FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART III. 189 



The aftermath of this talk led Mr. Munson to say : 



I have four pastures. One is blue grass, clover and timothy. My pigs 

 run in that at will. I have three small pastures that I plow up about the first 

 of April and put oats and rape in. The hogs can not keep out of that 

 pasture. I have never told you before that my hogs run in rape up to their 

 backs. 1 let you guess that. If you don't give them corn you have to 

 give them that, i have yet to have the first hog that nad a sore ear in rape- 

 1 believe it is the smartweed and dog fennel that make sore ears. You will 

 find that when the dew is on the smartweed if you rub it on your hand it 

 will burn and I believe if there is none of it in the rape field the hogs will 

 not have sore ears. The gate is always open and they go in when they want 

 to. 



Further discussion of the rape problem brought out state- 

 ments from different men, that, "Oats and rape are hard to 

 beat;" "Professor Shaw and Professor Carlyle say they never 

 heard of rape causing sore backs or sore ears;" "I have raised 

 rape for five years and have never had any ill effects." 



THE TYPICAL CORN FOR FAT. 



On the subject of "The Typical Corn for Fat," H. C. Strater, 

 of Monroe, Iowa, said : 



The typical corn for fat requires a typical seed, a typical seed bed and a 

 typical cultivation. To begin with, in providing this typical seed, I would 

 select the seed in the fall before hard freezing, and place the corn in a room 

 where it does not freeze, keeping it there until thoroughly dry. I would 

 select ears from ten to twelve inches long, with eighteen or twenty rows to 

 the ear, with good depth of kernel, and kernel holding its width and thick- 

 ness from cap to cob, the caps to be finely dented and the kernels to be 

 uniform size after the tips and butts are taken off. The ears should be 

 of uniform thickness. I would avoid too large a cob or too small a cob, as 

 well as too large or too small kernels. I would not want a sleek or fliuty 

 corn. 



Having selected a good, strong seed, the next thing is the typical seed 

 bed . I would plow in the fall if stubble , or as early in the spring as possible, 

 so all the weed seed would start to growing before planting time. The last 

 of April or first ot May I would disk my corn ground at least twice, and then 

 I would harrow (not drag, as I must say there is too much dragging' done 

 and not enough harrowing). Having a good and uniform seed bed, the 

 next thing is to look after the planter and see if it is in good order. If 

 necessary it is better to spend a whole day to see that the plates are adjusted 

 so as to drop a uniform number of kernels. I would prefer 300 kernels to 

 100 hills. As to depth of planting, 1 prefer three inches. If you have good 

 strong seed and a good seed bed, do not be afraid to start the planter about 

 the 5th of May, even if it is a little cool. I have never known strong seed, 

 planted not over three inches deep, to fail. I would choose a kind of corn 

 that matures in 110 days I would consider this a typical corn for fat. I 



