SELECTION OF SEED CORN 9? 



SELECTION OF SEED CORN 



121. Importance of Good Seed. One of the important 

 factors in the production of a good crop of corn is good seed; 

 that is, seed of the desired type, carefully selected from corn 

 adapted to the locality, and stored so that it will remain good. 

 There is no doubt that it is possible, in nearly every com- 

 munity, to obtain greatly increased yields of corn simply 

 by giving careful attention to the matter of the selection and 

 the care of the seed. While good crops may be produced 

 from only fairly good seed if soil and other conditions are 

 favorable, it is the universal result that where carefully 

 selected seed is used, increased yields are obtained. Weather 

 conditions are often unfavorable at planting time, and only 

 seed of strong vitality can be depended upon to withstand 

 these unfavorable conditions and send forth good, strong 

 plants. Time spent in selecting seed corn is, as a rule, the 

 most profitable that is devoted to the corn crop. 



122. Quantity of Seed to Select. From fifteen to 

 twenty ears of corn are required to plant an acre. When 

 selecting corn by the ordinary field method, it is not possible 

 to make as careful a selection as is desired for the final seed 

 for planting. On this account it is recommended that at 

 least fifty ears of corn be selected for each acre of corn it is 

 planned to grow the following year. This will leave margin 

 enough for careful selection the following spring, and the 

 seed thus discarded can often be sold to advantage or used 

 as fodder corn seed. 



123. Time to Select. The time of selection will naturally 

 depend largely upon the locality. Corn gains nothing 

 by being left in the field after it is mature and the sooner it is 

 gathered and placed under cover to dry out, where it will 

 not be affected by the weather, the better it will be for seed 

 purposes. In the North, it is extremely important that corn 

 be selected early enough in the fall to allow ample time for it 



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