639 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
tlon of New .Jersey on° of the most inviting sections 
for human civilization on the American continent. 
Next week 1 will tell you something of Monmouth 
County, which is the only county lying wholly within 
the cretaceous formation—a geological formation of 
great importance wherever found throughout the 
world, on account of its richness in organic remains. 
My own farm is here, which 10 years ago was an 
old Eastern farm, and cost me much less than a 
good farm in Indiana, yet I now grow as much corn, 
wheat, hay and potatoes'as they ever d% And I will 
tell of an old farm now for sale to illustrate how 
farm bargains may be picked up within cannon-shot 
of New York City. tuerox mccamfbell. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. 
The Weak Cornstalks 
Finding Them Before Planting 
Q UALITY OF SEED.—Which ear of seed corn is 
going to produce the sterile stalks and nubbins? 
Which will produce the good solid ears? If one 
could answer these questions before planting, he 
would he in a good position to raise a bumper crop of 
corn, for he could discard the undesirable ears. The 
ability to get this answer in advance of planting] 
seems now in a fair way to be realized. Prof. G. N. 
Holler, of Purdue University, and Mr. .T. A. Ilolbert. 
of the Funk Bros. Seed Co., recently worked out and 
published a method of accomplishing this end. Their 
results deserve wider publicity among practical farm¬ 
ers than their bulletins and technical papers are apt 
to secure foi them. For this reason some of the 
practical phases of their work are mentioned here. 
Some of their results are: 
(a) Barren stalks and stalks bearing only nubbins 
seem to be associated with certain diseased condi¬ 
tions in the plants. There is also an association be¬ 
tween certain types of seedlings grown in a gerrnin- 
ator and the number of barren stalks that grow from 
the seed planted from the same ears. 
(b) Surface sterilized seeds harbor bacteria and 
species of fusarium (a kind of fungus). The bacteria 
causes a rotting of the seedling in the germinator or 
in sterile flask cultures. “This rotting of the roots 
of the seedlings is the germination characteristic of 
the ears of corn which develop the greatest numbers 
of barren and down stalks in the field." 
In other words, certain seed ears produce a much 
larger per cent of weak plants than other ears pro¬ 
duce. and this in spite of equal germination per cent 
and of "vitality" of seedlings. This weak condition 
is associated with a diseased condition of the plants 
which can be detected by the rotting of the plantlets. 
TESTING METHODS.—Almost any of the usual 
f-rms of corn tester can he used for detecting the 
poor ears. The rag doll, however, is more satisfac¬ 
tory than the sand box. because the roots have to be 
examined. A scrutiny of the tops alone will not suf¬ 
fice. The condition is not indicated by any visible 
impairment of vigor or “vitality" in the green parts 
at that stage of development. It is necessary to ob¬ 
serve whether or not the roots and germs are rotted. 
It is a disadvantage, therefore, to have to pull the 
plantlets out of sand. 
THE G ERM IN AT OR.—For best results, though, a 
special germinator is recommended. This consists of 
a frame support with a wire screen bottom. On this 
are put about two inches of sawdust, mixed with 
approximately one-fourth its weight of ground lime¬ 
stone. The limestone is to neutralize poisons that 
would he developed in the sawdust. Over the saw¬ 
dust layer is placed a piece of coarse muslin which 
has been washed in boiling water to remove the 
starch. This muslin is to support the samples of 
corn and is to be ruled or marked in any most de¬ 
sirable way to indicate the identity of the grains 
tested. After the grains are placed in position, 
another similar muslin layer is placed over them. 
The whole thing is then wet thoroughly and further 
covered with gunny sacks or other heavy cloths, for 
at least a couple of days. After the corn germinates 
the heavy extra coverings can be removed, but the 
tester should he wet down thoroughly twice a day. 
No cars should he used for seed purposes from which 
anil of the lest seedlings show rotting of the embryo 
or stalk by the time they are three or four inches 
high. The rotting can be detected by cutting through 
the seedlings with a sharp knife at this stage in their 
growth. 
RESULTS OBTAINED.—The following experi¬ 
mental results were secured in the investigations 
from which the preventive measures just mentioned 
were secured. They will give some idea of the re¬ 
sults which can reasonably be expected of them. In 
.15 rows of corn grown from diseased ears, as shown 
by seedling behavior, 15.2 per cent of the stalks were 
barren and 6.2 per cent bore only nubbins, while 15.2 
per cent of the stalks were down by the end of the 
reason. In 15 rows from good ears only 6.3 per cent 
of the stalks were barren. 3.4 per cent bore nubbins 
only, and 3.1 per cent went down by the close of the 
reason. The difference in yield between the two 
l-inds was 22.0 bushels per acre. It is impossible, as 
was mentioned above, to tell the poor ears by the 
usual method of germination, either by the per cent 
of germination or by the “vitality” of the seedlings. 
In the tests mentioned above no ears were consid- 
A Bee-shipping Case. Fig. 163 
ered which did not have a germination record of 100 
per cent, based on 20 grains from each ear. It is 
evident, therefore, that the diseased condition of the 
ear may exist when the germination is perfect. The 
embryo and roots must be examined. As to the “vi¬ 
tality" of the seedlings, the statement is definitely 
made that “Ihe rate of seedling development on the 
germinator b not indicative of the yield possibilities 
of that seed ear." 
EFFECT UPON YIELD.— It is not to be expected, 
of course, that the elimination of barren and nubbin 
producing stalks in a field would increase the yield 
Thirty-five Bounds of Home-grown Belgian Hares 
Fig. lti-'f. See Next Page 
to the extent of the difference mentioned above. 
There are already a large number of normal stalks in 
every ordinary cornfield. However, the elimination 
of weak and barren stalks would certainly be of 
vaiue, even if there were only a small jper cent of 
such. This would he true even if the cost of elim¬ 
ination were considerable. A good-sized ear of corn 
contains 650 or more grains suitable for planting. 
If diseased, something like 10 per cent more of the 
stalks would he unprofitable than with good seed. 
The discarding of only one ear of seed corn per acre 
would prevent the growing of 65 unprofitable stalks 
of corn. 
CORN A HOST FOR WHEAT SCAB—Another 
April 12, 1919 
circumstance adds to the importance of preventing 
these corn diseases. This is the hitherto unknown 
fact that one of the fungi involved is also the cause 
of scab in wheat. Wheat scab is prevalent and com¬ 
mon in the*corn belt, and has been for a good many 
years. It is now found that scab is more abundant 
when wheat follows corn than when it follows 
any other crop, even including wheat itself. It 
is also more abundant in that part of the field 
where the cornstalks are left standing than in the 
I art from which they are removed, as for silage. 
“The profitable control of wheat scab may be in¬ 
volved in the growing" of disease-free corn, or in 
planting wheat on corn land, provided all of the fod¬ 
der will have been removed completely during the 
Fall or Winter. To those who would like to study 
this matter further, it is suggested that they write 
to the Indiana Experiment Station, Lafayette. Ind., 
and ask for a copy of Bulletin No. 224. “Selection of 
Disease-free Seed Corn.” h. e. mern. 
Indiana. 
Do Your Bees Need Feeding? 
Part II. 
STRONG SWARMS NEEDED.—It ‘will pay to re¬ 
queen or to unite weak colonies this Spring. Bee¬ 
keepers will find, though, that the prices of queens 
have about doubled, three and four dollars being 
charged for tested queens by some breeders. The 
secret in getting a good honey yield is in having the 
bees as strong as possible when the honey flow comes. 
In some places this is early and in other places late. 
One Massachusetts beekeeper, a woman, reports that 
her bees do but little real work before July, and 
that she finds it beneficial to do a little stimulative 
feeding in June. Probably there will he as much 
money in raising bees to sell as in producing honey 
this season, especially in towns where there are 
greenhouses devoted to the production of cucumbers. 
Cucumber growers have had difficulty in getting bees 
enough during the past year, and are paying high 
prices. Naturally the beekeepers cannot expect to 
get increase and honey crop from the same colonies. 
PUTTING ON SUPERS.—Amateur beekeepers 
make the mistake of delaying too long before putting 
on supers, and then do not use supers enough. Of 
course, the supers should not be used while the 
weather is cool enough so that the hees will suffer as 
a result of the empty space above them, but if they 
are left off too long, increased swarming will result. 
With the supers applied early, and plenty of ven¬ 
tilation given at the bottom of the hive, swarming 
will be more easily controlled. When working for 
comb honey one super will be enough to put on at 
first, but if the bees are being run for extracted 
honey, two or three supers may be applied at once. 
With several supers on the hive, the bees will be 
stimulated to increased .effort, with the possible ex¬ 
ception of weak colonies, which may be inclined to 
sulk. When running the hees for extracted honey 
there is no reason why a hive body should not be 
used as a super. The labor of extracting is lightened, 
and if the beekeeper wants comb honey for the table, 
it can be cut out in chunks. 
COMB OR EXTRACTED HONEY.—Last year bee¬ 
keepers everywhere were urged to run their apiaries 
for extracted honey, on the ground that a larger 
amount could be obtained in that way. Conditions 
have changed now. so that beekeepers who think 
they can make more money from comb honey are 
justified in producing it. The chances are that the 
demand for comb honey will be extra good, and the 
profits larger than before the war. It is a fact, 
though, that extracted honey is much easier to ob¬ 
tain. and the amateur beekeeper will be wise if he 
makes no attempt to force his hees to fill sections. 
This is especially true when the honey is to he used 
at home. It is obvious that the wax is wasted when 
comb honey is produced, while this waste is avoided 
when the honey is extracted. Moreover, as from 
five to TO pounds of honey are needed to make a 
pound of wax. the amount of surplus which they can 
store is necessarily much reduced. There is much less 
danger of swarming when extracting supers are on 
the hive, and less manipulation is required. The 
only drawback comes in the necessity of buying an 
extractor, but the small machines are not expensive, 
and oftentimes several beekeepers in the neighbor¬ 
hood can own one in common. Probably the unpre¬ 
cedentedly high prices for honey which have pre¬ 
vailed the past year or two will not be continued. 
Yet there is little likelihood that they will slump 
very badly, and undoubtedly beekeeping will remaiu 
more profitable thau before the war. 
E.'I. FABBINOTON. 
