The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-02-25
STATE Is IN MARKET
Seed From Various Sections Must Be
Bought to Help Out and Fears
Arc Expressed for the
Crop.

he fears that the crop will suffer !
from the poor quality Of seed corn
An effort Is being made by the
state Of Illinois to buy Hancock coun-
ty corn for seed. The following let
ter is being sent out over the county
by Mr.. Lloyd:
The state seed corn administrator !
Of Illinois, Mr.. w, G. Eckhardt, VINO
was appointed by the state council
of defense, is depending on the farm
ers of Hancock county to furnish
several thousand bushels OF SEED
corn for use in the northern part OF
our state. Il
Farm Advisor Lloyd, chairman OF
the food production and conservation
committee of our county, will nave
charge Of the campaign Next week
no will be prepared to contract Tor
early and medium early corn that
will m easure UP to the requirements
in vitality.
Price to be Paid.
Following is the price that Will pc
paid for seed corn tipped, butted,
shelled, bagged and delivered at the
storeroom:
Percentage
of Buying
Discrimination Price.
70 to 10 per cent .....-.........$4.oo
so to 80 per cent .,....3o.oo
80 to 100 per cent ....'..........So. oo
These prices are high and Will pay
anyone for the necessary work requir-:
ed to get out good seed. Only linn
tied amount Of the 70 to 70 per cent
seed can be accepted and that WILL Do
of early varieties.
Testing the Seed.
The first step for anyone to take
in determining the value OF their
corn for seed Is to make oareful
termination test. A sufficient num-
Der Of ears should be selected TO ac'
curately represent the actual conoi-
ton of the bulk OF the corn. Inen
take several kernels from dlfferent
parts of each Of these ears and put
them on termination test in rag
doll. sand box, dirt box. sawdust oox
or other tester. Be sure to maintain
the right amount OF moisture and
temperature around 70 degrees. From
tha results obtained from this test
the per cent Of termination can be
determined. Thus II 100 kernels are
| in tn test and 9N start strong stem
| and root sprouts that means ~ per
cent germina alton. Both the stem and
root sprouts should be strongly do
yeloped before they are counted
Rag dolls for testing corn can pc
bought from the state corn admins
traitor in lots of 20, so and 100 at 1t
| cents each. These dolls are made OF
good cloth, printed with squares FOR
the kernels and with fuu directions
for use. Orders for the dolls can also
be sent to Mr.. Lloyd.
| Delivery Of tho Corn
| A indicated above. tho corn bought
for the state will be tipped, butted
shelled and delivered in the bags at
store rooms w1hch will be located at
several different places in the county
as necessity demands.
Basis for tho Purchasing Prices.
The price paid by the state will be
determined on the basis OF germln.
| alton test made by the University OF
| Illinois from q composite sample
| taken from different places In the
bags of corn as they are delivered.
The results of these tests will be I'M
mediately reported by the university
to the office of the state seed corn
| administrator and a draft at the
prices above mentioned. will be I'M
! meQlately Seue eS PslS Aoe -
corn. Corn which does not test
above 70 per cent will be rejected and
only a limited amount Of 80 per cent
corn will be accepted and that must
be of early varieties. These details
are all outlined In the contracts
which Mr.. Lloyd will be ready to-
write next week and anyone having
| corn which they wish to sell for seed
should get in touch with him I'm
mediately
The Selling Price.
The selling price of all corn pur-
chased by the seed corn administra-
tor will be an advance Of $3.50 per
bushel on price paid. That means
that the 90 to 100 per cent grade Will
be sold at $1,000 per bushel. This
margin is to cover the expenses OF
operating, transportation and securing
a reserve OF seed for replancng, Ii
bad weather makes that necessary
Every dollar not required to run the
business will be returned to the
purchaser pro rata.
1t Is the plan to send practically
all of the early maturing corn into
the northern counties of our state
while the later maturing varieties
will be used in the central Illinois
! counties.
Anyone in Hancock county wanting
to buy seed from the state can place
their order with Mr.. Lloyd, or witt
the seed corn administrator, 40 w
: Adams street. Chicago. None of the
best class of the later maturing corr
will be shipped out of the county un
til the demands OF our local people
have been supplied.
Those having seed for sale or want