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Garden
VOL. LiXlIl
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NOV 201908
INDIANAPOLIS NOV    21, 1908.
NO. 47
njKUC 1
 ■ AKVf
Experiments in selecting seed from tall
and short stalks at the University of Illinois have developed two types of stalks,
with  au average    difference    of    twenty
Gathering S<
The  first  of  October  we Ijo  into  th
♦•infield with sacks and gather seed corn,
taking the best ears from the best stalks.
This field  selection of seed is important.
save the seed in the fall, so the ear
cisii dry out; for the deeper the kernel, the
longer it takes to dry out.
Last  spring  I  tested  five  kernels  from
inches in hight.        Both kinds yield the   each ear of enough seed corn to plant 100
tlic stalks were left on top of the ground.
These stalks were kept out of the way of
the planter by two limbs cut from a tree
ansl wired to the planter runner, so as to
a'xts'tisl in front of it and push the stalks
Albertus 68340, one of the Imported Stations <si' (ieo. W. Souers afc Sons, Huntington
So much of the corn falls down when the
wind storms come, but some stalks do nsst
fall, and seed should be selected froni
the latter: that is, from the stalks that
have good root development. In select
ing seed ears at the crib, we eannot tell
anything about the stalk thnt produced
those ears. There is as much individ-
ualiiy in ears of corn as there is in people. It is very necessary to see the
stalks upon which our seed ears grow,
nnd we should select ears from only such
stalks as have the characteristics that we
desire in the stalks of the following crop.
same amount of grain, and the shorter
s'alk is mnch to be preferred. Hence.
the advisability of selecting seed ears
from short or medium stalks.
We tie the seed ears in a string and
hang them up in an open shed, where
they  may  dry  out  thoroughly.
I am nsst -s.s particular about all the
fine points of the score card, but I con-
sisler .is most important the size and
shape of the ear and the size and shape of
the kernel, as called for b.v the score
card. If we are going to select seed
for  extreme  length  of  kernel,     we must
acres, rejecting every car from which any
cne or more of the five kernels failed  to ;
germinate well,    and I know that it paid
to do this work.
One way to handle the stalks is to (hop
them up and plow thom under, saving
their organic matter for humus in the sssil.
Another way in whish \vs> have sin-s-es..-
fully managed a heavy growth of stalks is
as follows:
First .ve disked the stalks both ways,
the disk rollers being ground sharp. Then
a spading disk was used and the soil
worked   thoroly   four   inches   deep,   while
tc   eaeh   side.—From  Address  of W.   H.
Rowe',  before  the Illinois Farmers'  Insti-
After all, the money made by farming
is the cleanest, best money in the world.
1; is made in accordance with God's first
law, under honest influences, away from
the taint of trade, or the fierce heat of
speculation. It fills the pockets of the
fr.rmer at the expense of no other. His
gain is no man's loss; but the more he
makes the better for the world at large.
Prosperous farmers make prosperous peo
pie. Whatever benefits our agriculture
benefits our commonwealth.—Ex.