COLES COUNTY SEED FARM 
TOLAND TREATING SEED FOR SMUT 
After years of careful work and close attention, I have it strictly pure and giving 
excellent satisfaction. Some of the dealers and manufacturers claim it has meant mil¬ 
lions to the trade. I have a very choice stock of my own growing to offer this year, and 
will give all orders m}^ prompt and careful attention. 
AUSTRIAN BROOM CORN SEED 
The introducing of the Austrian broom corn has been a question among the deal¬ 
ers and growers here. In the year of 1901, Mr. A. H. Grunewald of Chicago, sent me 
about one ounce of Austrian broom corn seed, requesting me to try it. I put the seed 
in water; about 100 sank to the bottom; these I planted, the rest being too weak to 
germinate. The 100 seeds produced about ninety stalks of broom corn. I did not 
treat this for smut, and when headed about one-third was smut. The brush and seed of 
six heads were very red; four dark, like sorghum, and five, where the brush knit on 
the stem, curly and rough. The remaining were long, green heads, which averaged 
three and one-half feet in length. 
I saved the seed from the good heads and treated it for smut the following year 
before planting. I planted eighty seeds to the rod, and had enough for one-fourth of 
an acre. This, when matured, was a great improvement over the preceeding lot, most 
of it being nice, long green brush, free from smut with very few dark or red heads, 
and the length reduced about six inches. I selected from this plot the medium length, 
nice plump heads for seed. I continued to do this year after year, until I attained 
a nice, long, green hurl brush, with an extra fine fibre. Price per lb., 30 cents; one- 
fourth bushel, $1.25; one-half bushel, $2.25; one bushel, or 48 lbs., $4.00. 
8 
