200 CROP PRODUCTION 



injury by frosts be over. The proverbial time for 

 planting corn is when the oak leaves are as large as 

 squirrels' ears. On a large scale the seed is commonly 

 planted in check rows, three and one-half feet apart, so 

 that the cultivator can be run in both directions, thus 

 keeping the weeds down with little hand labor. As 

 the plants get larger the cultivation must be shallow or 

 the roots near the surface will be broken off. The 

 details of culture and methods of harvesting vary with 

 the locahty and the area planted. It is highly impor- 

 tant that Corn be planted as a part of a system. of rota- 

 tion in order to maintain the fertility of the soil. 



Selecting and Testing Seed Corn 



During recent years the importance of selecting and 

 testing carefully the seed corn to be planted has been 

 more and more appreciated. By such care the quality 

 and quantity of the yield may be greatly increased and 

 consequently the profit of growing the crop be also 

 increased. Every vacant hill in a field of corn is a 

 distinct loss and anything that can be done to prevent 

 such vacancies means a clear gain. 



It is now generally recognized that the only way to 

 proceed in selecting corn is to choose the ear as the 

 unit. It is preferable that such ears be chosen in the 

 field when the characters of the parent plant as to 

 earliness, height, mode of growth, and other things may 

 be considered, but where this is not done the individual 

 ears should be carefully selected as to their appearance. 

 ''These physical characteristics and properties," as 

 Professor Hopkins says, ''include the length, circum- 

 ference and shape of the ear and of the cob; the number 



