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VOL. LXVKI INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 3, 1913 NO. 18 How to Increase the Yield of the Corn Crop The character of the seed used is one of the most important factors in the production of a large corn crop, and especially because it is so liable to be defective. Fertile soil, good cultural methods, protection against insect enemies and plant diseases, are all of the utmost importance in contributing to the final results, but none of these factors can make amends for poor seed. A full stand of vigorous plants must be secured and the only By Prof. A. T. Wiancko, in Recent Purdue Circular. adapted to his soil and climatic conditions, the farmer can add much to his crop yield without additional expense. It costs no more to tend a good variety than it does to tend a poor one. Good varieties can easily be secured. No one has a patent or monopoly on them. In selecting a variety, care must be State was published in the Farmer of April 19. Tlie Germination T<?st. No farmer can afford to neglect testing the vitality of his seed corn, no matter how carefully It has been stored. There are so many ways In erly selected and tested, they are ready to be shelled and the grain prepared for planting. The small and irregular kernels at the tips of the ears and the large irregular ones at the butts must be shelled off flrst and discarded. Irregular kernels in the body of the ear should also be discarded as completely as possible, so that only those kernels which are of uniform size and shape may go to the planter. This discarding of the small tip, large butt, way to secure it is by using good seed. Making sure of good seed is one of the cheapest and simplest ways of increasing the corn crop, but its very simplicity Is a danger, since It causes so many farmers to overlook its importance. In defining good seed we must think of several things. First, Uie variety of corn must be one that is adapted to the soil and climatic conditions where it is to be used. Second, the seed ears must come from well-developed stalks growing under normal conditions. Third, the seed prepared for planting must be strong in vitality and the kernels graded to uniform sizes for the planter. Tlie Variety of Corn. In testing the relative productiveness of varieties of corn under the same conditions, enormous differences have been found. Such differences are Inherent in the variety; they are varietal characteristics just as much as color, size of ear, or shape of kernel. Thero are many different varieties, or strains of corn, differing very much in yield- lng Power. By selecting a high yielding variety, or strain of enrr- that Is exercised to get one that will mature properly. Much loss has been occasioned by attempting to grow varieties that are too large and late for the locality. There is a wide range of difference between varieties produced In different latitudes as regards the length of season required for their proper development. The larger varieties of the southern portion of the State will not mature in the northern portion and the northern varieties will not occupy the full season, and are too small for southern Indiana. Seed corn' should always be secured as near home as possible, or at least In the same latitude. Indiana has good varieties for every section, or at least as good as can be found anywhere. Nothing better can be secured by going to other states. There are, doubtless, many good varieties or strains of corn In Indiana with which we are not acquainted, but In the thousands ot tests that have been conducted throughout the State in the last eight years by this station certain varieties have been found to be uniformly superior to others. The list of varieties found suitable for this which the vitality of seed corn may be Injured that it is never safe to assume that all of it ls in good condition. There may not be a single ear that will not grow, but there are very likely to be odd ones that are weak, and these are the ones which the germination test will help to weed out. Any one familiar with corn can detect a dead germ and pick out the ears that have been fatally injured, but a weak germ cannot be detected by any other means than the actual germination test. Every weak ear that goes to the planter means several hundreds of weak plants, or vacant places in the field, and a corresponding loss In yield. The germination test may be made in various ways, but in all cases each ear should be tested by Itself. Experiments have amply shown that as a rule the testing of a few kernels, picked at random from different parts of the ear, will safely determine whether or not the ear should be used for seed. The Individual ear test is the only means of finding out which are the poor and which are the really good ears. After the seed pans hav« been prop- and other Irregular kernels ls very important, because lt Is Impossible lor any planting machine to regularly drop the required number of grains per hill If they are not of the same size and shape. Many a poor stand of corn Is due solely to ununlform seed. Each ear should be shelled by itself and grain spread out thinly and carefully examined for broken, mouldy, or otherwise damaged kernels. It Is a good plan to use a set of screens of two sizes through which to pass the shelled corn, discarding that which Is retained on the larger and that which passes through the smaller. When seed of uniform size must be used, it should be graded Into large, medium and small sizes, and a suitable planter plate used for each. Testing the Planter. Having graded the corn and made It as uniform as possible, we must next find the set of planter plates that will drop the required number of kernels at least ninety-five times in every hundred. The planter should be set up In a convenient place and operated by Continued on page 9.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1913, v. 68, no. 18 (May 3) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA6818 |
Date of Original | 1913 |
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 | 2011-04-18 |
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 | VOL. LXVKI INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 3, 1913 NO. 18 How to Increase the Yield of the Corn Crop The character of the seed used is one of the most important factors in the production of a large corn crop, and especially because it is so liable to be defective. Fertile soil, good cultural methods, protection against insect enemies and plant diseases, are all of the utmost importance in contributing to the final results, but none of these factors can make amends for poor seed. A full stand of vigorous plants must be secured and the only By Prof. A. T. Wiancko, in Recent Purdue Circular. adapted to his soil and climatic conditions, the farmer can add much to his crop yield without additional expense. It costs no more to tend a good variety than it does to tend a poor one. Good varieties can easily be secured. No one has a patent or monopoly on them. In selecting a variety, care must be State was published in the Farmer of April 19. Tlie Germination T |
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