The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-04-19
April 8, 1918.

April o, 1910.
There is trouble ahead for some Of
the men in Connecticut who are plant
ing INFESTED seed corn or who expect
TO plant seed which has not been tried
out and it's terminating qualities de-
termined. The New Haven experiment
station, which has run several hun
dred tests for farmers Of Connecticut,
has found that large quantities of seed
are absolutely unfit to plant.
One-third of the corn held in this
state for seed will not produce stand
worth saving, another third will pro-
duce only a very unsatisfactory stand,
while about 80 per cent is good seed.
In spite of the state wide educational
campaign which has been conducted
by the Committee of Food Supply, Con-
necticut State Council of Defense and
the Connecticut Agricultural College
there are a great number of men who
are not alive to the condition and are
planting their corn, trusting to good
luck for stand.
A test can be run in a very short
| following the directions put out from
the Committee of Food Supply, and,
although the season is rather well ad-
vanced, there is still time to test this
years supply Of seed.
The directions for testing individual
ears by the rag Doll" method, pre-
pared by the seed corn department of
the Committee of Food Supply, is as
follows:
Cut strip of canton flannel or I'M
bleached cotton a foot wide and three
to five feet long. Beginning five
inches from the end, rule with pen
ell two rows of three and one-half
inch squares through the middle of
the strip, leaving the outer edges of
the squares two and one-half inches
from the edges of the cloth. Number
the squares In regular. order.
Number the ears to be tested or lay
in order where they will not be dis
turbed. Take six kernels from each
ear 1.-TWO from the butt, two from the
middle and two near the tip). Wiring
the cloth out Of warm water and lay
it fat on table. Spread the six ker-
nels from ear No. on square 1, and
so on until the squares are flied. Fold
the side flaps over the squares, roll
the strip together from one end rather
loosely to admit air, using a piece OF
wood three and one-half inches long
for a roller, and tie loosely with string.
Soak in warm, not hot, water for a
few hours, drain by laying it on sticks
or cobs, wrap the rolls in damp coarse
cloth and cover loosely in a box OF
pan. DO NOT LET THE SEED DRY
OUT. Keep at room temperature, new
err under 80 degrees or as high as SO
degrees. After six days open the roll
carefully to avoid displacing any see6
and count and record those kernels
from each square which have strong
healthy sprouts.
Discard all ears which do not have
at least five strong sprouts. Boil thi.
cloth before using again to kill al
molds.
Some may prefer the sand box meth
cd, which was used this winter at the
corn shows. Get a box four or SIX
inches deep, fill it half full of sand OF
sawdust and pack this in well. We
thoroughly A piece of white cloth car
be cut to fit into the box and marked
off into three inch squares, or small
nails can be driven into the box on al
sides every three inches and strings
run between them to lay off the boz
|
tested on shelf where they will nd
be disturbed or number each ear witt
} tag. Letter or number the square
In the box to correspond to. the ears
Take six kernels from each ear ant
put them in the proper square in TIL
box
J 1.-THE cloth marked on in squares /,