Corn Growers' Associatioyi. 183 



and more thorough cultivation. An increase secured in any of 

 these ways, however, is at a considerable expense, so that the profit 

 is limited. On the other hand, an increased yield secured from a 

 selection of a better variety is clear gain after the seed has been 

 secured ; and the increase in yield as great, and often much greater, 

 than by any of these other methods — in some cases one variety 

 yielding over twice as many bushels per acre as another. 



Within the last year the question has been coming with ever- 

 increasing frequency, "What is the best variety of corn for me to 

 grow on my farm?" Sometimes this question comes from a farmer 

 living on the rich flat bottoms in Southeast Missouri ; again, it 

 comes from a farmer on the lighter, colder upland soils of North- 

 west Missouri ; and, again, from the Ozarks, or from the central 

 west. The question which must be decided is whether or not these 

 men will all be given the same answer. The purpose of co-operative 

 corn testing has been to answer these questions and, if possible, 

 to answer them rightly. 



Missouri is a large state, made up of many distinct and differ- 

 ing types of soil, and with a wide range of climatic conditions, so 

 that results secured from a variety test in one part of the State 

 might not be at all representative of other parts. While practi- 

 cally all of the different varieties which gave any promise of use- 

 fulness in the State have been tested at the Experiment Station 

 at Columbia, yet one can not know from these tests that the varie- 

 ties which produce the highest yields here will give highest yields 

 under other conditions. 



The plan has been to test these varieties which give the greatest 

 promises of value, on all of the soil types of the State; in every 

 part of the State ; in every county in the State. How well this has 

 been accomplished is shown by the accompanying map. Here it 

 is seen that practically every county in the State has in it one 

 or more men testing, in co-operation with the Agricultural College, 

 these different varieties. These men are testing the different varie- 

 ties of corn on their own soils ; on their own farms, so that at the 

 end of the season they may know just what variety will give the 

 largest yield of most marketable corn on their farms. It would 

 seem that a test of this sort would be of practical value to every 

 farmer and to every community. The Department of Agronomy 

 furnished each co-operator with enough seed of the 12 different 

 varieties to plant one-fourth acre each. These were planted side 

 by side, great care being taken that they be placed on soil of equal 

 fertility, the different varieties usually being planted in a few 



