126 Effective Farming 



in water for a few hours. Cut part of them lengthwise of the germ and 

 notice the depth of germ, the hard and the soft endosperm, and the 

 color of the seed-coat. Cut the others crosswise of the germ and notice 

 the width of germ and the hard and the soft endosperm. 



In the fall soon after school opens visit fields of the different types 

 of corn found in your vicinity and observe the character of growth 

 of each, the root development of the plants, and the character of the 

 stalks and the leaves. 



2. Percentage of stand. Count the stalks in an average square 

 rod of a field of corn and compute the percentage of stand compared 

 with a perfect stand. 



3. Harvesting and storing corn. On a field trip when corn is being 

 harvested in the vicinity, study and write descriptions of the methods 

 of harvesting and storing of the crop as practiced by different farmers. 



4. Gathering seed corn. Every school where agriculture is studied 

 will require a supply of seed corn for use in the class-room work. In 

 order that the best methods of securing and caring for the seed may be 

 practiced, none of the details given on the previous pages should be 

 neglected. When securing the seed for the school, go through the 

 field at the proper time in the fall with a packing bag over the shoulder 

 and select the ears. Pupils should follow this plan for their home 

 farms and often the teacher can arrange to have the school select seed 

 ears for persons who have no pupils attending the school. By follow- 

 ing this plan the school increases its value to the community. A por- 

 tion of the seed ears gathered should be reserved for use in class-room 

 work. 



5. Caring for seed corn. After the seed ears are gathered, string 

 them as shown in Fig. 41, place them on wire racks as shown in Fig. 42, 

 or plan some other way of arranging them for drying. Store the ears 

 in a cool, dry place where they are free from mice and rats and see that 

 they are protected from grain moth and weevil. 



6. Testing seed corn. Make several sawdust-box and rag-doll 

 testers. During the winter test the seed that has been gathered in the 

 fall. Compare the results of both testers by testing lots of the same 

 seed in both. Make a record of the time necessary to test the corn 

 and compute the cost, figuring the usual price paid for farm labor in 

 your vicinity. 



7. Judging corn. When scoring corn a certain standard of per- 

 fection is set up as an ideal and the ear or exhibit is selected according 

 to this standard. Beginners usually make use of a score-card, but after 

 they have had some experience, the score-card is no longer used, the ear 

 or sample being judged without it. A score-card may be defined as a 



