SELECTING SEED CORN 281 



Mark off the cloth into squares and place the kernels 

 from the different ears well apart. When the cloth is 

 full begin at the upper end and roll it up carefully. Keep 

 it stretched tightly crosswise while rolling and there will 

 be little danger of the kernels getting out of place. After 

 the cloth is rolled up you have the kernels from 50 or 60 

 ears in a compact roll. 



As many of these rolls can be prepared as desired, the 

 ears being tied up as the kernels are taken from them. 

 On the outside of the roll mark the number of the last 

 ear from which kernels were taken. This can readily be 

 done with a soft pencil. It is not necessary to tie up the 

 rolls, as the wet cloth will stick enough to hold them. 

 Wet the rolls from time to time with warm water and 

 keep up an even temperature until the germination is 

 completed. 



After the kernels have germinated enough so that the 

 sprouts begin to appear at the end of the ears, the test 

 is ready to read. Begin with the last roll. As it is un- 

 rolled the kernels in the lower right hand corner will 

 represent the last ear in the pile. It is a short job to go 

 over the corn, compare it with the tested kernels and 

 throw out the dead and weak ears. The work is sim- 

 plified by having three barrels, one for the good ears, one 

 for the poor ones and one for the weak ones. As soon 

 as all the ears tested on the first roll have been checked, 

 take the next one in order, etc. If ordinary care is exer- 

 cised there is little danger of making mistakes. The work 

 can be done very rapidly. Every dead ear thrown out 

 and replaced by a good one means something like 8 

 bushels more corn the following year, or $4 more profit. 



If a person will go to the trouble of making a frame 

 resembling a kitchen table it is easy to arrange another 

 method of testing seed corn, and one that will be quite 

 satisfactory. Nail a cleat around the edge of the table 

 and put on about an inch of earth or sawdust. Mark 



