6 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



to increase this industry. It is estimated that during the year 

 1908 there were produced in the United States 2,643,000,000 

 bushels of corn. There is no other crop in this country or any 

 other that is worth so much. Not only the grain itself is the 

 corner stone of our prosperity, but an advance is being made in 

 the development of the valuable by-products. 



New England practically abandoned corn raising many years 

 ago, when corn was raised so abundantly on the cheap lands of 

 the West, and was sent to the East and sold at a very low figure. 

 Then it seemed to the average farmer that he could buy it 

 cheaper than he could raise it, but the day of cheap corn from 

 the West has passed. There is no cheap corn land and the 

 farmers of Maine will do no wiser thing than to give more atten- 

 tion to this industry and create a new interest in it. The corn 

 plant has two feeding values, one as grain and the other as fod- 

 der. An acre of corn fodder is generally worth as much as 

 an acre of good grass. In a -rotation, with a cash crop like 

 potatoes, this crop is of great value. The premiums offered by 

 Dr. G. M. Twitchell at the State Dairy Conference at Dexter, 

 for the best exhibit of corn raised by a boy 18 years of age or 

 under, resulted in a large display of good corn, and we are 

 confident stimulated a new interest in the growing of this valu- 

 able crop. The indications are that the acreage of corn planted 

 in Maine the coming year will exceed that of 1908 by more than 

 one-third. The constantly increasing price of corn has aroused 

 the farmers, and they are becoming convinced that they can pro- 

 duce their corn to better advantage than they can purchase it. 

 Another thought that encourages the farmer is that the possibili- 

 ties of improving the corn crop through careful seed selection 

 and thorough culture are large. Experiments show that an 

 advance in yield of ten bushels per acre has been gained as the 

 result of selection of seed. This would mean three to five mil- 

 lion dollars added to the value of the com crop in the United 

 States. Alaine should be doing her part. If by careful breed- 

 ing a variety can be obtained which will mature earlier as well 

 as yield more abundantly, it will mean much to the corn indus- 

 try of our State. 



Plant breeding through seed selection is a line of work which 

 has been too much neglected. In recent years results are being 



