CORN CULTURE 33 



Since it takes but a dozen or fifteen ears to plant an 

 acre, and since an acre of average ground should yield at 

 least sixty bushels, each ear of seed represents from four 

 to five bushels of crop. The farmer's time can be spent 

 in no more profitable way than in making sure that every 

 ear of seed corn planted is sure to grow. The testing 

 should be done late in the winter, or in the early spring 

 before the farm work opens. 



Preparing for testing. Testing the seed corn costs 

 practically nothing but a little time, care and attention. 

 For, while there are several excellent seed-corn testers on 

 the market, none is superior to one that can easily be 

 made at home. 



The sawdust germination box may be prepared as fol- 

 lows : Construct a box thirty inches square and four inches 

 deep. Put some sawdust in a bag and soak it in warm 

 water until it is well saturated. Fill the box half full of 

 the sawdust, packing it well. Take a piece of good white 

 cloth and rule it off in two-and-one-half-inch squares, mak- 

 ing one hundred squares in all, and numbering them from 

 one to one hundred. Place the cloth on the sawdust so 

 that there will be a margin of at least two inches between 

 the sides of the box and the squares. Tack cloth to the 

 edges of the box. 



Now take one hundred ears of the corn to be tested and 

 lay them out in a row on a table or planks. Drive a nail into 

 the table every tenth ear, separating the entire lot into 

 ten groups of ten ears each. Number the ears from one to 

 one hundred to correspond with the squares in the tester. 

 This may be done by numbering the places on the edge of 

 the table if care is taken not to change places with the ears. 



Making the test. Remove one kernel from near the 

 butt, one from near the middle, and one from near the tip 

 of the ear ; turn the ear over and remove three kernels from 



