^ DAIRY MEETING. /I 



develop positive, aggressive, well balanced manhood. No field 

 is more inviting today than that of flint com production and 

 im]>rovement. It has been a source of great satisfaction to find 

 men in every part of Maine, where the corn crop matures, who 

 have for years been working out the problem and to learn that 

 in every case, they were obtaining results far in advance of their 

 neighbors. From some of these I have secured sample ears 

 which I assure you it is a pleasure to bring for your inspection. 



With these I desire to present the very complete methods of 

 seed selection followed by representative farmers. One grower 

 in Eastern Penob.-cot, Mr. S. T. Mallett of Carroll, sends sample 

 ears from seed grown by him the past eighteen years, originat- 

 ing in Lee, and selected at husking time, taking the most vigor- 

 ous ears only, smallest in cob, with kernels of uniform size, the 

 result being a marked increase in size of ear and yield of shelled 

 corn. Here is the evidence of that thoroughness which counts 

 in the case of Mr. B. F. Clark, Kenduskeag, Maine, whose story 

 makes good reading. 



"I moved to this farm eleven years ago this month and the 

 see(] from which this corn was raised was here when I came and 

 for many years prior. I can give only ten years of its history 

 under my care. I found the original seed uneven and ver\' 

 much 'zigzag" on the cob but very early, so I determined to try 

 and better it bv selecting the best and giving good culture. My 

 method in selecting seed is to note the first ears that show on 

 the stalk by marking them and following the marked ears 

 through the season, then at husking time. I reject all that do not 

 come up to a certain standard which standard with me is as 

 follows : First, I select the longest ears with large grains ; 

 second, taking care that every row is snug together from tip to 

 butt, allowing no slack spaces between rows at butt ; third, I 

 select the smallest cob possible ; fourth, I try to have every row 

 straight on the cob; fifth, I want the cob as small as possible 

 where it breaks from the parent stalk. This method I have 

 followed for ten years and if you could have seen the seed I 

 started with, you would be surprised at the change. You will 

 see two or three places on the ear where the kernels are a little 

 crowded. When I shell my seed I reject these seeds if I find 

 any and when shelling for seed I discard about two inches of 



