8 The Bulletin. 



IREDELL TEST FARM. 



Work in the testing of varieties of both cotton and corn was 

 carried on here last season. Table No. 2 shows the results of the 

 variety tests of corn on the Cecil loam soils, of which this farm is 

 largely composed. The test included 37 varieties. 



It will be noted that the highest yields here ran somewhat lower 

 than those at the Edgecombe Farm. Parker's Cock's, which ranked 

 among the low yielders at the Edgecombe Farm, made the highest 

 yield here. But five of the varieties made over 30 bushels per acre. 

 The average weight of a bushel of shelled corn is somewhat lower 

 on this farm than on the Edgecombe Farm, but a large number of the 

 varieties have more than the standard number of pounds per bushel. 



Parker's Cock's Prolific, Wilson's Success, and Boone County Spe- 

 cial led in yields here the past year, while Selection 77 and Peele's 

 made the smallest yields per acre. The prolific corns make the 

 largest yields here, as they do at the Edgecombe Farm. The smallest 

 eared variety, as shown by the table, was Biggs' Seven Ear, which 

 required 200 ears to shell one bushel. 



There were 21 varieties of cotton under test on this farm the 

 past season. Table No. 3 shows the results of the test. The yield 

 of seed cotton only is given. There will be noted a wide difference 

 in the yields of the different varieties. The value of the seed cotton 

 at 5 cents a pound ran all the way from $18.37 in the case of the 

 Peterkin to $51.75 in the case of King's Improved — a difference of 

 $33.38 in favor of King's Improved. 



The ten highest yielding varieties were King's Improved, Mis- 

 sionary, Shine's Extra Early Prolific, Pullnot, Ninety Day, Alex- 

 ander Money-maker, Culpepper's Improved, Simpkins' Early Pro- 

 lific, Russell Big Boll Prolific, and Brown's No. 1. Most of these 

 are small-boiled cottons, which seem better suited to this part of the 

 cotton belt than do the larger boiled sorts. King's Improved has 

 been grown in this part of the State for a long time and seems to 

 have become adapted to the soil and climatic conditions existing here, 

 and is now ready to do its best work. 



Column 1 shows the relative germination of the different va- 

 rieties. It will be noted that no variety had over 86 per cent germina- 

 tion, while some fell as low as 40 per cent. It is very desirable that 

 all seed for planting should have at least 80 per cent germination, 

 but this condition of the seed can be had only by careful handling 

 to prevent heating and subsequent fermentation. It would be well 

 for each planter to test the germination of his cotton seed and seed 

 corn before planting. To do this it is only necessary to take a small 

 sample of 100 seed and plant them in a box containing moist soil 

 and allow them to sprout. The number that comes up and grows 

 off well will represent the percentage of germination. In this way 

 the relative vitality of the seed can be easily ascertained. 



