CORN, WHEAT, OATS, BAELEY, RYE 53 



employed with good results Ly iDractically all farmers Avitliin 

 their own fields. 



The third method, known as pedigree selection, is begun by 

 first selecting ears in the field as above, but instead of shelling 

 all the ears together they are planted separately the follomng 

 year in an ear-to-row test, where a portion of the grain from 

 each ear is planted in a separate row, harvested and weighed 

 separately, thus ascertaining the high yielding rows. The rem- 

 nants of the ears from which the seed came for the high yield- 

 ing rows are then planted the second year in a separate block 

 for increase. ' The seed from the increase block is used for the 

 general field the following year. This process may be con-' 

 tinned time and again with good results. The difficulty with 

 this method is that it requires considerable time and care, more 

 time and care than the average producer cares to take. It is 

 suited only to those that are especially interested and are 

 walling to make the sacrifice of time and take the necessary 

 precautions. 



Seed storage and testing. — It has already been pointed ont 

 that crib selection of corn is not advisable, neither is the crib 

 a good place for storage of seed corn. After careful field selec- 

 tion seed corn must be properly stored to insure the best results 

 in germination. Proper treatment consists chiefly of quick dry- 

 ing of both cob and kernel, which have a moisture content of 

 twenty-five to thirty per cent at harvest. This is best done in 

 a warm dry room A^dtli a large amount of ventilation. Artificial 

 heat may be employed successfully but is not necessary; 

 ventilation is, however, very necessary. The drying should he 

 nearly complete before freezing weather, since freezing injures 

 the vitality of the corn when damp. Well dried corn, corn with 

 twelve per cent or less water, is uninjured even by hard freezes. 

 The value of seed testing has been well proven the past few 

 years, especially following years with early frost and conse- 

 quently large amounts of immature seed. Even after very 

 favorable corn growing seasons there is always a considerable 

 acreage planted wdth poor seed, w%ich results in a partial failure 

 of the crop. On account of the ease with which the test can be 

 made, it should never be neglected comj^letely w^ith the one 

 excuse of not having time. The Iowa Experiment Station has 

 shown that it takes less than one and one-half minutes per ear 

 to test the germination of corn when several hundred ears are 

 tested. It is sometimes permissible if one is fairly sure of excel- 

 lent seed to run a general test on the whole lot of seed corn by 



