144 LABORATORY LESSONS IN GENERAL SCIENCE 



(c) Corn Raising as an Industry 



1. What variety of corn is most commonly raised in 

 your section of country? Name some other varieties. 



2. Tell how seed corn for another season should be se- 

 lected. How should it be cared for after it has been gathered ? 

 How is seed corn tested for its powers of germination ? 



3. Describe somewhat at length the manner of gathering 

 a crop of corn. What determines the time for beginning its 

 harvest? About how long a time is it from planting till 

 the crop is ripe enough to be gathered? Why is the new 

 crop often stored for a time in cribs ? 



4. What machinery is employed in raising a corn crop? 

 In harvesting it ? In marketing it ? In general, is the cost 

 per acre of raising a large yield of corn likely to be much 

 more than for a small yield ? Why so ? What expense items 

 are likely to be greater? What are several advantages to 

 the farmer in feeding his corn on the farm rather than sell- 

 ing it ? As land values and the cost of labor increase, involv- 

 ing need of larger capital to carry on successful farming, 

 what is likely to become more and more true of the degree 

 of business ability necessary to make farming a paying in- 

 dustry ? 



6. Name a large number of the products of packing 

 houses where corn-fed cattle and hogs are marketed. How 

 very largely is this livestock brought to the packing houses ? 

 How are the packing house products distributed to con- 

 sumers? What would be the effect upon the number of 

 men employed in these fields of industry if there should be 

 a failure in the corn crop for a year or two? What would 



