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Garden V VOL. LXVI INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 11, 1911. ? O. 10 TESTING SEED CORN. Every corn grower should make arrangements for testing his corn this spring before it ls planted. The process is an interesting one. It does not require much time and an expense of not more than five cents to test corn for ouch acre. A press bulletin from Purdue says: "One poor ear per acre means a loss of approximately eight per cent in the crop." This ought to show to everyone the'value of testing the seed. Making a Tester. A. T. Wiancko, Chief of Soils and Crops at the station and author of the bulletin, says: "Take ordinary inch lumber and make a shallow tray of convenient size, say about 2 by 3 feet, and 2 \_ inches deep. Then bore small holes through the sides and ends about 1% inches above the bottom and about 1 % inches apart. Through these holes string light galvanized or copper wire in both directions. Then fill up the tray to the wires with sand, earth or fine sawdust. Sand is preferred because it is clean and easily kept In good condition. "Each square marked off on the surface by the cross-wires is intended for the kernels from a single ear of corn. Instead of weaving in the cross-wires as indicated, a prece of large-meshed wire chicken fence may be fastened in. If this is preferred the tray should be made 1% inches deep, then the piece of chicken fence fastened on top and an inch strip nailed on top of that so as to raise the edges of the tray an inch above the wire netting, as in the other case. After the tray has been filled up to the wire with sand or other material as directed above and thoroughly moistened the tester is ready for use. For the average farmer one tester will be sufficient, as about three bushels of seed ears can be tested at one time. "When making the tests, some convenient system of arranging the ears on a floor, table, shelf or rack must be employed, so that the ear corresponding to a certain square in the tester may be readily located. Begin filling the tester by placing five kernels from the first ear, selected by taking one from each of five different parts of the ear, in the first square at the upper left hand corner and fill each row of squares in regular order. "After the kernels have been placed, the material in the tester should be kept moist. Some kind of covering must be used to keep the surface from drying and if this is properly done the kernels need not be buried out of sight. Panes of glass ot a glass window sash make the most satifactory cover. "The-tester should be placed in a room ranging around 70 degrees Fahrenheit 1n temperature during the day and not falling below 50 degrees at night. The ordinary living room is a good place for it, but it should not be placed too near the stove. All kernels which do not send out vigorous root and stem sprouts within five days under these conditions should be considered as too weak to germinate properly under ordinary field conditions. If the germination of any lot of kernels is unsatisfactory the ear from which they fame should be discarded. About 95 por cent of the kernels should germinate .strongly within tho five days." THE COMING CORN CROP. By J. H. Haynes. Editors Indiana Farmer: The time is nearing for preparations for a corn crop. Some very interesting statements are abroad that should set us famers thinking. Somewhat over four million acres of corn were planted in Indiana last year. Of this amount it is said 1% million acres are unfit for corn culture, 1 % millions barely average 28 bushels per acre and the other million produces the greater part of our crop. The average per acre for Indiana in the last 10 years has been less than 30 retention indefinitely, such soils are not ■lilted for corn. The alluvial soils are deficient in potash but are well supplied with the other element*. Without the potasn there Is a rankness of plant growth and barrenness of grain. The muck or peat soils have humus ln abundance, but lack potash to fit lt for plant use. The clay soils are deficient in nitrogen, owing to hard, compact surfaces and want of air circulation. They have large stores of potash and phosphorus but these are so situated by the compactness of the soil as to be unavailable to the plant. Xr, ''> '•'>*■*. ''-* 'it- *U ***#?;* ~?**'■& fs «■* **. tc *• *if ,'V~* **M This Box Tests at one Time Enough Corn to Plant Fifteen Acres. It is Filled and Ready to be Covered. [Cut loaned by Purdue.] bushels an acre, an amount that will not pay the expense of growing it. Mr. Geo. K. Brown of the Department of Agriculture is authority for the statement that farmers are not meeting expenses on their farm crops, because of the low averages and because the farmer receives but 53 cents on the dollar for what he produces, the other 47 cents going to the middleman and common carriers. If these conditions really exist then it is time for reflection and for action. If 1% millions of acres yield less than are unfit for growing corn then they should be used for other Crops until made fit for corn. If 1 % millions of acres yied >ess than 30 bushels per acre then something should be done to them to better the condition and even the one million that are doing the work should be kept in prime condition so that corn can be grown successfully on them. Understanding our soils and their needs will enable us to work intelligently with them in rectifying wrong conditions and, give them their wants in fertilizing lines. Out state contains a very great variety Of soils, due to her position in the great low basin, being midway between the Apalachians and the western highlands. The glacial moraines traversed the state from the northeast to the southwest corner of the state and left in their course the various soil deposits that constitute the land area of the state. The sandy soil, of which there is a large amount, are deficient in all the three elements necessary for corn production, potash, nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Unless these can be supplied to them and means taken for their All the other soils made up of mixtures of these classes rank in their fertility according to the quantities of each of them in the combine. How to give each, of these classes their respective needs of fertilizing elements is the main point. One can use the commercial fertilizers to a limited extent, but the expense attached to a general use is not justified by the conditions the farmer is under. If anything is to be done It must be mainly on the farm by methods of restoring fertility, or in supplying the necessary elements for plant growth. He may use commercial fertilizer to further the growth of clovers or other legumes till they become available for supplying nitrogen and potash and humus. Lime in some of its forms is good and Indiana ls blessed with a sufficiency of lime, so that by using it we can avoid heavy cost in purchasing commercial fertilizers. Another objection to this class of fertilizers is that when once begun their use must be kept up, and even increased, for the use causes the plant not only to take up what is supplied but to draw* further on the soil for supplies. Farmers in New Tork tell us that like morphine in the human, so is the use of chemicals in the soil, there is continual demand .for increased supplies. For nitrogen we have two sources for supply; one through drainage of our compact soils, and the other in turning under the legumes. The drainage gives air circulation, and this in turn furnishes nitrogen to the soil. Our sandy soils can be made productive by using lime to compact them and by planting the clovers, vetch or any Other legume, for turning under. A free use of these means will make such soils ideal corn land. The muck lands are hardest to deal with. Lime or potash in some form must be used to correct wrong' conditions. Drainage goes far also to bring up such soils. Alluvlals, with proper rotations, and especially winter cover crops can be kept fertile indefinitely. The cover crops insure the retention of nitrogen in the soil. The use of barnyard manures on all these soils, in connection with what has been given, will do the work of increasing grain growth. With right soils comes right management. Much stress is put on having "good seed." This is all right, but there arc more Important things to look after. Good seed in ill prepared soil is a waste of time, labor and seed. Give good seed proper soils and good cultivation, then the seed is responsive in good yields. The reverse is true, under the other conditions. The main point in corn culture is to supply the proper amount of moisture in the soil so that all the other elements can be united for plant use in a soluble manner. Very few persons are aware of what amount of moisture is needed to mature a corn crop. Experiments made go to show that volume one foot deep over the entire field is required during the growing season. This equals 326 thousand gallons of water per acre, and is mainly derived from rains. If our corn land is in a fit condition to receive and hold this water then we can reasonably hope for a crop, but if by reason of a shortage in rainfall, or if by any neglect in allowing this to escape by running off or by evaporation, then the corn will suffer. Hence the absolute necessity of having a good loose seed bed and of careful cultivation so as to provide a soil mulch all through the season. If the farmer will not be in too great haste in getting his corn planted, but will get his land in a No. 1 shape, and wait till nature shows signs for the germination of seed, and then give the right care for his crops there will be no fears of the average yield bringing him in debt, as It has been doing for years past. We said good seed is all right, but bad methods of cultivation destroy even the benefits of good seed. We do not wish to be pessimistic in our views as to the coming season, but we fear a very wet corn season. Should this be the case much caution will be required in dealing with corn. $2,000,000 FOR CHRISTLVN WORK. Mr. William P. Sidley, Vice-President and General Counsel of the Western Electric Company, has recently been elected President of the Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago. The Chicago branch of the Y. M. C. A. now leads the country in the strength of its endowment. It has just received three gifts aggregating $100,- 000, with which it intends to push the work of establishing Association headquarters in the principal cities of foreign non-Christian lands. This is part of an international campaign, involving an expense of $2,000,000, which was recently decided upon at a conference in the White House between President Taft and a committee from the international Y. M. C. A, organization.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1911, v. 66, no. 10 (Mar. 11) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA6610 |
Date of Original | 1911 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-04-08 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript | Garden V VOL. LXVI INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 11, 1911. ? O. 10 TESTING SEED CORN. Every corn grower should make arrangements for testing his corn this spring before it ls planted. The process is an interesting one. It does not require much time and an expense of not more than five cents to test corn for ouch acre. A press bulletin from Purdue says: "One poor ear per acre means a loss of approximately eight per cent in the crop." This ought to show to everyone the'value of testing the seed. Making a Tester. A. T. Wiancko, Chief of Soils and Crops at the station and author of the bulletin, says: "Take ordinary inch lumber and make a shallow tray of convenient size, say about 2 by 3 feet, and 2 \_ inches deep. Then bore small holes through the sides and ends about 1% inches above the bottom and about 1 % inches apart. Through these holes string light galvanized or copper wire in both directions. Then fill up the tray to the wires with sand, earth or fine sawdust. Sand is preferred because it is clean and easily kept In good condition. "Each square marked off on the surface by the cross-wires is intended for the kernels from a single ear of corn. Instead of weaving in the cross-wires as indicated, a prece of large-meshed wire chicken fence may be fastened in. If this is preferred the tray should be made 1% inches deep, then the piece of chicken fence fastened on top and an inch strip nailed on top of that so as to raise the edges of the tray an inch above the wire netting, as in the other case. After the tray has been filled up to the wire with sand or other material as directed above and thoroughly moistened the tester is ready for use. For the average farmer one tester will be sufficient, as about three bushels of seed ears can be tested at one time. "When making the tests, some convenient system of arranging the ears on a floor, table, shelf or rack must be employed, so that the ear corresponding to a certain square in the tester may be readily located. Begin filling the tester by placing five kernels from the first ear, selected by taking one from each of five different parts of the ear, in the first square at the upper left hand corner and fill each row of squares in regular order. "After the kernels have been placed, the material in the tester should be kept moist. Some kind of covering must be used to keep the surface from drying and if this is properly done the kernels need not be buried out of sight. Panes of glass ot a glass window sash make the most satifactory cover. "The-tester should be placed in a room ranging around 70 degrees Fahrenheit 1n temperature during the day and not falling below 50 degrees at night. The ordinary living room is a good place for it, but it should not be placed too near the stove. All kernels which do not send out vigorous root and stem sprouts within five days under these conditions should be considered as too weak to germinate properly under ordinary field conditions. If the germination of any lot of kernels is unsatisfactory the ear from which they fame should be discarded. About 95 por cent of the kernels should germinate .strongly within tho five days." THE COMING CORN CROP. By J. H. Haynes. Editors Indiana Farmer: The time is nearing for preparations for a corn crop. Some very interesting statements are abroad that should set us famers thinking. Somewhat over four million acres of corn were planted in Indiana last year. Of this amount it is said 1% million acres are unfit for corn culture, 1 % millions barely average 28 bushels per acre and the other million produces the greater part of our crop. The average per acre for Indiana in the last 10 years has been less than 30 retention indefinitely, such soils are not ■lilted for corn. The alluvial soils are deficient in potash but are well supplied with the other element*. Without the potasn there Is a rankness of plant growth and barrenness of grain. The muck or peat soils have humus ln abundance, but lack potash to fit lt for plant use. The clay soils are deficient in nitrogen, owing to hard, compact surfaces and want of air circulation. They have large stores of potash and phosphorus but these are so situated by the compactness of the soil as to be unavailable to the plant. Xr, ''> '•'>*■*. ''-* 'it- *U ***#?;* ~?**'■& fs «■* **. tc *• *if ,'V~* **M This Box Tests at one Time Enough Corn to Plant Fifteen Acres. It is Filled and Ready to be Covered. [Cut loaned by Purdue.] bushels an acre, an amount that will not pay the expense of growing it. Mr. Geo. K. Brown of the Department of Agriculture is authority for the statement that farmers are not meeting expenses on their farm crops, because of the low averages and because the farmer receives but 53 cents on the dollar for what he produces, the other 47 cents going to the middleman and common carriers. If these conditions really exist then it is time for reflection and for action. If 1% millions of acres yield less than are unfit for growing corn then they should be used for other Crops until made fit for corn. If 1 % millions of acres yied >ess than 30 bushels per acre then something should be done to them to better the condition and even the one million that are doing the work should be kept in prime condition so that corn can be grown successfully on them. Understanding our soils and their needs will enable us to work intelligently with them in rectifying wrong conditions and, give them their wants in fertilizing lines. Out state contains a very great variety Of soils, due to her position in the great low basin, being midway between the Apalachians and the western highlands. The glacial moraines traversed the state from the northeast to the southwest corner of the state and left in their course the various soil deposits that constitute the land area of the state. The sandy soil, of which there is a large amount, are deficient in all the three elements necessary for corn production, potash, nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Unless these can be supplied to them and means taken for their All the other soils made up of mixtures of these classes rank in their fertility according to the quantities of each of them in the combine. How to give each, of these classes their respective needs of fertilizing elements is the main point. One can use the commercial fertilizers to a limited extent, but the expense attached to a general use is not justified by the conditions the farmer is under. If anything is to be done It must be mainly on the farm by methods of restoring fertility, or in supplying the necessary elements for plant growth. He may use commercial fertilizer to further the growth of clovers or other legumes till they become available for supplying nitrogen and potash and humus. Lime in some of its forms is good and Indiana ls blessed with a sufficiency of lime, so that by using it we can avoid heavy cost in purchasing commercial fertilizers. Another objection to this class of fertilizers is that when once begun their use must be kept up, and even increased, for the use causes the plant not only to take up what is supplied but to draw* further on the soil for supplies. Farmers in New Tork tell us that like morphine in the human, so is the use of chemicals in the soil, there is continual demand .for increased supplies. For nitrogen we have two sources for supply; one through drainage of our compact soils, and the other in turning under the legumes. The drainage gives air circulation, and this in turn furnishes nitrogen to the soil. Our sandy soils can be made productive by using lime to compact them and by planting the clovers, vetch or any Other legume, for turning under. A free use of these means will make such soils ideal corn land. The muck lands are hardest to deal with. Lime or potash in some form must be used to correct wrong' conditions. Drainage goes far also to bring up such soils. Alluvlals, with proper rotations, and especially winter cover crops can be kept fertile indefinitely. The cover crops insure the retention of nitrogen in the soil. The use of barnyard manures on all these soils, in connection with what has been given, will do the work of increasing grain growth. With right soils comes right management. Much stress is put on having "good seed." This is all right, but there arc more Important things to look after. Good seed in ill prepared soil is a waste of time, labor and seed. Give good seed proper soils and good cultivation, then the seed is responsive in good yields. The reverse is true, under the other conditions. The main point in corn culture is to supply the proper amount of moisture in the soil so that all the other elements can be united for plant use in a soluble manner. Very few persons are aware of what amount of moisture is needed to mature a corn crop. Experiments made go to show that volume one foot deep over the entire field is required during the growing season. This equals 326 thousand gallons of water per acre, and is mainly derived from rains. If our corn land is in a fit condition to receive and hold this water then we can reasonably hope for a crop, but if by reason of a shortage in rainfall, or if by any neglect in allowing this to escape by running off or by evaporation, then the corn will suffer. Hence the absolute necessity of having a good loose seed bed and of careful cultivation so as to provide a soil mulch all through the season. If the farmer will not be in too great haste in getting his corn planted, but will get his land in a No. 1 shape, and wait till nature shows signs for the germination of seed, and then give the right care for his crops there will be no fears of the average yield bringing him in debt, as It has been doing for years past. We said good seed is all right, but bad methods of cultivation destroy even the benefits of good seed. We do not wish to be pessimistic in our views as to the coming season, but we fear a very wet corn season. Should this be the case much caution will be required in dealing with corn. $2,000,000 FOR CHRISTLVN WORK. Mr. William P. Sidley, Vice-President and General Counsel of the Western Electric Company, has recently been elected President of the Young Men's Christian Association of Chicago. The Chicago branch of the Y. M. C. A. now leads the country in the strength of its endowment. It has just received three gifts aggregating $100,- 000, with which it intends to push the work of establishing Association headquarters in the principal cities of foreign non-Christian lands. This is part of an international campaign, involving an expense of $2,000,000, which was recently decided upon at a conference in the White House between President Taft and a committee from the international Y. M. C. A, organization. |
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