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IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



until it is time to get it ready for planting. When removing the tip 

 and butt kernels, every ear should be carefully examined and if there 

 are any indications of mold or other imperfections, the ear should be 

 rejected. When gathering seed corn, three or four times the quantity 

 required should be secured to allow a close inspection, and the rejection 

 of all but the most perfect ears. 



Having thus indicated the only method by which seed corn can be 

 successfully saved in Iowa, not some seasons but always, I cannot 

 refrain from calling attention briefly to a few more requisites in secur- 

 ing the best results, even with good seed to begin with. A uniform 

 stand is essential, but this cannot be secured even with the best seed 

 unless the kernels are practically uniform in size and shape. While we 

 reject the tip and butt kernels on account of their size and shape, this 

 is not sufficient, as the kernels on different ears vary in size, and it is 

 impossible to secure uniform dropping unless the kernels are of the 

 same size and shape. 



An exhibit at our State Fair for a number of years, and also at the 

 Louisiana Purchase Exposition held at St. Louis last year, that attracted 

 a great deal of attention from farmers especially, was a corn planter 

 in motion, being operated by an electric motor. Beneath the heel of the 

 planter an endless belt revolved, and at every check of the planter 

 three kernels of corn would drop on the belt, and be carried for 

 eight or ten feet, in full view of the onlooker before it fell in the box 

 provided for receiving it, when it dropped from the belt. To all 

 appearances the planter was not different from other corn planters OQ 

 the market, the only peculiarity being that it dropped unerringly three 

 kernels at every stroke of the checker. To me it was somewhat amus- 

 ing to hear farmers extol the quality of this corn planter and denounce 

 their own planter that would drop from two to five kernels at each 

 stroke, and the remark was often heard, "I am going to buy one of 

 these planters, for it beats any planter I have ever seen for uniform 

 dropping." 



Passing by this exhibit one morning before the crowd gathered I ran 

 my hand through the corn being used and remarked, with a wink at 

 the exhibitor, that the kernels were the most uniform in size I had 

 ever seen. The exhibitor understood, and frankly stated that he 

 passed the corn through and over sieves or riddles about a dozen times 

 until he had secured a half bushel of corn that to use his own language 

 "one kernel did not vary a hair's breadth from the size of the others." 



Every farmer can practice the same method, and either by selection by 

 the eye, or the use of sieves of different sizes, kernels of uniform size can 

 be secured, and the seed plates of the planter can then be selected, that 

 will drop uniformly three kernels in each hill. 



To secure the best results from the planter the ground must be smooth 

 with a mellow surface, and free from everything that would prevent the 

 planter from running at a uniform depth. A great deal of corn is 

 planted directly after the plow, in the belief that the harrow will do much 

 more efficient work after the planter when the ground is rough than it 



