34 



This may seem to be a formidable undertaking; but, since the quan- 

 tity of corn required to plant a given area is relatively small, it is not, 

 after all, a very great amount of trouble. It is necessary only to 

 remove some five or six kernels from different parts of each ear, and 

 to test each lot by itself. There are many relatively easy methods of 

 determining the percentage of germination of seed corn. If the ears 

 are to be tested separately, perhaps one of the easiest methods will be 

 as follows : On a piece of canton flannel of suitable size mark off with 

 a heavy lead pencil squares about two inches on a side. Thoroughly 

 saturate the cloth with water, and then place it in the bottom of a 

 shallow tray of suitable size. The squares and the ears should be 

 correspondingly numbered. It is then an easy matter to determine 

 the germinating quality of the grain from each of the selected ears. 

 After the kernels have been placed in the squares upon the moist 

 canton flannel, they are to be covered by a second piece of the same 

 goods, which also is first thoroughly moistened. If over the whole a 

 pane of glass is then laid, it will probably be unnecessary to supply 

 additional moisture. The corn will germinate most perfectly at tem- 

 peratures ranging from about 70 to 80 degrees. If corn be tested by 

 this system, it should be the rule to reject all ears in which the selected 

 kernels do not all germinate. If one does not care to take the amount 

 of trouble necessary to carry out this system of testing, it is at least 

 worth while to test a sample of the mixed seed which is to be planted 

 in the field. One of the most convenient methods of doing this is to 

 fill the bowl of a soup plate with sand of medium grade, add water 

 until it stands on the top, then incline the plate and let the surplus 

 water flow out. When it ceases dripping, j^lace say 100 kernels of 

 corn on the sand, press them down very slightly into it, but do not 

 cover them, lay a pane of glass over the top of the plate, and then 

 reverse a second soup plate of the same size as the first over the glass. 

 This is for the purpose of excluding the light, which is unfavorable to 

 germination. Such a germinating apparatus will give satisfactory 

 results in any ordinary living-room. A sample of corn in which more 

 than 5 to 10 per cent of the seeds fail to germinate must be regarded 

 as unsatisfactory. 



Soil Adaptation. — In seasons in which the temperature is normal 

 or above normal, fairly satisfactory crops of corn can be produced 

 upon soils of almost any type, if not actually wet. Corn is very im- 

 patient of imperfect drainage. It does best when the temperature of 

 both soil and air is high, provided the soil, while not being wet or 

 holding stagnant water within a distance which should not be less 

 than 4 or 5 feet below the surface, is capable of supplying the needed 

 moisture. While the experience of our farmers amply demonstrates 

 the correctness of the above statement, it is nevertheless true that corn 

 in average seasons is most at home and will give best results upon the 

 warm medium loams. Here the crops will not be so early as on soils 

 of coarser texture whose temperature averages higher, but the crops 

 are likely to be larger, especially in seasons when the rainfall is some- 

 what deficient during any part of the period of rapid growth. . 



Position in the Rotation. — The necessity for rotating corn is less 

 than in the case of many of our crops. Even when cultivated many 

 years in succession upon the same field, it still as a rule remains ex- 

 ceptionally free from disease or insect enemies, and with fairly liberal 

 applications of manures or fertilizers will still give satisfactory crops. 

 Numerous instances are on record where corn has been grown for 

 twenty or more successive years in the same field, and the crops at 

 the end of the period were equally as good as at the beginning. JS^ot- 



