A Good Type of Seed Corn 



In order to prevent, as far as possible, the danger of having a poor 

 stand, every ear should be tested. While there are exceptions to the 

 rule, it will be found that if two or more kernels in an .ear are dead, the 

 whole ear is dead. There is but one safe course to pursue, and that is, 

 test every ear, and do it early. If one kernel from an ear fails to germi- 

 nate or the germination is weak, do not take a chance, but discard it. 

 To test corn enough to plant forty acres will require but four or five 

 hours of work, a matter of time hardly worth considering. A grain of 

 good corn when planted should produce at least an ear. An average ear 

 of seed coi-n contains 750 kernels, which ought to produce as many ears. 

 Five ears should produce at least forty-five bushels of corn. If any per 

 cent of seed corn fails to germinate, the loss is material, but when the 

 farmer is confronted with the almost certainty that fifty per cent or 

 more of the ears are dead, he faces a gi'eat loss. 



The average corn grower is not securing what he should and could if 

 he were more thorough in all of the essential operations, especially in 

 selecting good seed. If his seed fails, all other operations are of no 

 avail. The average production in the United States is about twenty- 

 five bushels per acre, and in the rich corn belt from 26 to 36 bushels. 



An acre of corn should have 3556 hills. An average ear of corn 

 weighs twelve ounces. If each hill produced one stalk with one ear, the 

 yield would be 38 bushels per acre. If a ten-ounce ear was produced on 

 every hill, the yield would be 32 bushels per acre. Most of our corn 

 lands are rich enough to produce three ears or just three times what is 

 being produced. The main reason why the farmer throws away two- 



