106 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



for seed corn; but I wasn't satisfied to just tell them, I went 

 around with the superintendent and selected a place in some 

 of the buildings where there was steam heat, and good ventila- 

 tion. We selected our seed corn in September, picking out the 

 best ears just past the roasting-ear stage, and right over the 

 boilers we had our seed corn strung where it would get the full 

 benefit of that heat, and in the twelve years that T was a mem- 

 ber of the Board of Control we did not have to replant a single 

 hill of ■corn. I had patience with the men who had that work 

 to do, and was rewarded by getting results. 



Gentlemen, we have had a great deal of erroneous teaching 

 Avith regard to seed corn. I have tried time and again to con- 

 vince farmers of low^a that there is only one place for seed 

 corn to be kept and that is in a dwelling house. In the early days 

 there was no harm in taking seed corn in the house^ but when we 

 built modern homes we got a little toney and put the seed corn 

 in an outbuilding. I got in the same fix one year. We had an 

 outbuilding that was plastered and my wife said, "John, I don't 

 want to keep seed corn in the house now." We had a carpet on 

 the floor, while we used to have a bare floor, and so I put it in the 

 outbuilding. The outbuilding had a shingle roof, but there was 

 no heat, and the corn was a failure. I supposed it would grow just 

 the same without any testing, and I did not test it. AA^e planted 

 that corn that year three times and it cost me over $3,000. I called 

 my wife's attention to it and she apologized and said, "I don't 

 want trouble of that kind with the seed corn again." 



If every man here, and every man connected with the State 

 Agricultural Society, and my friend here, Professor Curtiss, will 

 get over the idea of not taking seed corn into the house, you will 

 find no more difficulty in havin,^' satisfactory seed corn. At one 

 time wlien I was advocating the ?,aving of seed corn by this method 

 a newspaper reporter present wrote up an article in which he said 

 I told them to take the corn into the best room in the house, take 

 it right into the parlor with the piano, and m order to get best 

 results it should have a tune once in a while. I have never gone 

 quite so far as that, but if you will take your corn into the house 

 and give it artificial heat, you will have no more corn failures. 



The Chairman : According to our program we have one more 

 paper to be read before lunch, but Dr. Chappel has kindly con- 

 sented to read it this afternoon, so it will be postponed until that 

 time. 



