76 FARM SPIES 



in their favor is that they do not burn like carbon 

 bisulphide." 



So the meeting kept on, one question after another 

 being asked by the farmers. They found out that 

 Jim Blair had used this gas, and when asked about 

 it he explained how he had used it. He told them 

 that he had made his crib very tight and that he 

 put the gas in on November 8. Mr. Blair said 

 that he chose a warm, sunny day to put the gas in, 

 and that he was very much pleased when he looked 

 at his corn the next spring and found very few 

 weevils in it. "Of course," said he, "I would not 

 come to a conclusion after just one trial, because it 

 might have been a light weevil year, but I know of 

 a half dozen other farmers who used it for several 

 years with good results. 



"Do not try to depend on treating corn in the 

 crib to control weevils. The first step is to select 

 your seed corn in the right way at harvest time. 

 When selecting, look for type of plant, height of 

 ear, yield, sound grain, tight shuck, and hanging 

 ears. The tight shuck prevents the weevils from 

 getting to the grain, but in most seasons the tip of 

 the shuck will not be tight in ears that stand up 

 because the soaking of the silk during rainy weather 

 followed by drying in hot weather makes it so that 

 weevils can get to the grain. Take pains to harvest 

 your corn dry and put it in good cribs. Then if you 



