Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-28

| at his disposal. Our purpose III
planting seed, therefore, is strictly
| one of reproducing a crop in kind
and we must plant only good seed
| If one were to ride across any COun-
| try-side shortly after crops have
come to a stand one would see that
we are not doing this. Wide gaps
| would be found here and there in
is true of every other crop we plant
Very likely the owner of the land
| will tell you that the season was
unkind and offer some other eXpla-
nation of his fa:lHe to secure q
stand. No doubt there is something
in what he says, but there is much
more in the fact that he did not
test his seed before planting and
| hence put back into the soil many
non-viable seed. These he could have
least he could have planted more
| thickIy and so made provision for
| the obtaining of better stand than
| he actually secured.
Suppose, for instance, a farmer
So c' as to have $500 stalks u on ga an n
acre of land. Surprising, however,
he failed to test his seed and only
$500 plants are obtained. How
| would this effect the yield as com
| Stunning that each stalk yields an ear
weighing one-haIf pound, it would
reduce the yield per acre at least
seven bushels. The land which would
otherwise have been occupied in de-
Veloping a stalk of corn and an ear
would be virtually idle throughout
the whole of the growing season.
In other words, it represents a non
productive area of the farm, yet the
hill where ooI stalk of corn
should have been produced will have
been fortified and cultivated just
~ he oil hj1oly
what tremendous waste of energy
is rep1 esented by the failure to OBJ
tain a satisfactory stand, due in an
instance of this character primar-
lily to the fact that poor seed have
been planted. I believe it is not
over ,estima ting the case to say that
trcm $50 to 500 is lost on the aver
age farm through failure to fest
and select seed g merit for plant
ing. Those who .hnk these figures
are high should examine some of
the fields in the ne;ghborhood dur
ing the spring and summer and they
will be surprised TO find how many
skips there are.
What has been said of corn APP
plies with equal foyCe to cotton and
other crops If he 2J erage plant of
cotton, produces emily twenty bells.
and there are a thousand misses to
the acre. 1000 bolls will have been
lost. Presenting even that seventy
hollis are required tc make a pound
O. seed cotton, equivalent to about
tWent y-nine pounds Of seed cotton
per acre, this out-turn would rep
resent about ten pounds of lint cot
ton, which at rs cents per pound
represents loss of $3.50.
To insure perfect stand, there
lore, we must select and test out
seed with care: If this involved an
expenditure Of a large amount of
money and an unusual amount of
effort on the part of the landowner
there might be justification for our
failure to test our planting seed
AS the operation. however, can be
simply and easily performed at
very moderate outlay of time and
labor there is no justification for it's
neglect, which constitutes i very Sc
rious waste in our agriculture
amounting even to considerable
nenac in so far as the economical
feeding. and maintenance of our peo-
pie and our live stock industries
are concerned. We have talked much
about conservation in recent years
end have learned to practice it in
some matters with considerable adj
vantage and profit. This is another
should give consideration.
Last year We planted something
like 5000, 600 acres in cotton. If
we can through testing seed add 5:
per acre to the value of this crop
it, represents a gross Of S7o:ooo,000.
Think of the great benefits this
would confer on our people, and on
the other hand think of wrNt a tre-
mendous sacrifice is involved in the
less of this amount. We are talk
ing much about road improvement
a. the present time and about the
development of our public schools
With such sum of money saved
through the testing of our seed we
could not only build good roads in
every southern state, but material
schools as well.
How can the testing of seed be
best promoted? Personally l favor
the use of q sand tray. There is
no difficulty in obtaining a small
AMOUNT a. no. of of sand on the average
about to inches deep. 1t may
be made of any convenient length,
from IS inches up to 2 feet, depend
ing on the amount of seed to be
If such a box is not available on
any farm it can easily be made. A
cut-doWn goods box will often an
swer very well. A heavy cardboard
box can be used, in an emergency.
When the box has been pres are1
pack it down rather firm. Then wet
it thoroughly and allow to stand
for a little while. After it has
dried off moderately we'll lay off
rows across the box about three
inches apart. Then if corn is to
be planted select five to ten grains
from each ear and plant them at
equal distances across the first row.
Proceed in the same manner with
the other ears. AS a rule five grains
will be enough to select from any
ear, so that the grains from two
ears may be tested in each row.
Number the ears and the planted
grains in the mox so they will cor
resnond. Keep the box we'll wa
ture of a living room. If it isl
placed outside it should be protect
ed from an excessive rainfall and
extreme cold. 1t may be covered at
nights with pane of glass lust