104 Effective Farming 



mature ears ; consequently seed from a different locality can 

 often be used to advantage. For example, a tall-growing south- 

 ern corn may be grown in northern sections; such a corn 

 will produce abundant foliage and add materially to the quantity 

 of silage, but it will not produce many ears. In order that the 

 desired proportion of ears to stalks be secured, it is a good 

 plan to mix the seed to be planted with that of some native 

 corn that will produce ears. 



50. Selection and care of seed corn. No matter how care- 

 fully the other factors of corn-growing are provided for, a good 

 stand of corn cannot be expected from poor seed. The aver- 

 age yield of corn in the United States is less than twenty-six 

 bushels an acre, yet there are many farmers who grow ninety 

 bushels an acre on their whole corn-growing area and record 

 yields as high as 228 bushels (field weight) have been grown. 

 Significant in this connection is the fact that much of the low 

 average yield of corn is due to the lack of proper seed selection. 



Selecting the ears from the field. The best place to make 

 the selection of seed corn is in the field. All the ears should 

 be gathered as soon as ripe and in northern regions before any 

 freezing has occurred. The best practice is to go through the 

 field with a picking bag on the shoulder and gather the ears 

 from the stalks. 



Kind of stalk from which to select ears. The plant from which 

 a seed ear is taken should be one that produces better corn than 

 the surrounding individuals. If plants are growing on richer 

 ground or by themselves in a field, they may by reason of these 

 special advantages produce better ears, but they are not likely 

 to have any greater producing power stored in the seed than a 

 poor ear grown under unfavorable conditions. In the Cen- 

 tral and Southern States, where there is a tendency for stalks 

 to grow too tall, short thick stalks producing pendent ears 

 at or below their middle point are a good type for seed. When 

 exceedingly early-maturing varieties are desired, seed should 

 be taken from stalks that produce ears high enough to keep 



