Department of Plant Biology. 421 



bags should be laid, care being taken to see that the burlap is pressed 

 down closely at the corners and along the sides in order to keep all the 

 kernels uniformly moist. The box should now be placed near a stove, 

 where it is warm and where the temperature never goes below freezing. 

 The kitchen is usually a good place. The bags on the top of the box 

 should be sprinkled if there is any danger of their drying out. 



Within from four to seven days, depending to a great extent on the 

 temperature at which the germinating box is kept, the kernels will 

 have germinated sufficiently to allow the selection of the ears to be made. 

 The bags and piece of cloth should be taken off with great care so that 

 the com will not be disturbed. The kernels of each square should now 

 be examined in connection with the ear from which they were taken 

 and compared with the germinating kernels of the other ears. Great 

 differences will be at once apparent. Some ears will be represented 

 by kernels part of which as in ear No. 8, Fig. 3, show no germination. 

 All such ears should be discarded. Other ears will be represented by 

 kernels, which, as in No. 7, Fig. 3, germinate weakly. The roots will 

 be thin, yellow and sickly, and perhaps some kernels will be mouldy 

 and by their appearance as a whole show clearly lack of vigor. Those 

 ears, all, or part of whose kernels germinate weakly, should be dis- 

 carded. The kernels of still other ears will germinate vigorously with 

 strong, healthy sprouts, as is the case in ears No. 3 and 4, Fig. 3. Ears 

 represented by such kernels should be used for planting. 



If it is found necessary to buy seed corn in bulk, ask your seed merchant 

 for a sample and test several hundred kernels of this in a germinating 

 box similar to the above. A germination test of such bulk samples 

 can also easily be made by putting a piece of blotting paper in the 

 bottom of a pan, thoroughly moistening this and putting the kernels on 

 it. Now cover with some more wet blotting paper or wet cloths and 

 place a pane of glass over the top of the pan to prevent drying out 

 Keep the blotting paper and cloths damp. Examine at the end of 

 five or six da3^s. If less than eighty out of one hundred kernels 

 germinate vigorously, it cannot be considered good seed corn. 



Every farmer in the State should test the germination of the corn 

 he plants for seed. This is especially important with seed intended 

 for next year's planting. The work had best be done on some of these 

 winter evenings before the spring work begins. Let the boys and girls 

 do it. It will do them good and make the corn crop larger. 



CARE OF SEED CORN. 



When to harvest seed corn. — It is important that the seed com be 

 thoroughly dried out before it is subjected to severe freezing. It is desir- 



