DETASSELER HAROLD SCHWENK 

 "We pull 'em out like this." 



INSPECTOR UOYD RICH 

 Five blocks. 100 hills to the block, are 

 careiully examined ior tassels in each 

 field. More than 1% of tassels means dis- 

 qualification. 



Hj^lirid Cnrn Kace Is Hn 



IVudui-frs Fight Fur Iticli Farm Murhft, I2,0UU Avrvs 



lU'ing Cerlified 



"C^V Hi; bi^i;cst race of the century 

 ^— ^is on in the corn belt. The ton- 



^/ test-ints .ire the producers ol 

 hybriil seeJ corn, bii; .md httle The 

 prize IS the rich f.irm m.irket, now only 

 h.ilf developed, comprising more th.in 

 .1 million subst.mti.il corn f.irmers who 

 buy (or soon will) hybrid seed in 

 place of tlie outmoded, openj-'ollin 

 ated variety which cant keep pace with 

 its aristoiratic. petli.creed relative. 



Up to now there has been a good 

 margin of protit for the efficient, com- 

 mercial hybrid growers. The demand 

 for hybrid corn has expanded so fast 

 that seed men have been able to sell 

 ail or nearly all they could produce 

 at prices ranging this year from $7 to 

 $H a bushel. Last year hybrid seed 

 brought from S9 to SI 1 a bushel. 



The heavy corn crop and rapid ex- 

 pansion of hybrid seed production in 

 193" left some producers with a little 

 surplus. Toward the end of the sea- 

 son there were reports of price-cutting. 

 But generally the producers stuck to 

 the standard price of S^ to S>S and were 

 able to move their desirable stocks. 



This year the outlook is tor another 

 excellent corn crop. l:siimates indi- 

 cate that more than half of all 195s 

 corn planteii in Illinois and from a third 

 to a half in the other corn belt slates was 

 hybrid. The big producers, and in 

 Illinois, at least, a small army of so- 

 called independents with from 10 to 

 80 acres or more each, have spread 

 out with increased acreages of com- 

 mercial seed. There promises to be 

 a greater volume of hybrid seed corn 

 for sale this fall than heretofore. Most 

 of it will be clean, unadulterated seed 



produced by the painstaking process 

 of detasseling the mother or seed-bear- 

 ing rows so that the silks will be fer- 

 tilized only by the father or pollen- 

 bearing rows. (Usually there are three 

 rows of detasseled corn to one of the 

 male parent.) 



But will all the seed offered to the 

 farmer as hybrid be ecjually as good.-* 



Will all the growers of hybrid seed 

 stick zealously to the hard routine of 

 keeping tlie parent stock absolutely 

 pure.' 



Will e.ich one det.issel the seed-bear 

 ing rows 20 to 25 times if necessary 

 to destroy every speck of pollen which 

 if allowed to drop will seriously weak- 

 en the power of the resulting seed to 

 increase yield and cjuaiity.'' 



T!ie answer is NC) if past experience 

 can be relied on as a guide. 



Then how can the farmer who wants 

 good hybrid seed know whose corn 

 to buy."* 



This is not so simple. 



Assuming that all hybrid seed is 

 honestly and carefully produced, there 

 is a wide difference in hybrids. Some 

 mature earlier than others. Some do 

 better on rich ground but not so well 

 on lighter soils. Corn yield tests con- 

 ducted by the State College of Agri- 

 culture in past years reveal that a few- 

 hybrids were no better than good va- 

 rieties of common, open-pollinated 

 corn. 



When you order a certain number or 

 variety of hybrid how can you be sure 

 that the b.ig will contain the seed you 

 ordered .•* 



Your only guarantee, finally, is the 

 honesty and integrity of the producer. 



CORN BREEDER ED. W. DOUBET 

 There's a whale of a difference in the root growth of in- 

 breds — an important point in breeding lor insect and 

 disease resistance. 



PROF. I. C. HACKLEMAN WITH MR. DOUBET 



These inbred nubbins aren't much to look at but they 

 may hold the secret to bigger and better corn yields. 



HYBRID 

 ^ "Certificatii 



hybrid seed 



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