Rural School Leaflet 1305 



4. Select the best ear when fancy points only are considered. 



5. Select the best ear all points considered. 



6. Repeat this method with other ten-ears exhibits. 



Teachers will find the boys and girls much interested in corn judging, 

 and, if an occasional opportunity is made during the fall to practice the 

 scoring of com, the results will be found worth while from an educational 

 point of view, and from the point of view of general interest. The prac- 

 tice exercises may well look forward to, and reach their eubnination in, 

 Com Day (page 1378), 



TESTING THE GERMINATION OF SEED CORN 

 Milton Pr.\tt Jones'* 



It is highly important every year that the ears of com that are to be 

 used for seed be tested as to their ability to genninate. The boys and girls 

 can test the seed com to be used on the whole farm and can feel that their 

 work really amounts to something. 



The first process in the preparation of the seed com is the selection of 

 the best ears. This should be done at harvest time by selecting good ears 

 from good stalks. A considerable number more than will be necessary to 

 plant a crop of the size desired should be selected; then the germination 

 of each of the ears should be tested by the following method. 



Method of testing germination 



The simplest way to test seed corn is by means of the germinating box. 

 Almost any sort of a box from four to eight inches deep and of a size 

 depending on the number of ears to be tested can be used. The box, how- 

 ever, should not be too large for one person to carry easily. Soap boxes 

 or tomato can boxes, which may be obtained at a grocery store, are per- 

 fectly satisfactory. The box should be half filled with sand or sawdust, 

 preferably sawdust, thoroughly moistened but not saturated. The saw- 

 dust should be two or three inches deep, and should be packed down so 

 that the surface is even and smooth. 



A piece of white cloth slightly larger than the size of the box should 

 be ruled off with a lead pencil, checkerboard fashion, into squares from 

 one and one-half to two and one-half inches in size. Each square should 

 be numbered. This cloth should be placed over and in close contact with 

 the sawdust or the sand, and tacked to the comers and the sides of the 

 box. 



Then the seed ears that are to be tested for germination, should be 

 arranged in a row on the floor, a table, or a shelf, in a place where they 



'Revised by the editors. 



