VOL. LIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 22, 1904.
NO 43.
THE SELECTION AND SAVING OF SEED CORN.
Have a Seed Patch.
lst Premium.—We are very careful in
selecting our seed corn for the next year's
crop. Before the core, is cut up, we
go over the field and select the best ea___
of corn, those which are well filled out at
the ends and have a large amount of corn
on them. A portion of! husk is left on,
so they can be tied in pairs.. . It is taken
to the house, and hung up on the outside
only. Tho barren stalks in a field cut
down the average a great deal.
Several other plants have been improved
so they produced a great deal more than
they formerly did.. The corn plant can
also be mado to yield a groat deal more
than it does now, Iby careful seed selection. O. B.
Howard Co.
Plant Good Grains from Good Ears.
2d Premium.—Seed corn, as well as
most other seed, should be selected from
the field. The corn crib is a very poor
place to select seed.        The reason is ob-
to inrcrease your yield. Next spring.,
prepare a plot of ground, isolated from
_ny other corn (to prevent pollcnation from
other varieties), and plant. AVe may call
this plot of ground our "seed patch." Now
next fall go through your "seed patch"
and select, as you did before, enough of
the best ears for your "seed patch" the
following year, and use the rest for your
regular field planting, of course always
discarding the faulty. Let me say right
heie that it is just ias essential to select
only the best grains, those that have been
we" fertilized and matured. It seems
to me that if this plan be kept up, not
Doos :t pay to be careful in saving se'.-d
c'-rn. It does; also in saving any other
seed. AVhen you have saved your se.d
(•orn as above indicated, you know that
every grain will come when planted, if
conditions are half right. If you are going to plant one bushel, save three, thua
having enough for two years, or to supply a neighbor. This year is an exception as to time of gathering, at least
20 days late. C.  B.
Clay Co.
Premiums cf $1, 75 cents,    50    centa
are given for the first,    second and third
of the woodhouse and left to dry. The
corn is then taken down and stored away
in a dry place, free from mice and rats,
and left until planting time the next
spring. It is then taken down, and the
best ears shelled to plant, care being
taken to select ears that have extra long
grains and a (Uniform cob, one that Approaches our ideal of corn as near ..s
possible. By  such   selection  the   cor.i
is sorted over twice, and only tlie best
planted. A\re never fail to have a very-
good stand and good corn. I think that
it pays to be very careful saving seed corn,
or, in fact, seed for any kind of farm
crops.
A good way to have good seed com is
to plant a. special patch for seed, or taKe
one side of the field for that purpose.
Then, when the corn is in tassel, go over
the field and cut out the tassel of all of
tbe stalks without ears, or those that are
undesirable seed plants. After it matures,
gather the best corn from the patch. By
such practice, all barren stalks are done
away with. The corn plant is fertilized,
to a very great extent, by tlie surrounding
com, as a very large amount of pollen is
produced upon the tassel and scattered by
the wind and insects. It is possible
for each grain on an ear to bo fertilized
by a different plant By cutting the
tassel off of all barren stalks, one knows
the corn is influenced by productive plants
vious. You can tell nothing about the
surroundings that have produced it. N..t
only the product, but the entire life, of
the   plant   should   be   considered. We
must remember this principle—like begets
like. Any  tendency brought  about  by
environment of this year will produce lile
tendencies in the crop of next year. These
tendencies may be good or bad. They
may be such as will inorease production
and enhance vitality, or they may act .o
dwarf and weaken. Then not only tlu.
ear should be taken into account, but
rather the whole plant, together with its
surroundings that have influenced its life.
The stalk of corn that has "best overcome
the adverse power of a drouth, and has
produced a complete, well formed and matured ear. is the one to select by those
whose land is of such texture as will not
retain moisture well. That is to say.
the farnier must select his seed to suit
the conditions of his land and climate.
He must select from plants that have
hest oveireome tlieir enemies.
I have this plan jto suggest, one equally
adapted to the selection ofl seeds of all
plants: Go through your corn fie'd
this fall, (now is la, good time), and select
from the healthiest, best formed and
earliest matured plants a few regularly
formed and deep gmined cars. Select
from those plants that have produced two
ears, if you desire to develope a variety
for a number of years only, but all tho
time, we would be able, not only to increase the yield and improve the variety,
but t> produce a variety of corn that i-
better adapted to the respective conditions
of our hind.
As to preserving this vitality of this
seed during the winter, any place that is
dry, cool and secure from the encroachment of mice ami rats, will suffice.
Lawrence Co. S. J.
Save More Than You Expect to Use.
3d Premium.—I will give my way, one
that I have practiced for years and with
perfect satisfaction. As soon, as the
com shows brown husk, usually fiom September li_th to 30th, I take a basket aud
go through tlie field, and select such ears
ns I wish—those most matured, that are
borne on good-sized stalks, not too high
nor yet too low, with shank from four to
six inches long, one that hangs with point
down, so as to prevent the rain from entering the ear, and always being careful
not to get ears where there is any barren
stalks or smut near. Strip the husk back,
tie two ears together, and hang on pole
in airy loft. Should the weather prove
damp for several days after gathering, 1
close tlie room. Put a pan or pot of
live cords in the room, and keep it there
as long as necessary or until the corn is
dry. i
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Fanner Company and should reach ua one week bo-
fore date of publication.
No. 451, Oct. 29.—Give experience In
feeding steers for market.
No. 452, Nov. 5.—Tell how to put away
the farm implements for winter.
No. 453, Nov. 12.—Will the farmers'
wives aint daughters please tell us how
they make the cakes, puddings, etc., for
the Thanksgiving dinner.
Agriculture is so neglected in Russia
that the average yield of wheat an acre is
little more than one-flfth the average
yield from English soil.
The attempt to find coal in Delaware
county in paying quantities h!as been
abandoned, and those holding leases on
supposed coal lands have surrended them.
Quails are becoming so scarce that both
France and Germany have talbsolutely prohibited their killing.
An Austrian student of the phenomena
attending suicide says that of those persons who try to take their life by shooting themselves, only one-third succeed in «
attaining their end at once. Another third
die after a long period of suffering from
the wound inflicted, while the remaining
third survive.