7b* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
72 
A New Ra^ Doll for Testing, Seed Corn 
A n IMPROVED METHOD.—The best thing ever 
discovered in connection with the seed corn 
testing problem is the rag doll described by B. H. 
Duddleston, who is working with Prof. G. N. I Ioffer 
at Purdue University in the investigation of corn 
diseases. In addition to the per cent of germination, 
this doll tells us in a very convincing way several 
other important things regarding the condition of 
the seed intended for planting the new crop. The 
farmers of Shelby County, Indiana, co-operating 
with the County Agent. R. r:. East, put a boxful of 
dolls to work 'this Spring, and after testing several 
thousand ears learned that 35.8 per cent of the seed 
usually planted by the average grower is diseased 
or of low vitality or dead. 
A SOURCE OF LOSS.—Prof. Iloffer. of the Pur¬ 
due Agricultural Experiment Station, and several 
other workers, established the fact through experi¬ 
mental and demonstrational work in several corn¬ 
growing States that most of the corn troubles, 
usually accredited to unfavorable weather, soil con¬ 
ditions. heredity and what not. are largely respon¬ 
sible for missing hills, “fired.” dwarfed, barren and 
down stalks, broken shanks, rotted ears and in 
general for greatly reduced yields. 
SELECTIVE SYSTEMS.—One of the methods 
worked out to get rid of these diseases 
consists of selecting seed ears from 
healthy, disease-resistant stalks. The 
stalk which is well rooted and is still 
live and green, and bears a mature ear 
on a good, strong shank, is most apt 
to be free from disease. Another 
method of avoiding the root-rot dis¬ 
eases consists of a germination test 
and examination of the sprouted ker¬ 
nels for infection when the sprouts are 
about five to six inches long. The 
sprouted kernels are cut across the 
middle, and if infected the presence of 
the disease will be indicated by a 
brown spot or streak or other dark 
discoloration within or around the em¬ 
bryo. The improved rag doll simplifies 
this process by doing away almost en¬ 
tirely with the cutting process. It is 
made up and used in the following 
way: 
MATERIALS FOR TESTING.—Cut 
a strip of bleached or unbleached mus¬ 
lin 12 inches wide and 54 inches long 
and sterilize it by placing it in boiling 
water. Then cut a strip of glazed and 
comparatively heavy wrapping paper, 
such as the butcher’s fiber paper. 12 
inches wide and 60 inches long. The 
paper can be had in almost any meat 
market or hardware store. Lay the 
paper strip on clean sheets of news¬ 
paper—to keep it from becoming con¬ 
taminated with molds—and place it on 
the muslin strip, thoroughly dampened, 
leaving a three-inch margin of paper 
at each end. Beginning about two 
inches from the end of the muslin, 
place in a row. points down and the 
heart next to the muslin, six to eight 
kernels from the ear <to be tested, tak¬ 
ing them from the different parts of 
the ear. It is best to begin at the 
One of the Com mini it it Seed Coni Testers. Fig. 192 
STUDYING RESULTS.—After seven or eight 
days the dolls are ready to unroll and tell the results 
of the test. The rows from healthy ears will all 
show good, vigorous sprouts, free from molds or 
infection of any kind, while those from diseased ears 
will usually be weaker, and some of the kernels, if 
not all of them, show a presence of pink or white 
mold or a dark discoloration of the heart. The 
molds and various other symptoms of disease will 
be confined to their respective rows, being prevented 
from spreading to other rows by the paper, which 
acts as an insulator. In the ordinary doll the molds 
usually spread throughout the doll, making it impos¬ 
sible to pick out tiie infected ears. The results 
obtained at the central testing station at Shelby- 
ville. Indiana, showed over 11 per cent of dead or 
weak ears, and over 24 per cent of the ears infected 
with diseases. In other words, more than one-third 
of the corn picked for seed under the prevailing 
methods was not fit for planting. What the loss of 
dollars and cents would amount to on an acre pro¬ 
ducing normally 40 bushels anyone can easily figure 
out. The ordinary method of seed testing is good 
as far as it goes, but the improved method, which 
also detects the diseased ears, marks a considerable 
advance in the possibilities of improving the corn 
crop. F. J. PIPAL. 
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Rolling Tip the Doll. Fig. 193 
The Doll Rendu to Tell Results of QennUnition Test. Fig. J9' ; 
butt and go 
around to the tip. placing the kernels in their proper 
order. This enables one to tell what part of the 
ear is infected in case it harbors any disease. Pro¬ 
ceed with other rows in a similar manner, laying 
them about two inches apart. The muslin strip of 
the size recommended will accommodate 20 rows. 
Label the ears properly, so as to know their relative 
position on the cloth. In rolling up the doll, which 
should not be done too tightly, it will be noticed 
that the glazed surface of the paper entirely sepa- 
iates the rows from each other which, as will be 
pointed out later, is the main advantage of the im- 
proved doll. When rolled up secure it at each end 
"ith a rubber band or tie loosely with a string. It 
‘ s l * u ' 11 properly labeled, sprinkled with lukewarm 
wliter not set in a pail and soaked, as is usually 
thine and put away into a box, especially recom¬ 
mended for this purpose, constructed on the tireless 
cooker principle in the following way: 
AX INSULATED TESTING BOX.— Make one box 
I s inches deep and otherwise of any suitable size, 
depending on the number of ears to be tested. Make 
a second box from comparatively thin and loosely 
fitted boards and without bottom. 15 inches high and 
four inches less in width and length than the first, 
so as to leave a space of two inches all around when 
placed inside the larger box. Bore small holes three 
inches from the top and three inches apart around 
the sides of the smaller box, and pass through them 
ordinary baling or any suitable wire in such a way 
as to divide the inside of the box into three-inch 
square sections, as shown in Fig. 164. Fill the large 
box with a three-inch layer of a mixture of sawdust 
ami limestone, using a large handful of ground 
limestone to every peck of sawdust. Place in the 
smaller box and till the empty space between with 
more sawdust and limestone mixture. Saturate this 
packing with water and keep it so throughout the 
test. It helps in a large measure to keep the dolls 
moist. The dolls are placed with the points of the 
kernels down into the box through the wire squares, 
which hold them in an upright position. The box is 
kept covered throughout the test with damp gunny 
sacks. The temperature at which the dolls must be 
kept to give the best results ranges from 75° toS5° f. 
California As a Cotton State 
I T may be < f interest to readers of 
The R. N.-Y. to know that cotton was 
first introduced into California in the 
Imperial Valley a very few years ago. 
The acreage has increased each year, 
due to the fact that both California 
and Arizona have quarantined against 
the boll weevil, and will continue to in¬ 
crease until these become two of the 
leading States for the production of 
cotton. The acreage of cotton during 
the seasons of 1618 and 1616 was about 
200.000, divided approximately as fol¬ 
lows : 
T . , „. Acres 
Imperial \ alley. :n the Southern 
part of California and extend¬ 
ing- below the line into New 
Mexico, about. 100,000 
Palo Verde Valley, in the south¬ 
eastern part of Riverside 
County. California, about.... 15,000 
Coachella Valley, in the central 
part of Riverside County. Cal¬ 
ifornia. abou t. 300 
San Joatpun A alley, in the coun¬ 
ties of Kern. Tulare and Fres¬ 
no. iu the central part of the 
southern half of California. 
about . 1,000 
luma Valley, in rhe extreme 
southwestern part of Arizona. 
about . 25.000 
Salt River Valley of Arizona, in 
the central part of that State, 
about . 60.000 
In California the cotton acreage 
for the coming season, for which they 
are now preparing the ground to plant, 
will be increased about 33v per cent. 
Several small valleys which heretofore 
have grown Alfalfa and strain, will be 
devoted very largely to cotton. This 
is especially true of the Coachella Val¬ 
ley, the Ferris Valley. San Joaquin 
Valley and the Sacramento Valley. 
The value of the cotton crop in California, includ¬ 
ing the seed for this season, has been approximately 
$50,000,000. The cotton grower the past season 
throughout the state has probably averaged three 
fourths of a 500 lb. bale per acre, with an average 
price, due to the extra length staple, ranging from 
40c to 50c per lb., for what is known as short cotton. 
The Pima cotton will be planted very largely this 
year, and brings the grower from 75c to $1 per lb. 
In fact, we just bought 53 bales grown on the State 
Farm, at $1.0514 per lb. Cotton grown in this coun¬ 
try is superior in both grade and staple, as it is not 
discolored by rains, but because iff irrigation, water 
is given it at the proper time and reaches the roots 
only, so that it is not spotted or stained, and conse¬ 
quently. low-priced cotton in these States is unknown. 
The minimum length of staple cotton tenderable 
on future contracts on the New York and Liverpool 
exchange, is % in., and much of the cotton in the 
South runs from % in. to 1 in. in length: while our 
California and Arizonia short cotton averages from 
1 in. to 11s io., and therefore brings a premium 
