VOL. XXXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., OCT. 24, 1896.
NO. 43
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT
How and When Do You Save and Oare Por
Seed (Join?   Is Snch Seed Really Better Than drib Seed.
lst Prem.—I save my seed corn as I
husk it, throwing it into a basket by
itself and then emptying it into the seed
box on the wagon.
My seed box is nothing more than the
front end of my wagon box, partitioned
oft by a moveable partition.
I have swinging shelves in my work
shop, where I store the seed. On stormy
days when I cannot work outside, I usually find plenty of "tinkering" to be done
in my shop and having a stove there I
fire it up, and while I am at my "tinker-
■*V ing" the seed corn is drying, so that before the winter is over I have a nice lot
of kiln-dried seed.
As to its being better than crib seed, I
answer most emphatically, yes.   I have
seen corn, planted from  the crib which
grew well, but oftener It is a failure.  If
the  cob  gets  thorougblgjclried before
freezing weather, crib corn may do, but
what is the use of running any chanceB
when we can, by taking a little extra
pains in the fall, secure seed  which we
know is all right.
Of the. seed Jt planted last spring, I
- - -don't believe  ft "kernel"" failed to germinate, and it was up and I was cultivating
it In less than  ten days.   I got the start
-*"   ;     of the weeds, and I kept it all the season,
and this fall  I can carry in my arms all
* _-       thewe-jds on my ten-acre  cornfield.  I
r attribute it to the kiln-dried seed which
germinated so quickly, and made a strong
growth. B. A. Wood.
Kalamazoo, Co., Mich.
going to save my seed corn from the pile
as I shuck it. I haul my corn and throw
Hon the barn floor and shuck it out on
bad days when I can't work out doors.
We do not shuck our corn on the stalk
here as they do out west, or in the northern part of this State. As I shuck my
corn I save the nicest ears, with straight
rows and well filled. When perfectly
dry I shell off both ends and save the
middle to plant. When I am ready to
plant I do not have to stop to shell seed
corn. Nor do I have to run all over the
neighborhood to hunt up seed corn.
Corydon. A Fahmer
I generally try to go through the best
part of the corn field, and pick out my
seed corn and husk it and lay it up to
dry. When dry I examine It carefully
and shell it and keep it in the dry until
time to plant I don't want my seed corn
gathered until thoroughly ripe. Some
people want it gathered before it is ripe,
but I want all of my seed of any kind to
be well ripened before gathering. I
can't say that such seed corn Is any better than crib seed, if the corn hftB been
stored in the right kind of condition; but
if it is put away ln the first named way you
can shell It some rainy day, and then
when planting time comes you are sure
to have your seed ready. I have said
heretofore that nothing Is of more importance than to have good pnre,seed of.
what evei* yoir"sis go&g tSiitmtr '•*****■*"
Harrison, Co. H. C. F.
2nd Premium. This topic is one that
should interest more people than it does.
Many farmers in our vicinity are not as
sareful as they should be. This one neglect
often causes persons to have to plant the
second time and thereby loose more time
than it would take to select their seed in
the proper manner. The thrifty farmer
has no time to lose on poor seed corn,
when he should be at something else. The
best corn in the field should be selected
for seed and should be kept clear of smut
on the tassels, so the young plant will be
free from disease. As soon as the corn is
ripe enough, go through and select the
largest and best ears, with long grains
and not too large a cob, and well filled
out at the ends. This should be done before we have frost or freezing weather.
I put mine up stairs in my house and dry
it out quickly and thoroughly, and leave
it there all winter. So it never gets freezing cold. By this means I get a better
stand in the spring, as nearly every grain
comes up, and I have very little if any replanting to do. It also makes a stronger,
healthier and more vigorous plant to
start with, which is a great advantage to
its summer's growth. I believe our corn
can be improved by proper selection and
care of seed the same as our domestic an*
imals. I nearly always save more than I
-need myself, and very often sell some to
my neighbors at a good price. I have
enough left over from last spring, so If I
make a failure I still have good corn for
next year, and if I do not need it to plant
it Is not lost, for It Is as good for feed as it
ever was. The sooner we learn to protect
our seed corn and all kinds of stock from
wet and cold, the better off we will be.
Hamilton Co. S. M. Cox.
I have saved and cared for seed corn In a
good many different ways.  I have also depended on the crib for seed a few times,
but I find that it pays well to select and
store  at husking  time.   I have two objects in view, first to preserve the vitality
of-the germ, and second to keep up or improve the quali-ty or yield.   Ninety-nine
per cent of setd should germinate under
favorable circumstances.   If only 90 per
cent germinates the balance will be weak
and the result will be a slow growth and
poor  yield.    To  get   best results corn
should be dried and stored in a dry place
of   even  temperature,   before  freezing,
as it is the freezing while damp or immature, that kills or  weakens the germ.   I
sometimes place corn under the stove or
on the roof of the house  to dry, and this
Is often necessary, but not always. After
being dried I place it en lath  nailed to
joists  above feed  room in  the  barn.   I
I have stored seed in the  cellar which
was  always  satisfactory.   The  Indians
used to bnry the corn intended  for seed
in the ground  as we do potatoes, and I
suppose  always  had good seed.   I have
noticed that seed from the top or outside
of the crib was better than from the center, as that on the outside got dry before'
freezing.   I  think  corn  can be greatly
improved by selecting well formed ears.
I select seed from  the wagon, at gathering time, sometimes only getting  a few
ears from a load, thus  having a better
chance to improve  than to select from
the crib.   I have selected  the first  ears
that ripen, thus  getting an earlier variety, but not so good to yield.   I have had
in the past a poor stand of corn caused by
poor seed,  and   resulting in   big loss,
therefore I think it pays to always be on
the safe side and have good seed to start
with. C. E. H.
Warrenton, 111.
3d Premium.—Saving .seed corn seems
to be a very important thing with some
people. Yet I never have had a failure
in saving seed corn. I sometimes save
my seed as soon as the shack is dead in
the field. I hang it up In some, dry plaoe
by the shucks. I do not think lt is any
better than crib seed.  This year I am
BKVI-SW.
We should remember that the fruit of
plants Is grown by nature purely for seed.
It is purely a question of reproduction.
Most farmers handle seed corn and potatoes carelessly. ' One may notice a trick-
rider of a bicycle, and he looks as though
he paid no regard to how he handled the
machine. But we know that the secret
of his success is wholly in his great skill
In strictly following every principal of
wheeling.
So we may take corn and the potato
away from their natural home in the sub-
tropics and grow them in severe climates
or in localities with hot summers or in
seasons of dry or wet, or on a tenacious
clay or mellow black land. But there
are certain principles which we must not
neglect or our crop will be injured in proportion.
Let us see how nature protects her
seeds Those of the nut family are covered with a hull. Wheat, oats, clover,
timothy, etc., with a chaff. Corn with
husks made from modified blades. Tho
husks are about 15 in number and "batten cracks," so as to shed rain. They
keep the ear moist while in the state of
growth, and after it Is ripe the water
dries out of the shnck and air takes its
place, so that the covering to the ear be'
comes one fluffy coat of small air spaces.
These dry shucks shed off rain and during a damp spell absorb moisture, which
would otherwise be taken up by the
grain. Tbey also prevent sudden changes
of temperature.
I once visited James Riley's seed corn
cribs, and as it was cold weather asked
him why he didn't have ft fire in the
stove. He said that "seed corn is damaged by sadden changes of temperature
and by cold when moist. If it turns
warm and water stands on exposed rocks,
on account of the cold rook condensing it
from the air, I know that cold corn will
be absorjbin^oig^e^^lch M^hgl, flfcftfc.
rffiMi^aartri^a*fi^rS5ro.'it may turn
sharply and suddenly cold while that
corn is damp, and its vitality be injured."
My answer was, "I see, Mr. Riley that
you reverse the practice of many persons
who use fire in cold weather to keep corn
warm, by using fire in warm spells of
weather to keep corn dry."
Let's ask nature what she does—she
dries out the ear and shuck before cold
weather and then with a dry cob and the
"seed end" of the grain bedded in velvet,
and the whole covered with a 'fluffy coat
of many shuckB, full of air chambers.
She keeps the grain dry and avoids sudden changes of temperature.
What does the farmer do? lie strips oft
the natural covering, and cords the corn
up in a brace in the barn, or throws it in
an open crib. He says he wants it where
the air can get to it. Nature has guarded
against that very thing. She don't want
her seed see-sawed through all the possible changes of climate, swelled with
moisture and then dashed down below
zero. She has had lots of experience and
these seeds that were best protected have
survived those exposed.
I like to shuck my seed corn In the field
to Judge the stalk, etc. This year I gathered it about fair time and spread it out
on a hay loft It will keep well in a
house loft which a pipe goes through, or
fairly well in grain sacks, not shelled in
a shop. The sack is some production.
But I am going to try this winter a plan
given by a progressive farmer at the
Winchester Institute. After corn is
quite dry he puts it in cracker barrels
mixed well with dry threshed oats, the
corn still on the cob, and places them in a
dry place. This protects the grain much
as nature does from sudden changes of
moisture and temperature. (I do not remember this gentleman's name), he says
his corn always shows great vitality. It
is not enough that corn may "grow" it
should grow with vigor.
The loft of a work-shop of one of our
correspondents is a typical place. I once
bought seed that had been corded under
the ceiling of a dry cellar. It was swelled
tight on the cob but was good seed.
I never like to shell seed that shows a
crumpled or blistered face. You all
know what that is. It should be glossy
and bright, clean and smooth. I used to
keep a knife handy and examine the
germ of most every ear, but have now become so accustomed to the "feel" of the
grain that I seldom need a knife. It it
shells off the cob a little tough and leaves
little white points broken off of the grain
and left sticking in the cob, I reject that
ear at once. If any mold shows anywhere on the ear, it is cast aside. If it is
a good ear and shells rattling dry and
the grains are bright, glossy and flat and
broad and deep, so as to drill one at a
time and avoid thinning, it passes. Very
much extra thinning is caused by planting slim grains, "rat-tooth," so that two
are often dropped at once.
Notes from the farm.—Our corn will do
to shuck Monday, 18th. We shall not use
a shredder and shucker, as we have more
feed than stock and the Job will give my
two year-round men a longer job; also at
less cost
The long rain made part of our wheat
seeding late. We finished the very last a
piece of new ground on Oct 12th. It was
drilled In corn stubble with a two horse
hoe drill, without any harrowing as the
soil was mellow and nice.
The "woods are full" of teams taking
out gravel. One man who helped me uncover said; "I declare, I could hardly
get here this morning for teams on the
pike and lane and woods everywhere. If
the people in my home neighborhood had
half the enterprise these fellows have
every road and lane would be piked in
two years, as our gravel is. in every hill,
while some of this is hauled four miles
and they are allowed 75 cents a load on
thqii subscription.", I-mentlon this tc
show many subscribers who live where
no gravel is found how these pikes are
built and kept up in central Indiana and
Ohio.
At the fair last month I talked with
scraper manufacturers who also make
rock crushing machines, and they said
the lime rock of southern Indiana can be *
mined and crushed and elevated in
wagons by one machine, at the rate of 100
yards a day, and at a total cost of 18 cents
a yard. In many sections there is a large
waste product about mines that they
would be glad to give away. The county
pays us one half cent per cubic foot uncovered. So these crushers would make
it nearly as cheap for our southern
friends as our gravel is to us.
Our dairy topics are rather a new line
of copy. WiU our dairy men and women
be good enough to help us out with their
specialty?
Our saloon copy was so large that part
was pushed over to another time.
No. 31, Oct. 31.—How do you crib your
corn? and how do you handle and save
fodder for winter?
No. 35, Nov. 7.—How do you manage
dairy Stock in winter? State protection
from cold, also arrangement of mangers,
ties, gutters, handling manure, etc.
No. 36, Nov. 11—Give the feeding ration
of your dairy and state proportions of
each kind of food. Time of feeding, watering, etc.
No. 37, Nov. 21.—Do you use a silo?
Why do you or why not? How did you
make yours, size and shape, is it in the
barn or not?
No. 38, Nov. 28.—What did you grow to
fill it? And how was it grown and filled?
Did you ever fill with clover with success?
Do you like silage.
If our friends will write as soon as you
can on any of these topics, your copy will
be filed away and be ready when the
topic is published. E. H. Collins.
Frances Robinson, one year old, daughter of Frank Robinson, Terre Haute, fell
from a second-story window, while her
nurse was absent for a moment, and,
striking with her head npon the cement
walk, sustained a badly fractnred skull.
She died within a few hours. The mother
was out driving at the time of the accident
John Schmidt, and aged inmate of the
Putnam county farm, shot himself one
night last week throngh the head, dying
in a few hours.   He was demented.