1904 
87 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AN IOWA CORN TEST. 
As corn is the leading money crop in this south¬ 
western part of Iowa, it is natural that a farmer of 
an investigating turn of mind should be constantly ex¬ 
perimenting with it and endeavoring to learn some of 
its secrets as to yield, season, quality, etc. The in¬ 
terest in improved corn has been intensified here by 
the fact that this valley is dotted from end to end 
with seed corn men; that is, men who make a busi¬ 
ness of preparing and shipping out seed corn. In a 
distance of about 30 miles there are no less than 15 
active seed corn firms, and here at Shenandoah are 
at least four in a bunch. This station ships more seed 
corn than any other station in the United States. The 
corn grown here is naturally of fine quality and this 
seed corn trade has stimuated the farmers to greater 
efforts. It is a safe proposition to say that every not¬ 
able corn investigation that has been undertaken by 
western scientific men has had its start in the work 
of the farmers and seed corn men of southwest Iowa. 
This last Summer I started in to make a test o7 dif¬ 
ferent varieties of corn, with a view to learning what 
additional facts I could as to their earliness and yield. 
There is considerable dispute among farmers as to 
whether it pays to grow the corn with the largest 
ears, or the corn with the most ears. That is, which 
will make the best yield. Also whether it pays to 
take the risk of a big late corn being caught by frost, 
or to take an earlier and presumably smaller yielding 
corn. I planted the varie¬ 
ties named in the table be¬ 
low, on an old strawberry 
patch that was very rich 
from being mulched with 
manure. It was plowed 
early, then disked and har¬ 
rowed several Times. When 
the soil was in perfect or¬ 
der the seed was planted 
in rows 3V 2 feet apart with 
two grains in a place every 
two feet. A typical ear of 
each variety was used, and 
it was the best seed I could 
get. The corn was planted 
May 18, and was kept well 
cultivated with an ordi¬ 
nary riding cultivator. I 
had it planted in blocks or 
strips of four rows each 
variety and every fifth or 
sixth strip was of Jhe 
Shenandoah Yellow, a 
local variety. I planted it 
as a check to judge the 
others by. 
I stumbled on to one in¬ 
teresting question that was 
a total surprise to me. 
While I knew in a general 
way that some corn stood 
up better than others, I 
had never thought of it as 
being in part at least 
caused by the climate 
where the variety had 
been developed and the 
seed grown. From my ob¬ 
servations this year I am 
inclined to believe that seed corn from a windy cli¬ 
mate will stand up better than that from a locality 
where strong winds are rare. For instance, the White 
Cap Dent was from New York State, and its ancestors 
had never had to fight the prairie wind for a foothold. 
It went down in the first wind we had and by Fall 
was nearly all on the ground. Not far away stood 
some corn from Nebraska and some from Texas, and 
no matter how much wind was going they were al¬ 
ways straight and steady. Not a stalk was down. 
Some Mexican corn from Texas was over 17 feet high 
and as straight as a poplar. Rural Thoroughbred 
Flint, not 10 feet away, from eastern seed, was all 
down although it was not over seven feet high. Iowa 
is a prairie State and all the local varieties being 
used to wind, stood up fine, but the Ohio corn (seed 
from Ohio) was down; so was the Pennsylvania corn. 
It is noticeable upon examination of following table 
that it is not the corn with the biggest ears that made 
the big yields. I confess it was a surprise to me to 
find that the biggest yields were made by corn with 
medium-sized ears and lots of them. Also the latest 
corn is not necessarily the best yielder. It look? from 
the table that what is best for this climate is the 100- 
days or medium early corn. Now this is a matter 
that is “important if true,” and I would like to see it 
thoroughly discussed. If any of The R. N.-Y. people 
have had experience along this line let us have it. 
The corn was picked in November, each kind weigh¬ 
ed separately and the ears counted. In estimating 
the yield I allowed 75 pounds of ears to the bushel. 
Here is the result. The season is, of course, partly es¬ 
timated as it varies some in different years: 
Est. sea¬ 
son, days. 
105 
Variety. 
Yield per 
Av. wt. 
acre bu. 
ears, oz. 
Iowa Silvermine . 
11.7 
Calico . 
10.5 
Red Corn . 
10.5 
Early Ohio . 
9.2 
Shenandoah Yellow .... 
.132 
11.4 
Legal Tender . 
.Ill 
11.2 
Pride of Iowa . 
.119 
11.4 
Learning . 
10.9 
Shenandoah Yellow .... 
.129 
11.2 
Early White Cap Dent.. 
. 67 
S.2 
Old Gold . 
9.6 
Red 90-Day . 
8.1 
Reid's Yellow Dent _ 
.117 
12.2 
Early Yellow Rose . 
.115 
3.0.6 
Shenandoah Yellow . 
11.6 
Dongfellow Dent . 
. 79 
8.1 
Autumn King . 
. 96 
10.6 
Pennsylvania Corn . 
.102 
11.0 
Perkins Corn . 
9.8 
Shenandoah Special (90-day).. .114 
10.9 
Shenandoah Yellow .... 
.125 
11.4 
100 
100 
10 
100 
105 
100 
95 
100 
90 
90 
ro 
105 
100 
160 
90 
105 
105 
95 
90 
... —100 
Have any of the experiment stations any data on the 
question? _ henry field. 
THE STRENGTH OF PINE TIMBER. 
A correspondent asks how far apart he shall place 
2 x 12 joists in a barn where the span is 16 feet be¬ 
tween supports, the main posts being 18 feet high, 
barn to be filled with hay. In order to figure out the 
foregoing, we must first approximate the weight of 
load to be carried upon the floor per square foot. Al¬ 
lowing 100 pounds per square foot for hay pressure 
upon the floor when barn is full of hay, then each 
MOTHER, WITH FATHER’S HELP, MAKES APPLE BUTTER. Fig. 30. 
joist will support a load estimated as follows: 
2 x 2 x 144 x 65 divided by 16 equals 2, 340 pounds. The 
foregoing formula is the breadth of the joist x the 
square of the depth x the constant, which in this case 
65 is allowed for pine and this result divided by the 
length of joist gives the safe center load, and where 
the joist is uniformly loaded as in this .case the re¬ 
sult is multiplied by two, making 2,340 pounds as the 
safe load for each joist to maintain. In this case we 
will allow 2,000 pounds as the safe load for each joist 
to carry, dropping off the 340 pounds for knots and 
other defects which are always liable to be in some 
pieces. Then each joist will maintain a load of one 
ton or 20 square feet of floor space. As the joists are 
16 feet long they will have to be placed 15 inches apart 
to carry the required load. If the joists are dressed 
on one side, thereby making them narrower than two 
inches, they will have to be placed proportionately 
closer together. _ g. w. kindlin. 
CONDITIONS GOVERNING ORCHARDING. 
I have just read with much interest the article by 
J. H. Hale on page 35, also your note and editorial. 
While I do not feel inclined to enter the controversy, 
allow me to suggest that in my humble opinion the 
parties are all justified in their contentions as it ap¬ 
plies to their individual experience based on their 
soils, climate and other conditions. So far as my ex¬ 
perience and observation go the question of cultiva¬ 
tion depends largely on conditions. The conditions in 
the South cannot be compared with our locations far¬ 
ther north. One of the most important benefits to be 
had by cultivation is the conservation of moisture, 
which has given better results with me than mulch¬ 
ing as obtained by keeping the orchard mowed. For 
soils supplied with plenty of nitrogen, and upon which 
a heavy growth of vegetation is grown, mulching 
would probably answer. We have found that there 
are extremes in cultivation also; in cultivating an or¬ 
chard year after year it has been discovered that the 
humus in the soil becomes exhausted. This, however, 
occurs only where intensive cultivation is practiced 
no vegetation whatever being allowed to grow for sev¬ 
eral years in succession. I have reference to bearing 
orchards in the above, but the same may be said rela¬ 
tive to planting and the treatment of young trees as 
to locations and conditions. I mulched a young or¬ 
chard some years ago and lost nearly every tree by 
the ground mice before I discovered the trouble. As 
to preparation of soil, and in fact, almost every point 
in the orchard business, from the selection of varie¬ 
ties and trees to the gathering and sale of the product, 
the man must be governed by his location and condi¬ 
tions. The successful farmer or orchardist of this 
day must be able to take in the situation intelligently 
and act accordingly j. w . s. 
SQUASH CULTURE IN CONNECTICUT. 
I read J. E. Morsel article on page 869, last vol¬ 
ume, on fortune? in 
squashes, and would like to 
say a few words in regard 
to the crop here for mar¬ 
ket. The Hubbard is a 
good seller if well grown, 
and always brings good 
prices in market here; 
they have sold for two 
cents per pound wholesale 
this season. The great¬ 
est trouble in growing 
them is the borer. The 
gardeners have best re¬ 
sults by planting as sec¬ 
ond crop, that is, follow¬ 
ing early peas or string 
beans, planting about June 
15 to 20, on well enriched 
soil. The most profitable 
variety, however, is the 
Michigan squash; this 
variety, I think, is little 
known outside of Connec¬ 
ticut. It has been grown 
here for more than 30 
years. It is difficult to 
keep the istock true, as 
it is liable to sport badly 
unless great care is taken 
in selecting seed. One 
large grower here sold 
one load a few years ago 
for $100, the price paid 
was $1. per dozen. They 
have sold the past season 
for 60 cents to $1 per doz¬ 
en for good stock. I sold 
a few December 19 for $1 
per dozen, and could have 
sold a load il' I had had them at same price. They sel¬ 
dom keep after holidays, being a Fall variety; they 
are very prolific, growing something like cucumbers. 
Good specimens grow 14 inches long or more and 
weigh three to 3Y 2 pounds each. The color is dark 
green all over, except where it lies on the ground in 
growing; this part is orange. The flesh is very sweet, 
but lacking the decided squash flavor found in the 
Hubbard and similar varieties. For this reason it 
is the very best variety I have ever found in the 
squash family for making pies. It is a hard-stemmed 
variety and is seldom troubled with the Squash borer. 
I grew a large crop of these in 1901 when my crop of 
Summer crook-neck was a complete failure. They 
always demand a good price here, and can be sold 
for some time before the Hubbard is ready for mar¬ 
ket. I do not know where they obtained the name 
of “Michigan squash,” as I never saw them cata¬ 
logued until last season outside of this Slate. 
New Haven Co., Conn. e. e. b. 
A BEE-KEEPER'S NOTE.—In regard to your note on 
bees, page 40, I will state that I have kept them for 20 
years, and find them a source of amusement, usefulness 
and profit. They have stung me many times in my ex¬ 
perience with them, but I think they always had a suf¬ 
ficient reason for doing so. I am almost immune against 
the effect of their stings now, but whether it is the re¬ 
sult of my age (I shall be 84 in a few weeks), or from the 
absorption of the poison in my system I am unable to 
say. At present we seem to understand each other, and 
I can handle them without fear and certainly with satis¬ 
faction. WM. JACKSON. 
Illinois. 
