LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 255 



mind what a model ear of corn should be, and select those ears that most 

 nearly approach that model. The perfect ear of corn is of good length, the 

 kernels are long, and the cob is small. The rows should be straight and 

 uniform, with no short ones. The ear should be well tipped out, and should 

 hold its size well to the tip. Save two or three times more than you want. 

 Spread in a room and dry with heat or hang in open air. I prefer the former 

 method. When about ready to plant, look your seed corn over, and select 

 enough to plant your ground; then look this over again, and select those ears 

 that most nearly approach your ideal of a perfect ear of corn. Shell this by 

 itself, and, if you cannot plant it by itself, plant it across one end of your 

 field from which to save your next year's seed. Practice this method every 

 year and you will soon discard, if you ever held, the old notion that corn 

 planted on the same ground year after year will deteriorate or run out. I 

 have never tried Prof. Beal's plan of cutting away the feeble stalks from the 

 seed plant before the corn is in bloom, but think the idea a good one and 

 worthy of trial. It certainly came from good authority. Always shell off the 

 tips. Perhaps some of my brother farmers present will take exception to this 

 idea. I beg of all who may doubt the wisdom of removing the tips, to try the 

 following experiment the coming season : Take from each of several ears a 

 dozen of the small round kernels at the extreme tip, and then take a dozen 

 well developed kernels from the middle of each ear, and plant in close 

 proximity. You will find in every instance that the plants produced by the 

 tip kernels will be small and feeble^ while those plants from the kernels from 

 the body of the ear will be strong and vigorous. The larger the corn the 

 longer the time it will require to mature. You cannot raise so much corn in 

 ninety days as you can in one hundred and twenty days. When you save 

 early corn you do so at the sacrifice of quantity, and vice versa. The better 

 way is to follow the golden mean and strive to raise as large corn as you cau 

 with the certainty of its maturing every season. As to color, I think it more 

 a matter of fancy than otherwise. I prefer a bright golden yellow, as it looks 

 richer and commands a better price in the market. When you save your seed 

 do not forget to save the finest dozen ears you can find, braid them into a neat 

 truss and take it to your county fair. If, at the close of the fair, you are able 

 to take down the truss honored with the blue card, and a bystander offers you 

 a fancy price for it, do not be afraid to say no. If you fail to get the first 

 premium do not go home angry, but try it again the next season. 



As to varieties I am unable to advise. Of course it depends largely on 

 locality and soil. Here in Kalamazoo county, where we can raise the dent 

 varieties to a good degree of perfection, it is folly to cultivate the flint varieties. 



CULTIVATIOii^. 



While your ground may be rich and mellow, and your seed may be shelled 

 from perfect ears, it is idle to expect a good crop without thorough cultivation. 

 In the early cultivation of corn, on friable soils, the Thomas smoothing harrow 

 is a good implement if used with discretion. On heavy clay soils, which have 

 been packed by rains, it would be worthless. 



The Thomas harrow consists of three sections containing eighty-one small 

 round steel teeth slanting backwards, which run right through the hill with 

 little or no injury to the corn, and loosen the ground just where it needs it; 

 whereas a cultivator leaves a square foot or so without stirring. The Thomas 

 harrow is easily drawn by one good horse, and will harrow eight or ten acres 

 both ways in a day. It may be harrowed with benefit the third or fourth day 



