178 Practical Farming 



from the ground. In short, the ears should be nearly- 

 half-way between the tassel and the ground. 



From this patch select the best ears, taking those 

 especially good, and from the most productive plants, for 

 the seed patch the next year, and use the remainder for 

 the general crop. By persevering in this way, year after 

 year, you will establish a heredity so that your com will 

 come annually nearer and nearer to a fixed type. When 

 the hereditary tendency to produce proUfic plants, and 

 few or no barren ones has been fixed, it will be time 

 enough to look after the particular style of ear you may 

 prefer. Of course, in selecting seed for a northern locality, 

 you must pay attention to the earliness of the plants and 

 select with that in mind. But from Virginia, southward, 

 there is no necessity for particular earliness, and that may 

 be left out of the calculation since the climate is adapted 

 to the full ripening of any variety, and the earHest are 

 not always the best for the South. 



Indian corn is the grossest feeder of all 

 The Place in ^j^g crops grown on the farm, and hence is 

 for the Corn ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ adapted to use the rough ma- 

 Crop nure of the farm to get it into the best con- 

 dition for the following crops of small grain. 

 Hence, in a rotation where wheat is the money crop, and 

 the rotation is a short one, the corn should come on the 

 clover sod from which the hay was cut the year before. 

 This clover sod furnishes a ready place for the regular 

 hauling of the home-made manure as fast as it accumu- 

 lates. The manure should be gotten out and spread, 

 preferably with the manure-spreader, all during the fall 

 and winter. No loss of any amount need be feared from 



