26 The Bulletin. 



With a view to protect the farmer against the frauds of unscrupulous 

 seedmen and originators on the one hand, and to ascertain the varieties 

 best suited to the soils of the State on the other, the State Department 

 of Agriculture began several years ago to collect corn varieties from 

 different parts of the country, and to subject them to a rigid test on the 

 recognized corn soils of the State. Since then over sixty different varie- 

 ties have been collected and tested — some for longer, others for shorter 

 periods. 



The reader will bear in mind that in any given year all of the varie- 

 ties tested were subjected to identical soil and climatic conditions at 

 different points in the State and received identical treatment as to culti- 

 vation, fertilization, and previous preparation of land. 



In 1911 the Department put out varieties of corn at a number of 

 points in the State, covering several different soil types. Table l^o. I 

 shows the results of the work done at the Iredell Test Farm at States- 

 ville. Here the five highest yielders were "Weekley's Improved, Southern 

 Beauty, Snowflake, Poole, and Batts' Four-ear, in the order named; 

 while the five lowest yielding varieties were Shenandoah White Dent, 

 Marlboro Prolific, Goodman's Prolific, Henry Grady, and Crook's Pro- 

 lific, in the order named. 



Table No. II shows the results of the work at the Edgecombe Test 

 Farm at Rocky Mount. Here the five highest yielding varieties were 

 American Queen, E-1, Southern Beauty, Biggs' Seven-ear, and Good- 

 man's Prolific, in the order named ; while the lowest yielders were 

 Henry Grady, Shenandoah White Dent, Snowflake, Blount's Prolific, 

 and Cocke's Prolific, in the order named. 



In addition to the variety work done on the Test Farms, a number 

 of test experiments were made locally at different points in the State. 

 Table I^o. Ill shows merely the yield in bushels per acre secured at the 

 different points. In these tests Biggs' Seven-ear stood at the top, with 

 Eureka holding it a close second. The table is self-explanatory, but it 

 will be interesting to note that all the varieties made rather high yields 

 and that the yields of the same variety were very different at different 

 points in the State. Biggs' Seven-ear made less than thirty bushels at 

 Jackson, but over seventy bushels per acre at Tarboro. These differences 

 are due both to soil type and irregularities in soil fertility. 



Table No. IV shows the compiled results of the variety test work 

 done at the Edgecombe Farm 1909 to 1911 inclusive. Here the highest 

 yielding varieties during this time were Biggs' Seven-ear, Hickory King, 

 and Southern Beautv, in the order named. 



Table ISTo. V shows the compiled results of the tests made at the Ire- 

 dell Farm during the same period. Here Southern Beauty, Weekley's 

 Improved, and Parker's Prolific were the three highest yielders. 



Table No. VI shows an average yield of two years at the Buncombe 

 Test Farm. The three highest yielders on this farm during 1909 and 

 1910 were Southern Beauty, Hickory King, and Biggs' Seven-ear. 



I 



