COOPERATIVE TESTS OF CORN VARIETIES 



Edward R. Minns 



Indian corn was cultivated in the region now constituting New York 

 State long before Europeans took possession of the country. It is the 

 oldest cultivated farm crop of the State, but by no means the most impor- 

 tant one at present. Crop statistics published by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture indicate that forty-six years ago (1866) the 

 acreage, production, and value of corn for New York were larger than 

 in any recent year. Development of the large corn-producing areas of 

 the Mississippi Valley following the close of the Civil War, and decline 

 of prices for farm products prior to 1900, brought the production of corn 

 in New York to a low figure in 1898. Since that time the rising price of 

 corn and the increasing importance of silage as a feed for dairy cattle have 

 stimulated corn production. The acreage planted has not increased so 

 much as have the rate of yield and the price. 



Increased yields of corn in recent years are probably due to more 

 intensive cultivation of farm lands adapted to corn, to the introduction 

 of large late-maturing varieties solely for silage purposes, and, to some 

 extent, to the influence of favorable seasons. The increased cost of dairy 

 feeds of all kinds is making greater the necessity of home production of 

 corn for economical feeding. There is a strong incentive to grow more and 

 better crops of corn for feeding on the farm. 



The Crop Reporter for December, 191 1, states that according to official 

 estimates of the acreage of corn harvested for silage in New York last year, 

 the yield from 36 per cent of the area planted was stored in silos. Prior to 

 1875 silos were not used in this country. Their popularity among miilk 

 producers has modified the problem of corn production for the State to 

 a large extent, so that much of the seed corn planted is produced in more 

 favored climates outside the State. 



Dent and flint varieties constitute the two types of field com grown in 

 the State. Both types are used for silage purposes, but the dent varieties 

 are more popular. A few dent and many flint varieties are matured for 

 grain and for stover. 



New York farms have a variety of soil types, a considerable range of 

 altitude, and a rather wide latitude. Soil conditions can be chosen and 

 modified to suit corn culture to a large extent, but climatic factors cannot 

 be changed. A proper selection of varieties and the improvement of 

 acclimated strains of corn must be the method followed, if the com 

 grower would succeed under the varying conditions found in different 

 localities about the State. 



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