The Glasgow courier., 1922-09-08
HOW TO PREPARE PRIZE
WINNING FAIR EXHIBITS
Careful Field Selection and Plenty of
Time in Preparation Necessary
for Best Exhibits.

Careful Field Selection and Plenty of
Time in Preparation Necessary
for Best Exhibits.
In preparing threshed grains and
seeds for show purposes much depends
upon the careful field selection of the
sample and the subsequent care that
is taken Of it. However, the winning
samples at the larger fairs are those
that have been carefully worked over
and the larger the fair, the greater
the amount of work put on them.
In the first place the samples should
be selected from the field as early as
possible and then put under cover.
This is important, as exposure to the
weather and rain soon bleaches the
color. Where the shock has been
rained on, the bundles should be TAX
en- from the center. By going around
the field and shelling out several heads
here and there, the best grain may be
selected. It pays to put in consider
able time doing this as the largest
straw does not always carry the best
grain. Wheat should be selected for
large size, plumpness and good dark
color and should have as little "yel-
low berry" in it as possible. Those
are the kernels with soft, starchy, yell
low spots on them. Oats should be
plump, heavy and contain as few green
grains as possible.
The grain is best threshed out by
hand. Place the bundle on table and
cut the straw off just below the band.
Then open the bundle and go through
it, picking out weeds, mixed varieties,
wild oats, heads of smut, small heads
and anything else that would lower the
purity and quality of the sample. Then
place the grain in clean sack and
pound it out on a rock or against a
post. The loose straw is removed and
the chaff separated from the grain by
pouring it between two pans or small
boxes in the wind. Where several
bundles are threshed out, do not mix
them until sure they are equal quality.
The sample may be further i'm
proved by hand screening over single
tanning mill screen to remove the
small shrivelled kernels and the weed
seeds that may have gotten by. Be
careful that there are no larger holes
torn in the screen.
In preparing sheaf exhibits the grain
is selected in the same manner as for
threshing. The butt of the bundle is
not cut off but the bundle should be
opened and cleaned as for threshing.
Next "stripper" should be made.
This is done by driving eight to ten
penny nails through narrow one;
inch board about three -eighths of an
inch apart. Three or four rows about
five or six inches inches long should
be enough. Nail this board on the edge
of box or other convenient place
with the nails up, like the teeth of a
comb. A two-byfour across the barn,
door makes handy place to do the
stripping. Do this by grasping small
handful of grain near the heads and
drawing the straw through the nails
two or three times. In this way the
weeds and surplus leaves are re-
moved. Use only that part of the
bundle with straight straw.
In building the sheaves, a small
frame may be made to hold the straw
below the head and at the butt, or an
other person can hold the sheaf. The
straw should be laid horizontally and
the sheaf turned over as it is built up.
Take a few heads at time, even the
ends of the heads and lay them on the
sheaf. When enough heads have been
laid on to make the sheaf three inches
or little more just below the heads
when pressed together, tie it there
with binder twine. The head can then
be shaped up with the palm of one
hand while holding the sheaf upright
with the other. Then tie the sheaf
tightly in two or more places and cut
off the butt ends to even the sheaf.
An inch ribbon or strip of colored
cloth, while unnecessary, adds to the
attractiveness of the sheaf.
In selecting corn, too much care
~'iiiAo" NC IohCI. II SOcS WlIHOuC say
ing that the ears should be as ripe and
hard as possible. The kernels should
be deep and the cobs small. The rows
of kernels should be straight and the
cob well filled out at butt and tip. Be
careful that an ear that looks like the
rest but which has red cob does not
get in if it should be white. The most
important thing in a sample of ten
ears is uniformity. The temptation is
strong to put an exceptionally good
ear in with the poorer ones to bring up
the average. This has just the oppo-
site effect. A sample of poorer type
but with each ear the same, will win
every time from one with few ears
much better than the rest. Pick a
arge number of good ears and then
select ten uniform ears as near the
deal as possible.
Vegetables are not hard to select
f little time is spent and one thing
lept in mind-that the largest vegeA
'ables do not always win. They should