318 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



humus supply. The growth of weeds on these worn-out lands is 

 simply an effort of nature to furnish humus, just as the growing up 

 of the wasted cotton lands of the south in pine timber is one of na- 

 ture's efforts to supply the waste that has come through poor farm- 

 ing. 



The old Latin poet remarked that "Easy is the descent to Aver- 

 nus" (a polite expression for what the Hebrews call Sheol, the 

 Greeks Hades, and we, in plain English, term hell) ; but to return, 

 there's the rub. It is much easier to maintain fertility than to re- 

 store it ; but restoration is possible, if the suggestions we have made 

 are followed out both in letter and in spirit. 



A student once asked Sir Joshua Reynolds how he mixed his 

 paints, and the old artist replied, 'With brains, sir." It is not pos- 

 sible to maintain or restore the fertility of even good land without 

 a liberal expenditure of the gray matter of the brain, which, after 

 ;all, is the best fertilizer ever applied to land. 



SEED CORN. 



(W. E. Johnson, Illinois.) 



It can hardly be expected that we are to add very much, ma- 

 terially, to what has already been said upon the seed corn question. 

 While it is true that after we have obtained a good variety of corn 

 and secured a sufRcient amount for the next year's planting, the one 

 thing needful is to preserve the same in good condition until the time 

 of seeding. I am aware of the fact that should I lay down any specific 

 rule to be observed, that I at once invite criticism from those who 

 are many years in advance of myself in this work ; yet, however fair 

 that criticism, it does not follow that the manner and methods used 

 by the seed corn growers are fully adapted to the farmer's wants 

 in general : 1st, because of the extra cost of building a house in 

 which to store the seed corn to prevent it from being injured by 

 freezing ; and, 2nd, because the farmer, having more work than he 

 can generallj^ perform well, cannot give the work the attention that 

 should, from the nature of the case, be given to it. I presume that 

 if I were to ask a number of men how they handle their seed, possi- 

 bly no two would give the same answer. 



Notwithstanding v/hat has been said in the bulletins and 

 through the newspapers as to the best methods of preserving seed 

 corn, you will find many claiming to have fully solved the proposi- 

 tion. One man will tell you that he and his grandfather before him 



