrided themselves on the great helgnt
If their cornstalks. The more ces
ful farmers, however, have ceased to
han, water from the cornfields to the
feed lot in the form Of coarse stalks
which remain uneaten and haul 1t back
IN the fields in the shape OF wet corn
stalk They do not grow sucn
tail stalks and often profitably allow
animals to gather the grain. leaving
the stalks in the fields to enrich the
soil.
A few years ago silage was thought
to have a fixed food value. N can.
not take out Of the silo n more 1000
value than is put in. Hauling n silo-
ing large sappy stalks Is heavy work
and not as profitable as putting a good
almost mature corr crop into the silo.
A somewhat larger and later maturing
variety of corn that will thoroughly
mature for grain can be used in the
northern states for ensllage. Even sill
age corn should be planted early and
given SUFFICIENT time to make it's best
growth and reach the stage OF matur'
ity at which husks turn brown AND the
ears become glazed.
A cooperator in the departments
corn work grows a high yielding vari.
ety of corn, the stalks Of which reach
a height OF about six feet. while his
neighbor grows a big, twelve foot var.
iety. In helping each other shred their
crops the neighbor's tall growing corn
was shredded first. The stalks were
bulky and high loads were hauled from
the fields to the shredder. When be-
ginning the shredding Of the competi-
tors corn, which that year produced
over 100 bushels of dry shelled corn
ner acre, the neishbor put on the &C.
customed high load and his team could
not pull it out of the field. He got
down off the load to make an examina.
ton. thinking the rack must be press.
ing against the wheels. The competi.
tor told him he would have to take of
a part of the load. to which he replied
that he did not have on a big load and
was accustomed to hauling larger
loads. After being convinced that 1t
| was the weight Of the load that stalled
| his team. they removed a portion and
| hauled the balance TO the shredder,
| from which thew obtained forty bush.
! els Of corn, or almost a ton and a half
Of ears.
| What variety of corn should you
! called varieties, It Is not possible to
designate by name she variety yor
should plant. Furthermore. with corn,
there is very little in a name. Two
lots of seed of the Leaning variety
| sometimes differ from each other more
than two varieties differ from one an.
! other. An accurate test Of two differ
, ent lots of the Boone county white var
iety resulted in one lot producing
| eighteen bushels more per acre than
| the other lot. Quality Is what counts
and the varietal name does not desig
| nate quality. Plant a variety that has
J made good in your neighborhood
, Plant seed which was grown in your
part of the state and was properly field
selected and properly cared for during
the winter.