drushel; NOTE OX VITALITY OF SEED CORX 123 



clean, and the pail from which it is fed should be scalded everyday. 



It is much easier to teach a calf to eat if it is not allowed to take 

 its food from its mother after the first meal. If it is troubled with 

 looseness of the bowels, less food should be given for a day or two. 

 If troubled with lice, crude petroleum should be rubbed along the 

 backbone, and underneath just where the legs join the body. 



To Remove the Horns of the Young Calf: As soon as the young 

 horn can be felt by the hand, it should be removed; the hair should 

 be clipped from around it, then take a stick of potash, carefully 

 wrapped, so that it will not burn the fingers, dip in water and rub 

 it upon the tip of the young horn until the skin begins to loosen 

 and becomes red. Be very* careful not to touch the skin surrounding 

 the horn with the potash. This need not be applied but once. 



A Note on the Vitality of Seed Corn Six Years old 



J. Andrew Drushel 

 Harris Teachers College, St. Louis 



In the autumn of 191 1 the writer selected three ears of Improved 

 Learning corn from a field grown by B. B. Weaver, Mt. Hope, Ohio. 

 After removing the husk these ears were brought to St. Louis 

 and kept in a drawer under ordinary laboratory conditions at 

 Harris Teachers College. A test in March, 1912, showed germinat- 

 ing qualities better than 90 per cent. 



On March 24, 191 7, 172 dry grains were planted in a wooden box 

 (inside dimensions 20 in. by 13 in. by 2^/2 in.) of saw dust which 

 had previously been thoroughly soaked. This box was kept for 

 ten days on the gravel floor of one of the college greenhouses with 

 the temperature ranging from 65 to 70 degrees Fahr. 



On April 4th the box was removed to the laboratory, at which 

 time 99 strong plants had appeared. Between April 4th and 12th 

 thirteen more appeared, making a total of 112 strong plants, 

 65 per cent, of the number of grains planted. 



On May 4th these plants were removed and the saw dust was 

 examined revealing sixty grains which either failed to germinate 

 or to produce vigorous plants. In the light of the above it would 

 appear that corn growers might more profitably gather enough 

 seed corn for several years when the season is favorable to the 

 production of corn with good germinating qualities than depend 

 entirely on the corn produced from season to season. 



