Rural School Leaflet. 901 



Many ears of corn handled in the way the average farmer handles 

 them will not furnish seeds that germinate at all. Even among those 

 ears that have been most carefully dried and cared for, ears are fre- 

 quently found having no seeds that germinate. It therefore becomes 

 important that the farmer should ascertain the germinating quality of 

 his seed even though it has been carefully selected and stored. 



Experience teaches that best results are secured by the use of seed 

 that has been carefully selected for a series of years with reference to 

 the locality in which it is to be grown. If, therefore, the farmer is to 

 have the very best seed he will probably have to grow and care for it 

 himself. Although there are seedsmen who are now making a specialty 

 of corn, who can furnish seed of most excellent quality for certain local- 

 ities, the difnculty is that these seedsmen in their eagerness to do busi- 

 ness will recommend the seed that is known to be excellent for Illinois 

 for planting in New York or Maine. The chances are that seed grown 

 in New York or Maine would be better for these sections. 



Although corn is not so much at home in New York as in some other 

 states, yet the fact remains that often on many New York soils the corn 

 plant will produce a larger amount of good palatable animal food per 

 acre or per a given amount of labor expense than almost any other crop. 



Because of its large succulent stalks it is not so easy to cure and save 

 corn by drying as some of the finer grasses. Owing to this fact the 

 making of silage has come to be recognized as one of the best ways of 

 utilizing the corn crop. It is found to be more economical both as to 

 labor and as to waste that the crop be put into the silo at harvest 

 time rather than be handled in other ways. Most animals require more 

 or less succulent food during the winter period and the silage meets 

 this requirement. Properly made silage when judiciously fed is one of 

 the most wholesome, one of the most healthful, and one of the most 

 profitable of cattle foods. 



Every normal person should feel an earnest desire to leave the world 

 morally, intellectually, and physically better than it was when he came 

 into it. To give to the world or to a community a variety of farm crop 

 that is better than anything of its kind that preceded it, is certainly 

 an ambition worthy of any of us. Each individual farmer can con- 

 tribute something toward the attainment of such an end. A few per- 

 sons have been able to contribute to the public good such acquisitions 

 as the Concord Grape, the Burbank Potato, and the Baldwin apple. 

 But usually such acquisitions are the result of the labors of a large 

 number of persons who co-operate toward a common end. It is the 



