158 Missouri AgricMltural Report. 



quarter to one acre, depending upon the size of the corn crop 

 grown. If a farmer is planting a large corn acreage and twenty- 

 five ears are not sufficient, a larger number can be selected each 

 year and the seed patch increased in size. 



This method is not so complex but that every man who is 

 growing from ten to twenty acres of corn could well afford to put 

 it into practice. It requires little time and extra expense and no 

 note keeping. The seed patch could be cultivated alone or in 

 connection with some other crop, such as potatoes. If planted in 

 hills, the seed patch should be thinned to a regular stand of either 

 two or three stalks per hill, according to the richness of the soil. If 

 drilled it should be thinned out so that there is only about one 

 stalk per foot in the rows. In other words, the stalks in the 

 seed patch should not be crowded. 



The general application of even this simple method of seed 

 improvement throughout the country would doubtless mean an 

 average increase of some five bushels per acre in our corn crop. 



SECOND METHOD OF CORN SEED IMPROVEMENT. 



Select the twenty-five best ears obtainable in the beginning 

 as indicated above, preserving them carefully under the best con- 

 ditions. When ready to plant, shell these twenty-five ears, dis- 

 carding imperfect kernels at apex and base, and keeping the 

 grain from each ear in a separate bag. Number these bags 1, 2, 

 3, etc., up to 25. 



1909 OPERATIONS. 



We will assume that planting operations begin in spring of 

 1909. Select a small field where the soil is uniform and which 

 is at some distance from any other corn field, at least from 500 

 to 1,000 feet, and which is large enough for fifty rows twenty-five 

 hills long. Plant twenty-five hills in each row with five kernels 

 per hill. Rows 1 and 26 should be planted from bag one, rows 

 2 and 27 from bag 2, and so on until rows 25 and 50 are planted 

 from bag 35. In this way the grower will have left over about 

 one-half of the seed of each ear numbered the same as the corre- 

 sponding rows. Save this seed carefully, keeping each lot in its 

 numbered bag. ... 



After the corn in this- seed- patch is well up, thin uniformly 

 to three stalks per hill. Should land be. poor, thin to two stalks 

 per hill. Cultivate just the same as an ordinary crop. 



