CORN AND SOME OF ITS AS- 

 SISTANTS. 



[Abstractor address by President G-. E. Morrow of the 

 Oklahoma Agricultural College, before the Kansas 

 State Board of Agriculture.] 



INDIAN corn is America's greatest gift 

 to the agriculture of the world. It 

 is the chief cultivated crop of the United 

 States and of Kansas. The official esti- 

 mates of the crop of the United States for 

 1895 give an average of more than 82,000,- 

 000 of acres (more than one and one-half 

 the size of Kansas) and a yield of 2,151,- 

 000,000 of bushels, valued, even at present 

 low prices, at $567,000,000. The State 

 estimates of the Kansas crop show an 

 average of well over 8,000,000 acres, or 

 one-half the total average in cultivated 

 crops, and about one- sixth of the total area 

 of the State, and a yield of 201,000,000 

 of bushels. It may help us to get some 

 idea of the enormous quantity these figures 

 represent if we recall the fact that the 

 Kansas crop would fill a crib ten feet wide 

 and ten feet deep and 900 miles long, or 

 would make a tower covering one acre and 

 reaching two miles into the air. 



Corn is a true grass and we have un- 

 derestimated its value by thinking too ex- 

 clusively of its seed not fully recognizing 

 the great food value of the stalks and 

 leaves. It is a conservative estimate that 

 the value of these per acre equals the value 

 of one ton of good grass hay. In the corn 

 growing regions corn stalks may well be 

 substituted for timothy or prairie grass 

 hay. The silo admirably preserves the 

 stalks or the entire plant. With the aid 

 of the recently improved machinery for 

 shredding the stalks they may be put into 

 almost ideal condition, when it is not 

 convenient to have a silo. Aside from the 

 percentage of water, corn fodder has a 

 chemical composition not materially dif- 

 ferent from that of the hay grass. The food 

 constituents are digestible in large de- 

 gree but the large stalks are not in shape 

 to be readily eaten. Made into ensilage 

 or shredded, this difficulty is largely re- 

 moved. 



82 



Corn is long to remain the great grain 

 food for American farm animals and will, 

 probably, be more largely used as food, 

 for man in the future. Almost entirely 

 new uses will be found for the grain as 

 well as better methods of utilizing it for 

 its present uses. 



There is great difference in the value 

 of different varieties especially in their 

 adaptation to different climates and soil. 

 Much has been done in the improvement 

 of varieties, but much more remains to be 

 done. It is believed possible to develop 

 corn so as to better adapt it to a dry 

 climate than are the varieties we now 

 have. Much experience shows the im- 

 possibility of corn having all good quali- 

 ties in the highest degree in any one 

 variety. For Kansas especially, those parts 

 most subject to hot winds and drought, 

 medium large varieties ripening as early as 

 practicable seem best. There is much ad- 

 vantage in having the stalks of moderate 

 height, with short joints, giving greater 

 leaf surface. 



In a greater degree than in some other 

 regions early planting is important. Prob- 

 ably nowhere is thorough preparation of 

 the soil before planting more important. 

 Subsoil plowing will be helpful on much 

 Kansas and Oklahoma soil, largely because 

 of its effect in enabling the soil to absorb 

 and retain more moisture. 



If anything has been proven by experi- 

 mentation in regard to corn, it is that deep 

 cultivation of the growing crop is general- 

 ly injurious especially after the plants 

 have made much growth. Root turning 

 is almost always a necessary evil at the 

 best, and the less of it that is done the 

 better. In dry seasons the roots are not 

 so near the surface. No positive rule 

 can be given as to depth. In Central Illi- 

 nois three inches was found as deep as it 

 was desirable to stir the soil in cultivating 

 the crops. Were it not for the action of 

 the strong winds, a level, finely pulverized 

 surface is clearly the best. 



The number of stalks per acre for the 

 largest yields varies somewhat with the 



