Milford chronicle., 1921-04-15

The long growing season for corr
in 1920 caused the most of us to be-
lieve that the corn, when harvested
was fully matured, well dried out and
in good condition for seed.
But recent tests show that the corn
did not dry thoroughly and it is like
ly that the vitality of much of the
corn we have saved for seed is low.
For this reason it is very import
ant that every ear of seed corn should
be tested before it is planted next
spring.
Poor seed is one of the chief causes
of a poor stand and a poor stand
means a small yield
There is nothing else that will do
so much to increase the yield of corn
on every farm as the making of a ger
minatiOn test of six or eight kernels
from each ear to be used as seed and
discarding those ears which show
weak or sickly roots or stem sprouts
The most common mistake is to con-
clude that we can judge the germina-
ting power of seed corn by looking at
it and that it does not need testing.
A few days spent during March in
may be worth more to us at harvest
time when whole years hard work.
1t is nothing more or less than good
business for us to know that the seed |
we put into the ground is health seed /.
and that it will grow. And the only
way we can tell good seed is by test /
ing it.
One man in two days can test
enough corn to plant 40 acres of
ground. Testing will not cost to eX-
ceed 10 cents an acre. Yet, because
it is too much bother" to test corn,
we pick out 600 ears, look at them,
guess that they will grow and plant h
hem. AS a consequence, more than
IL acres out of every 40 planted to
corn in the average Corn Belt State
produce nothing.
By testing we get rid of the dead, {
weak, disease-infected and moldy ears. s
Testing does not hurt the corn. It
'equires but little time and that at ,
season of the year when we have I
title to do. By testing we have every /
hing to gain, and nothing to lose. v
There are several methods of test
ng corn but the limitations of this +
rticle will not permit of a descrip- N
ion of any of them. Any county
gent, any agricultural college or any i:
Ood farmer will be glad to tell his g
eighbOr how to test seed corn.
After the corn has been tested, sort fl
d, shelled and graded for the plan
er and the bad kernels removed, it p
hOuld be placed in half-bushel sacks
nd hung up in dry place. We II
1Ould put in a sack separate from ii
le rest, the seed from the best 100 NJ
ars. When planting, we should use
le seed from these "best 100 ears" f.
4 one side of the field and pick our n
led corn from these rows next year. n
If we have no good seed corn we w
lOuld buy from our neighbors or
'me one in the community. We G,
lould not import seed corn from out NJ
de our immediate vicinity. Thous-
Ids of individual ear tests prove that
'me grown seed will yield on an av-
age from eight to 20 bushels of
rn more to the acre than will i'm
rted seed. The best plan is to at
ow our own seed and test every tn
r intended for planting. ar
Investigations conducted over a per- a
of several years by various agri- til
ltural colleges and by the U. S. De- WI
rtment have proven beyond doubt pls
1t rot disease of the corn root, the fal
TX and the weak and stunted plants DR.
stalks that are down or leaning, or lat
1ken; and barrenness and nubbins; bu
chaft, immature ears; of reduced ac
Ids. sci
It is possible that rot diseases car sci
over from one year to another in dis
, soil; it is certain they carry over to
the seed, and one of the best meth sci
; for the control of these rots is the
ectiOn of disease-free seed ears. hat
The termination test will help us in ed
king out these diseased ears, Ker- nec
S that are diseased may show good Mo
mination but the stem sprouts will min
discolored-pink or bown or some dis
er shade that will readily show the
'erienced corn grower that some bro
lg is the matter with them. VIII
n some instances a diseased seed all
: looks apparently healthy, except onr
it has a small number of roots. mo-
h kernels should be cut open with T
nife to see if they are rotted or oct
dy on the inside. and
he safest rule is: Discard every naT
that looks suspicious. n
bull