The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1921-09-23
for next year.
Storing Seed Corn During Winter.

Storing Seed Corn During Winter.
After the seed corr is gathered from
the stalks in the field, it is essential
that it be put away so that it will be-
come thoroughly dried out before
heavy freezing weather sets in. The
damages to seed corn freezing are
greatly lessened if the corn is thor
oughly dried out.
There are numerous ways for put
ting away corn, any one of which will
give the desired results if they are
considerably carried out. AS the mat
ter of selecting seed corn should be
made an annual practice, a few hours
or a day could not be spent more prof
itably than in arranging a suitable
rack in the attic of the house for stor-
ing seed corn. It would be we'll to
surround this rack with wire netting
that would exclude mice and rats. By
using Stats or laths, shelves could be
put in which would hold the seed corn
and also admit of using a germinator
and testing the ear without to remove
them to the floor or some other place
while testing them for termination.
Perhaps the simplest method of stor-
ing the seed corr in the attic is to
hang it up to the rafters with strings.
The hanging up gives a free c~ircula-
ton of air which is essential, but this
can also be obtained if the seed corr
or racks are properly constructed.
Where it is not possible to store the
seed in the attic, or the furnace room
of the modern home, which offers a
splendid place, a part of the granary
should be fitted up so as to make it
possible to use artificial heat if the
weather should be unusually cold and
damp after the seed corn is gathered
and before it is thoroughly dried out.
The Northwest Seed Corn Rack.
This rack is made by lacking a
square vow wire on a frame 4x8
feet, made Of 2 As. The wire is put
on each side Of the frame, with the
meshes exactly opposite so that the
ears may be put through the two
meshes. Except where the ears lie
on the wires they do not come in con-
tact with anything, and can dry out
rapidly.
Where to Store Seed Corn.
Taking all things into consideration
probably there is no better place to
store seed corn than in the attic. The
experiments conducted at the Iowa
agricultural college, where the seed
was stored in various places, show
that the attic is one of the very best
places for seed corn. The second best
place seems to be the cellar and es-
pecially the furnace room. There are
several objections to the average eel
lar. It is apt to be too damp and corn
must be well dried before putting it in
the cellar and it must not be corded
up or put in piles, but hung up.
In the cellar there is more danger
from mice and generally less room,
but it has n great advantage in that
it protects the corn from the hard
freezes. Seed that is hung in the
barn or under an open shed may come
through the winter in fair condition,
provided it was harvested and hung
up early, S % as to be thoroughly dry
before cold weather. However,, much
of the seed stored in this way is eth
err killed OR greatly weakened. Dur
ing the warm, damp spells, the seed
gathers moisture and is injured by the
hard freezes that follow.
1t is bad economy to be careless
with the seed corn. Poor seed means
a poor stand; not only in a portion of
the field idle but the missing hills and
the n stalk hills and the poor, worth
less stalks must be cultivated, and
nothing secured in return. Thousands
of people every year in the corn belt