The Bulletin. 9 



sired to breed milk-cows, it is not best to go back to the "scrub" to be- 

 gin selecting the desirable animals, but rather to begin with some of 

 the best of the recognized milk breeds, like the Jersey, Guernsey, etc., 

 and with these continue the improvement 'by breeding and selection. 



Jinijiiir/ tSet'd. . 



In buying seed, farmers should require the dealers to ship the corn 

 on the ear, and supply a statement as to where the seed were gTOwn. 

 This is essential, for as pointed out abov-e, if the corn were grown un- 

 der greatly difi'erent soil and climatic conditions the seed would seldom 

 prove satisfactory, although they might be of good quality and' from 

 an excellent variety. Another advantage of buying seed on the ear is 

 that when it comes if it is not satisfactory it may be returned to the 

 shipper; or if only a few ears are unsatisfactory they can easily be 

 thrown out before, shelling. It is best in shelling seed corn that each 

 ear should be shelled separately before putting with others, so that 

 ears with undesirable characteristics may most easily be discarded. 



It is not always cheapest to buy the seed corn that can be purchased 

 for the least money. In Department tests, as great differences as ten 

 bushels of shelled corn per acre excess over the best varieties of our 

 native corn have frequently been found. ISTow, placing native corn,- 

 selected in the usual way, at sixty cents, and the best field-selected va- 

 rieties at one dollar and fifty cents per bushel, and assuming a bushel 

 of corn will plant six acres, it will make the seed of laud planted in 

 native corn cost ten cents, while that planted from seed of the best 

 varieties cost twenty-five cents per acre. I^ow deducting the differ- 

 ence in cost of seed, which is fifteen cents, we have a gain in favor 

 of the planting of seed of the most prolific varieties of $5.85 per acre. 



On the other hand, because a variety is advertised in extravagant 

 superlatives and quoted at an advanced price, it is not always a guar- 

 ■ antee of its worth. . Hence the best method to pursue in purchasing- 

 seed corn is to buy only from the most reliable seedsmen and have it 

 shipped on the cob, so as to enable the buyer to see just what he is get- 

 ting. This precaution is advised because it is a well-established fact 

 that many seedsmen buy wdiole surplus crops of corn and without a 

 particle of selection, other than removing rotten ears, shell and screen 

 it and place it upon the market, after thoroughly advertising it, at a 

 price many times the market price of ordinary corn, and often it is 

 no better — and sometimes decidedly inferior. 



Field Selection of Seed. 



The proper place to select seed corn is in the field at or just before 



gathering time, and select from stalks that have more than one good 



, developed ear per stalk, as such seed will tend to produce an increased 



yield in the next year's crop. Ears of medium length and size are 



preferable to the long and large ones, because the latter were gener- 



