54 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



These figures may be condensed into a table that will bring out the 

 comparison in a more striking manner, as shown below: 



Comparison op Digestible Protein, Energy Value and Farm Value per 



Acre op 4 Crops when Grown in Rotation During 25 



Years (1882-1906).* 



CORN IMPROVEMENT 



No crop is more easily and rapidly improved by selection and breeding 

 than corn. No work on the farm will come so near producing something 

 for nothing as time intelligently spent in improving this crop. It is just 

 as important to use well-bred seed-corn as it is to breed from an animal 

 of good pedigree. The same principles apply in the breeding of both 

 plants and animals. Well-bred seed-corn has often produced from five to 

 twenty bushels per acre more than seed which has received no special 

 attention when grown under identical conditions. A bushel of seed-corn 

 will plant six acres; 10 bushels increase on each of six acres equals 60 

 bushels; 60 bushels at 60 cents per bushel equals $36 the value, of a 

 bushel of good seed. 



Securing Seed. — Seed-corn should be purchased in the ear so the 

 buyer can see if it is as represented in regard to type, size and uniformity. 

 It should have been grown on soil and under climatic conditions very 

 similar to those surrounding the purchaser. Do not send far away for 

 seed-corn. Many farmers have done so and have generally been dis- 

 appointed. 



Selecting Seed. — Selection should be made in the field where both 

 plant and ear can be seen. Seed plants should be under normal conditions 

 relative to soil and stand. Good plants should be of moderate height. 

 Short nodes or joints are preferable to long ones, for each node bears a 

 leaf. The more the leaf surface, the greater the power of the plant to 

 manufacture the elements of the air and soil into corn. The leaves are 

 the most palatable, digestible and nutritious part of the forage. The 

 plants should be free from smut, rust and any other fungous diseases. 



The ears for a medium maturing variety of dent corn should be 

 attached to the stalk at a convenient height of about four feet, and by a 

 shank of moderate length and thickness. For very early varieties the 

 ears may be a little lower and for large late maturing ones, there will be no 

 objection to having the ears five feet above the ground. When the shank 



* Refer to Bulletin No. 116, Agricultural Experiment Station, The Pennsylvania State College. 



