174 



SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



(2) Protection from insects, rats, mice and other 

 animals. 



(3) Free circulation of air. 



(4) Protection from extremes of heat and cold. 



(5) A convenient and simple arrangement of ears for 

 spring seed testing. 



There are very many different methods of storing seed 

 corn, whether on nails, on strings, in racks or otherwise. 

 One method, which seems to be meeting the approval of 



many of the best farmers, is 

 to cut- a sort of pole ladder 

 out of rather heavy wire fenc- 

 ing, having square meshes 

 and the wires soldered, or 

 "welded" together at the in- 

 tersections. Such fencing is 

 easily procured at any store 

 handhng goods of this class. 



One of the vertical wires is 

 followed from top to bottom 

 and cross wires cut away from 

 it at every other intersec- 

 tion so that it resembles a pole with steps nailed on 

 it. The drawing and pictures show clearly how this is 

 done. 



The ears are put on these holders, which are then hung 

 up in some such place as the garret of a dwelhng house 

 where the conditions mentioned at the beginning of this 

 section prevail. 



Fig. 75. — How the wire is out. 



117. Testing the Seed. — No matter how carefully the 

 seed has been selected and stored, we can not be certain 

 of our stand in the field without testing specimen kernels 

 from each ear. While we are able in certain cases to de- 



