105 



will germinate strongly. The result is that very much infe- 

 rior corn will be used for seed, and this will mean a poor 

 yield and low quality of grain. Another year there will be 

 a rush to get back into standard varieties by obtaining high 

 class seed, and this as I see it gives a chance for the New 

 England fruit grower to plant some of the choicer varieties 

 of Flint corn and give it extra care. For the next few years I 

 believe that many people who have formerly used Dent corn 

 entirely, will be hunting for good seed of Flint, as there is 

 a general belief that the Flints are earlier and more likely 

 to get through without being killed by frost. Thus a man 

 who is careful about his variety and culture can take one of 

 these extra strains of Flints and develop it so that it will 

 pay him better than Sweet corn, without being obliged to 

 pick and market it during the summer. At home we have a 

 variety of Flint which seems well adapted to orchard cul- 

 ture, as it matures quickly and makes a low stocky plant. I 

 have been surprised to see what a demand there has ben for 

 this kind of corn, and our plan this year is to plant this corn 

 in the orchard, give it the best culture w'e can and save the 

 seed as well as we know. I think that for the next few years 

 there will be a fine opportunity for many a bright young 

 man on a New England farm to develop a good strain of 

 Flint and put it on the market as seed. 



The labor question will bother many of us this year, per- 

 haps more than ever before. I think we should all be very 

 careful not to try and plant too much of an acreage, so that 

 we cannot give it good care during the summer. It seems 

 to me far better to put our land into oats and peas, or some 

 other broadcast crop, rather than to plow and plant a lot of 

 stuff which we never can handle properly. In many parts 

 of the Hudson Valley the women and girls have given good 

 satisfaction in light work such as picking and packing. 

 Of course these women are not able, as a rule, to do the heav- 

 ier and rougher work of the farm, but men who have em 

 ployed them say that as pickers and packers, or at work 



