184 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



3. Character of ear, condition of corn and percentage of corn to cob, 

 all important in working up good, marketable corn and good yields. 



4. The acre' the unit for all tests, be it quantity, quality, or special 

 characteristics. 



The value of this work in corn is clearly shown by the experience 

 given by a farmer who attended the corn school last year. He says: 



"I came here last winter, went home and picked out a bushel and a 

 half of seed corn from seventeen bushels I had reserved for seed. This 

 bushel and a half I shelled and prepared for planting by discarding all 

 large and all small grains. My seed corn when finally ready to plant, 

 was uniform in size of grains. I secured an unusually good stand, and 

 a yield of over seventy-five busnels per acre, which was exceptional! ; T 

 good for this last year (1902). This superior yield I attribute wholly to 

 the knowledge gained here this last winter." 



Air. R. S. Hooper, foreman of a large corn and stock farm in Mis- 

 souri, could scarcely say enough of the value he felt the school of 1903 

 would prove to him, while Mr. E. G. Butler, from the far-famed and his- 

 toric Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, told the writer of this sketch: 



"I never dreamed there was so much to be learned about common 

 corn. It is one of the staple crops in our valley and I am going home 

 to put in practice the things I nave learned here. They have been of 

 great value to me, and will revolutionize our methods of raising corn 

 in Virginia." 



The corn school closed with an examination; those passing a satis- 

 factory test were granted corn judging certificates by the agronomy depart- 

 ment of the college. Two hundred and fifty students took this examina- 

 tion. 



The Ioica Homestead offered $68 in prizes for the best corn exhibited 

 by students enrolled in the school and $32 in prizes to the best corn 

 judges shown by the examinations. This together with the enthusiasm 

 developed in the school led to the organizing of a Corn Growers' Associa- 

 tion. The objects of this association are: "Improvement and develop- 

 ment of varieties of corn adapted to Iowa; to encourage better and more 

 thorough methods of cultivation; to secure better seed and to aid in 

 the organization of local clubs for the study and improvement of corn." 



The state nas been divided into three primary districts and each of 

 these into a number of subordinate districts with an executive officer in 

 each. Two hundred and seventy-five dollars has been subscribed for pre- 

 miums at the corn school in 1904 and the members confidently hope to 

 raise the full amount to $1,200 before the close of the year. 



A Grand Champion Prize has been promised by the Wallaces' Farmer, 

 Mr. A. E. Cook of Odeboldt promises a Trophy Prize, Mr. Whiting in 

 charge of the Agricultural exhibit for Iowa at the World's Fair at 

 St. Louis, Missouri, will give another Trophy Prize* and still others are 

 in sight. 



