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versity of Illinois can tell you what you 

 may expect from a hybrid if they know 

 the inbreds in it. If the hybrid is not 

 the one you need for your conditions 

 they will tell you that, too. There is no 

 guesswork when you buy open pedigree, 

 certified seed. 



"Certification is like an umpire's deci- 

 sion in a ball game. It keeps the pro- 

 ducer on his toes and protects the buy- 

 er," Burrus said. The need for an um- 

 pire in the hybrid seed corn game is con- 

 troversial. The independent growers and 

 the big commercial seed companies can 

 agree neither on the value of an umpire 

 nor the rules of the game. And while 

 they are shouting charges and counter- 

 charges, corn farmers are at a loss to 

 know which side to cheer. 



On one side they hear that certification 

 means nothing because inspections are 

 too infrequent and there is a chance that 

 tassels are allowed to spread pollen be- 

 tween detasseling. They are told that 

 inspectors are not suflFiciently trained to 

 'handle the work properly. 



From the other side farmers hear that 

 the big companies have grown unwieldy 

 and can't check their fields closely 

 enough to insure the purity of the seed 

 they sell. Seed companies, too, have 

 been charged with dumping poor produc- 

 ing hybrids in territories where farmers 

 are just starting to plant them. It has 

 been claimed that seed has been sold for 

 commercial use that has not been tested 

 long enough under all conditions with 

 the result that yields have been cut. 



It would take a Solomon to decide 

 which side is right. But here's the way 

 it works on Otto Nickel's farm. 



Otto, as a member of Illini Corn Hy- 

 brids, Incorporated, got foundation seed 

 that has been thoroughly tested in experi- 

 ments by the University of Illinois. He 

 planted it at least 40 rods from any 

 other corn field. As an additional pre- 



HEAHT OF THE SEED DRIER 



Two great (umaces ready to pour 2,- 



000,000 B.T.U.'s* per minute into a ian 



and through 2000 bushels of ear com in 

 the Burrus plant. 



* British Thermal Unit — heat required to 

 raise the temperature of one pound of water 

 1 degree F. 



caution against contamination he planted 

 a border of 1 2 rows of pollinator around 

 the field. 



During the tasseling period he and 

 his crew pulled every tassel on the seed- 

 bearing plants as soon as they appeared. 

 The tasseling season lasted nearly four 

 weeks. The crew worked through the 

 field 25 times and pulled every tassel on 

 the seed bearers. 



Otto knows that the job was carefully 

 done. His reputation as a seedman was 

 at stake and, too, the seed he produced 

 would plant his commercial corn acres 

 next year. He really didn't need an um- 



pire to keep him on his toes but he had 

 one just the same and the farmers who 

 are in doubt about who to cheer for 

 could safely root for Otto Nickel and 

 his certified seed corn. 



All good hybrid seed is carefully 

 sorted and dried. It is a precaution 

 growers take to make certain of high 

 germination and growing power. This 

 is one step that improves even the open 

 pollinated varieties and it is a service that 

 hybrid seed producers perform for their 

 customers. 



The Morgan-Scott-Cass growers be- 

 lieve that hybrid corn production is pass- 

 ing through the same stage that hog rais- 

 ing went through a few years ago. There 

 were breeders who championed the rangy 

 type while others selected the chuffies. 

 "Ton litter clubs showed that there was a 

 definite type that produced pork most 

 economically. 



With hybrid corn it is a little differ- 

 ent, however, in that every soil type re- 

 quires a diflFerent kind of com. Burrus 

 and the other growers, by working close- 

 ly with the Farm Bureau and the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois, have the varieties that 

 are known to yield well on their soils. 



As Roy points out, though, yield is 

 just one of a number of factors to be 

 considered. They have grasshopper, 

 chinch bug and disease resistance, root 

 growth, ear covering and other important 

 characteristics in which they are inter- 

 ested in securing for their own com- 

 mercial corn. 



While the members of the little tri- 

 county co-op may have a selfish end in 

 view, that of getting the best of seed 

 for themselves, they are benefitting their 

 neighbors by making good seed available 

 to them, too. Whatever the type they 

 handle, it will be the best for their par- 

 ticular region and all of it will be certi- 

 fied. — Larry Potter. 



NICKEL BROTHERS RUSH THEIR 2000 BUSHEL PLANT TO COMPLETION 



Roy, left, and Otto Nickel first grew hybrid seed three years ago. made a drier in an old building last year and are enlarging 

 it now. They believe farmers should control their own seed supplies. 



OCTOBER. 1938 



