IMew Methods Up Yield 



Cut Corn Production Costs | 



Corn Carnival in Woodford County Holds Surprises 



If. 



yV^ORN yields up to 200 bushels 

 jr^Zj per acre! Production costs un- 

 \^>^ '^^'^ 10c a bushel! Farmers sell- 

 ing 25-cent corn at a profit! Surpluses 

 eliminated through new industrial uses 

 for cheap corn ! 



These were but a few of the ideas 

 bandied about as some 5000 farmers 

 gathered to see an experimental grain 

 combine harvesting and shelling a 146- 

 bushel crop from drilled rows 20 inches 

 apart on the Gene Cleary farm in 

 Woodford county. The occasion was 

 the "Midwest Corn Carnival" at El 

 Paso, Oct. 10. 



Fantastic as these dreams may seem, 

 there is a factual background for them 

 although average figures which control 

 everything are something else again. 

 A major factor is increasing corn yields. 

 The ten-year average production in Illi- 

 nois between 1923 and 1932 is 36 

 bushels. In 1937, the average jumped 

 to 48. Last year it was 45. Early esti- 

 mates place it at 49 for 1939 making 

 the three-year average 47.3, or 24 per 

 cent greater than the ten-year average. 

 Much of this increase is credited to 

 wider use of hybrid varieties. 



Professional soil-building and farm 

 machinery experts are working hand in 

 hand with plant breeders to further 

 increase yields and trim p>er bushel 

 costs. Results of their activity was 

 demonstrated in Gene Cleary's rich, 

 level 81 -acre experimental field. 



20-INCH HOWS 

 Note absence oi big weeds. 



This spring, normal seed bed was 

 prepared and allowed to stand until 

 weed seeds had germinated. After two 

 weeks of fallowing with a spring tooth 

 field cultivator, hybrid 320 was drilled 

 in rows 20 inches apart. Plants were 

 spaced about 18 inches apart in the 

 rows. Cultivation consisted of two times 

 over with a rotary hoe and three times 

 with a 27-foot Marshalltown finger- 

 type weeder after the corn was up. 



Fuel and labor costs averaged $2.12 

 per acre for these operations as com- 

 pared to $385 under normal row-type 

 culture. 



While tillage costs were slashed 

 more than 40 per cent and production 

 increased by 15 per cent the problem 

 of harvesting is not yet solved. Sev- 

 eral machines are being tried. One 

 which attracted wide attention is an 

 experiment with a grain combine 

 equipped with a special vertical reel. 

 Another is an experimental corn com- 

 bine and a third is a picker-sheller. 

 All shell the corn. 



Should one of these machines prove 

 satisfactory for harvesting close-planted 

 corn, the problem of drying the crop 

 for storage on the farm will have to 

 be solved. This is a puzzle for farm 

 machinery inventors to work out. 



Lester Pfister, a cooperator in this 

 close-planting experiment, said it is too 

 early to judge whether or not the ex- 

 periment will have a practical value. 

 He invited farmers to study the new 

 culture and observe how it works out 

 in years to come. Tests will be con- 

 tinued until the value of the method 

 has proved either revolutionary or 

 valueless. 



Several thousand persons witnessed 

 a mechanical husking contest, a feature 

 of the carnival, on the Byron Stitt farm 

 west of El Paso. Eight contestants, all 

 operating two-row machines, were 

 scored on their ability to do a clean 

 job. While several makes of machines 

 were used, it was a test of driving and 

 operating skill based on speed, 15 per 

 cent; cleanliness of husked corn, 20; 

 shattered corn, 30; ears missed, 35. 



Peter Imhofl drove the required 80 

 rods without a single lost ear and with 

 little shattering to win first. His score 

 vJis 81.60. Claude Mishler missed a 

 few ears but beat Imhoff's percentage 

 for clean husking to win second with 

 a score of 80.53. Harvey Pfister, driv- 



EXPERIMENT 

 Combine barveating and sbelling com. 

 Two rows taxed it. 



ing slowly, missed fewer ears than any- 

 one except Imhoff, placed third with 

 70.65 points. 



The lands were gleaned before the 

 contest started to remove fallen ears. 

 One set of gleaners behind the ma- 

 chines picked up missed ears and 

 another group averaged the shattered 

 kernels. 



Leland Klein, 21, won the Wood- 

 ford County Farm Bureau corn husking 

 contest, held in connection with the 

 carnival, when he picked 41.26 bush- 

 els in 80 minutes. His mark was just 

 under the county record of 41.28 made 

 last year by Irvin Bauman, state title- 

 holder. Klein's load weighed 2890 

 pounds with 1.5 pvounds deducted for 

 gleanings and no deduction for excess 

 husks. 



Simon Oltman, 1934 state champ and 

 winner in six Woodford county con- 

 tests, picked a total of 2750 pounds 

 for second place. Twelve pounds were 

 deducted for gleanings leaving a total 

 of 39.11 bushels. 



Lester Bauman, Irvin's brother placed 

 third with 2710 pounds picked, 13.5 

 pounds deducted, and a total of 38.52 

 bushels. 



Only two of the 10 contestants had 

 any deductions for excess husks. Of- 

 ficials agreed that had pickers paid 

 less attention to husks they would have 

 made more s{>eed. 



i^^. 



mvi^' 



NO HILLS TO WATCH 

 Will com be cultivated tbia way? 



NOVEMBER, 1939 



