Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-06-01
Grouimg Corn I'm the
Northwest . = ...... i: : s:; =::: :; Cor. :.
Harvester ompsny
Selection of Seed Corn

In previous articles the corn sub
ject has been discussed up to THU
point.Northern grown seed, PLANTED
early, on MANFRED alfalfa, swee'
clover or timothy and clover stubbIe
and given thorough cultivation, should
be practically mature by September
1st. The first fully developed ears
borne on good, strong, leafy stalks
should be gathered for seed. II a kill
ing frost occurs before there are ears
ON which the husks have begun to
turn yellow and dry up, it may not
be possible to save seed. However,
ears that are only in hard roasting
ear, or just beginning to dent, will
make good seed if gathered and dried
out promptly.
Corn Becomes Acclimated
The Experiment stations have prov
en- by careful trials that ii is possible
by carefully growing and saving seed,
to develop varieties that grow and
mature where seasons are short and
ten to fifteen degrees cooler than
WitAt tht cahft NOAb PiCF AOacir WYNN
only barely NATURE These facts en-
phasize the Importance of northern
grown acclimated seed. We have OBJ
from actual trials that southern
corn WIN not reach the same
stage Of maturity in the north, dur
ing a given time, that it does in the
Seed from a large southern
variety, planted on our farm, in one
hundred ten days of frost free wealth
err, has not tasseled. This same vari-
ETY. in the south would have been in
roasting ear. 1t is the cool weather
than the shortness of the sea-
son that delays the maturity of the
southern varieties.
The corn belt has moved north slow
Iy because it has taken time to accli-
varieties or because we have
not recognized the value of varieties
have been grown in the north
for many years. The so-called Squaw,
Indian, Flint " Native cnrns are ex-l
amples. The Indians of the northwest
had been growing corn before white
men came into this region, and it is
still their main food crop. They wor-
SiAHBE0 hbt SOths OCaAt anu o4bHcAs
Unquestionably the work of these
aborgines in producing and acclimat-
ing varieties of corn has not been APP
preciated. Greater efforts should be
made to adapt these hardy varieties to-
our needs.
A Seed Corn Patch
Select the earliest, best matured
and plant them together in the
best part of the field, to select seed
for next year. This is the only
way Of keeping up or improving
the corn crop. Gather the seed before
a heavy freeze, hang it up or put il
in wire racks so it will thoroughly dry
out promptly. Keep it in a dry place
there is not a great change in
temperature. In the attic Of a house
is a good place. Do not put it in tight
boxes or barrels, or keep it in a damp
building, or over grain that is not
thoroughly dry. Be careful with seed
corn.
Saving the Crop for Feed
For food matter, and dry matter of
all crops increases with the maturity.
Corn to make good silage or fodder
should be practically mature-the ears
should be developed and near the glaz-
I'd stage-past hard roasting ear. The
more nearly the corn reaches this
the better feed it win make.
Light frosts that only nip the leaves
may not greatly damage the corn, and
t will continue maturing. 1t is a ques-
ion as to just how . much frosting
would make it advisable to cut the
:orn. This would depend on when the
.rost occurred 1t the curn was prac
mature and the frost killed the I
caves it would probably be advisable
% cut it at once. If the corn was
green and an early frost only nip
bed the leaves and there was a prob
of there being no more frost
or some time, the further maturing
If the corn might more than offset
he frost damage.
When the corn is killed down to the
ar SO that the leaves and top would
dry up and blow away, the corn
be cut. While it would be de-
+ have the corr mature and
ut before frost, we do not think it
'ure. unless it was positively known
hat there would be a killing frost in
very short time After a killing
'rost does come, it ia very important
hat the corn be gotten into the silo
Is soon as possible. We have run our
orn harvester night and day, after a
leavy frost, to get the corn cut befornl
lea yes were lost. Heavy freezing