The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-10-05
Every Farmer in Corn Belt Should Be
gin Gathering His Crop Before
Cold Weather, Authorities
Say.
FROZEN SEED, BIG LOSS
Advice is to Select Best Ears from
Best Fields and Hang Up in the
Attic-Everythin9 Gained
by Early Harvest.
[By P. G. Holden, Field Director Agri
cultural Extension Department
International Harvester

luLeTuaIlOnal darVcSleT -.ar
Company.1
! Every farmer in the corn belt who
has not already gathered his seed corn
should not put it off another day.
Every days delay now adds to the
danger of the seed corn's being froz-
en- -#.g,. #-
1t does not cost any more or take
any more time to harvest seed corn
right now than it will to do it later.
Everything is to be gained and moth
! ing is to be lost by harvesting it now.
! Corn is in fine shape. Since the
first of August it has gained rapidly.
Government reports give its condition
on September l as 81 per cent, az com
pared with Sc per cent on August l.
1t is in still better shape now.
August and most of September fur
nished ideal weather for corn. Cold
weather has held off; 1t was abnormal
Iy hot during many days even after
the middle of September, but we do
not know how soon we may have a
heavy freeze. d,
Because of mfavorable weather
early in the growing season, there Is
still considerable moisture in most OF
THE corn, and if there should come a
sudden freeze, much seed corn viii pc
ruined. 4r taf ~ 1;.fE. q II 4's
| In the corn belt seed corn should
be harvested not later than OCTOBER 3.
In the more northern states 1t should
be gathered earlier than that. 1t is
getting late and we cannot afford to
longer put off gathering our SEED
corn. We cannot afford to take any
! chances. b.
Corn is the most valuable crop
grown. Our own prosperity, the pros
perity of the country, depends moro
upon the corn crop than upon all the
other cereals combined, and we can
not afford to depend for seed upon
the occasional good ears we find dur
| ing the husking season, or to select
our seed from the crib in the spring.
Frozen seed corn costs the country
millions of dollars every year. 1t
means poor seed, poor stand, useless
labor, reduced production We
| should 70 into our best fields before
! freezing weather sets in and select
the best ears from the most vigorous
stalks. Six bushels OF seed corn
will plant about 43 acres, but to pro-
vide for all ordinary emergencies, we
should save Is or 20 bushels for every
40 acres. This will enable us 10
plant only the best and strongest
ears.
! It will be wise to save enough seed
to last two years. Next years crop
may fail to mature and we VIII Dc
hard pressed for seed the following
wear. unless we have some good corn
left over from this year.
AS soon as the seed corn is harves-
ted. it should be husked and hung up
in an attic or some upstairs room
where the windows can be opened and
the air can freely circulate around the
corn. t"
One of the best methods is to tie
the corn up with binding Irvine and
suspend the strings from horizontal
wires or from nails driven into the
rafters. No two ears of corn should
touch, and the strings should be hung
in rows at least four inches apart
/ each way.