CORN 123 



and tips of the ears and discard these. These ker- 

 nels, as a rule, will grow as well as the others, but 

 in doing the planting it is very necessary, in order 

 to secure an even stand, that the kernels be of uni- 

 form size; consequently, discard the large kernels 

 from the butts and the small ones from the tips. 

 After this has been done, the corn is shelled and it 

 is ready for the planter. 



It is not only necessary that the seed be from 

 ears of the desired type and that the germ will 

 grow, but it is also very important that the germ 

 have a high vitality, which will enable it to grow 

 rapidly and mature a crop early. Where drouths 

 are liable to occur late in the growing season, this 

 early start is a very important matter. Then, too, 

 vigorous, healthy seed always produces a much 

 better crop than seed with a lower vitality. 



To determine whether or not seed has a high 

 vitality, select 100 kernels, place them in a saucer 

 full of sand or soil, moisten and put in a warm 

 room, with a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees. Look 

 at it from day to day. If the kernels sprout within 

 four or five days and the germs come out uniformly, 

 you may be pretty sure that the seed has a high 

 vitality. If 90 kernels out of 100 sprout, you may 

 consider your seed almost perfect. 



Planting and Cultivation. — The thickness of 

 planting is a matter of opinion. On a good soil, 

 three kernels to the hill, using the ordinary check- 

 row planter, is very satisfactory. However, large 

 yields often result from five kernels to the hill. The 

 ears are smaller, making it more difficult to husk, 

 consequently thinner planting is much more satis- 

 factory. This also depends somewhat upon the 

 variety of corn. Corn with a small stalk and a 



