' r )0 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



planted the Iowa Silver Mine which you all know is a large white 

 corn. Some may say plant yellow com, which is much earlier, 

 whereas my yellow corn was sounder and more fully matured, but 

 much smaller variety, and I didn't get much more than half as 

 much corn or feed per acre. Nevertheless, my immatured crop 

 both in fodder and corn was greater and was worth more acre for 

 acre. I don't think I lost anything by so doing. While our Sil- 

 ver Mine corn for the last four years has ripened well, this year 

 it did not get ripe and I guess this will hold good throughout the 

 whole state. 



In regard to the time to plant corn, I believe the great trouble 

 is that we ask of our soil more than it is in condition to bear. I 

 beLyeive that is one cause of the trouble of our having barren 

 stalks. Now, I have made a study of that to a considerable ex- 

 tent. This last fall Mr. Wallace, through Wallaces' Farmer, sent 

 out papers containing questions to be answered by people through- 

 out the state. For the fanners to go through the cornfield and 

 count the ban-en stalks. I noticed his report when it came in was 

 that there was twenty-five to thirty-five per cent of barren stalks 

 throughout the state reported on. That caused me to go into my 

 field. I counted 200 stalks in a row. In the first 200 stalks I 

 counted only one barren stalk. I then went six rods further and 

 counted 200 stalks in that row and found three barren stalks. I 

 went another six rods and counted 200 stalks and found three bar- 

 ren stalk, so out of 800 stalks I counted in the row I only had 

 seven banen stalks of corn. That set me to thinking as to what 

 might be the reason for this ; that while others found from 25 to 

 35 per cent, I found less than one per cent. I will tell you what 

 the reason was : This land of mine had been thoroughly manured 

 both with horse and cattle manure for the last ten years ; has been 

 thoroughly covered with not less than twenty loads per acre every 

 three years. Consequently, the elements were to be found in the 

 soil for genninating, growing and producing and perfecting a stalk 

 of corn in every hill, and, mnd you, these hills had from three to 

 four stalks in every hill, and where there would be less than three 

 stalks in a hill there were two ears to the hill. Consequently, I 

 came to the conclusion that these people that had such a per cent 



