30 CORN 



feed. Several different makes of silos are used, all of which 

 have their special merits. 



Testing Seed Corn. An increased yield of corn can be 

 secured by testing each ear before planting, and rejecting 

 those ears that do not germinate or that show lack of vigor 

 or vitality. It is not a difficult task to test each ear of 

 seed corn. Fifteen average ears of corn will plant one acre, 

 using 4 kernels to the hill and placing the rows 3^ feet 

 apart. When the importance of testing seed corn is fully 

 realized, few farmers will plant corn without first submit- 

 ting it to the test. 



Selecting Ears for Testing. Only the most nearly 

 perfect seed ears, having kernels of a uniform width, should 

 be saved for seed. These should be selected from the store- 

 room and laid out on the floors or on tables to be convenient 

 for making the test. Care should be taken to place the 

 ears where they will not be disturbed during the test. 

 The ears should be arranged in groups of ten, so as to cor- 

 respond with the sections in the seed tester. Each individ- 

 ual ear of each section should be "numbered. At least 4 

 kernels, sometimes 6, are taken singly from different parts 

 of each ear and placed directly in front of the ear from which 

 they were taken. 



Seed Corn Tester. For testing large quantities of seed 

 the common square box tester is preferable. For a limited 

 number of ears the pie plate test, in which moistened 

 cloth pads or blotters are used between plates, is reliable. 

 Cotton cloth folded into several layers and moistened 

 makes a good device for testing small quantities of seed 

 corn. Small squares in which to put the kernels from the 

 different ears should be indicated on the cloth and the cloth 

 then rolled so as to retain the moisture. 



