CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION. II3 



The following cultivations should be no deeper than is necessary to 

 keep the ground clean. Many cultivate corn as though the roots went 

 straight down instead of spreading out through the surface of the soil. 

 Jt is very essential that we disturb the roots as little as possible when the 

 corn is "laid by.'' We are very apt to feel that as this is our last chance 

 at the corn, we must give it a "good laying by," and especially if the 

 weeds have gotten a start. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE PROPER CARE OF SEED CORN. . 



(M. F. Miller, iu Circular of Informatloa No. 19, Missouri Agricultural College.) 



The low vitality of much of our seed corn is due to the fact that it 

 is improperly cared for during the fall and winter months. If the corn 

 is not thoroughly dry by the time hard freezing weather comes, its 

 vitality is sure to be injured. It makes little difference how low the 

 temperature may fall if the corn is perfectly dry, but any hard freezing 

 when the corn is damp will weaken its vitality and even prevent the 

 germination of many kernels entirely. It is usually thought that if 

 corn comes up, the vitality has not been injured, but experiments have 

 shown that corn stored in the crib will not only produce less vigorous 

 stalks than those from corn that has been properly cared for but will 

 fail to make as much corn per acre under exactly similar circumstances, 

 the difference running from 4 to 16 bushels per acre, depending on the 

 season. These figures should convince any one that the proper care of 

 seed corn offers one of the simplest and most important means of in- 

 creasing corn yields. If we allow an increase of 5 bushels per acre (it 

 will usually be much more than this) on a crop of 50 acres, the extra 

 yield would amount to 250 bushels which at 35 cents is worth $87.50. 

 The extra time necessary to properly care for the seed would not be over 

 a day and the expense of putting up drying racks is very trifling, as they 

 may be made of any sort of lumber. 



Plant Corn of Strong Vitality. — The failure to plant corn of strong 

 germinating qualities is undoubtedly responsible for the greater number 

 of poor stands of corn. The matter of getting a uniform distribution 

 cf seed is but secondary to the more important factor, that of planting 

 only corn which is known to be of strong vitality. Germination tests 

 which have just been made at the experiment station with a number of 

 samples of corn from farmers' cribs around Columbia, show an average 

 germination of but 63J/2 per cent. This means that there will be a great 

 deal of corn in the State this spring of weak vitality, and unless proper 



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