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About Estacada progress. (Estacada, Or.) 1908-1916 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1915)
locality for which the seed is intend ed. It is thus apparent th a t the ne cessity fo r proper selection of seed corn is of even more im portance to Oregon grow ers than to those in states w here the industry is well es Good Seed Increases Yield at tablished. .Methdos of selecting, h ar vesting and storing the seed corn are Same Expense thus Re explained Extension ducing Production Cost A gronom ist by of J. the E. Larson, A gricultural Col lege, as follows: How To Do It. NOW IS S E L E C T I O N TIM E On seed corn day a sack should be taken by a strap across the shoulder (Quality. Early M aturity, and T rueness to Type are Main F actors in Select and the seed corn selections made. Re sure th at the strap fitting across the ing the Most Profitable Seed. shoulder is broad enough to avoid “Select your seed com now,” is irritation, or it m ay have a tendency advice as o ft repeated a t this season to cut the work short. In passing of the y ear as, “ Do your C hristm as through the field one or two rows shopping early,” “R egister now,” may tie watched. Select ears of m e and “Clean up,” are a t others. The dium size, w ith husks indicating the g reat value of good seed is the motive stage of m aturity well along, the ear SELECTING SEED FOR CORN CROP of the injunstion to save seed corn a t harvest tim e. Surveys have shown th at the yield of corn in one county of a corn state would have been in creased by the sum of $21 an acre throughout the county, other things being equal, if correct selection of seed had been made. Since “other things w ere to have been equal" it is plain th at the cost would have re mained the sam e, so th at the $21 would have represented a net profit, minus only the additional cost of se lection. It is safe to say th at at least $20 an acre would have been cleared by proper seed selection, dis playing a profit of $2000 for each of the 100 farm ers whose 100-acre crop was surveyed. Additional harvest cost would have been som ething, but th at is an item th at grow ers delight to pay. Since Oregon is not, with a very few exceptions, a natural corn state, and since by proper methods profit able corn crops can be grown, es pecially fo r hogging off, silage and a few other purposes, it is especially necessary to take advantage of ail feasible m eans to increase the yield and lower the production cost. Good seed and acclim ated seed are am ong the m ost im portant of these means and are entitled to a leading place in the program of corn production. Good seed can be secured by purchase, if one is willing and ahie to pay the price, but seed acclim ated to Oregon conditions, especially the W illam ette Valley, cannot be purchased at any price except as it was grown in the hanging a t a proper angle to avoid w ater running in and a shank not too large, but indicative of streng th and vigor. A t both ends of the field sacks or boxes should be placed to em pty the corn into. When the husks are removed, ready fo r storing, p a rt of the ears will necessarily have to be discarded and the final selections made ju st before planting tim e, when the corn is tested. The care of the corn a fte r selection has much to do w ith its grow ing quali ties the following spring. In all events it should be hung for drying and curing. Racks fo r drying are also very satisfactory. The drying should be done in buildings w here the circulation of air is good. A g reat m any tests have been m ade in regard to the best place to store seed com . Heated house attics, w here the cir culation of air is good, have been found to be the best places. N ext to this comes the basem ent, w here there is a heating plant installed. If corn is kept in a place w here there is a good circulation of a ir until it dries thoroughly, the cold does not bother so much. W hen very hard freezing is likely to occur, there is some danger of injuring the vitality of the com . The old method of storing in cellars, barns and overhead cribs, w here live stock arc allowed to run in the drive way, has been abandoned by up-to- date farm ers and seed grow ers. In places w here any m oisture is likely to rise, seed corn will not keep. W here large am ounts of seed corn are to be kept, it is a good policy to build a drying house. In th is drying house it will be necessary to have shelves or racks fo r holding the seed, it m ust also be properly ventilated, so as to keep out all m oist air and cold while drying. Hop houses and prune dryers m ight be altered for corn drying. A fter the com is p retty well cured and dry, it n.ay be boxed in slatted crates or narrow cribs. The only attention necessary then is to see th a t there is proper ventilation of a ir and th at the tem perature does not g et too low. It is useless to spend a g rea t deal of tim e selecting your seed corn and then allow it to be lost by poor storage. Corn th a t has shown a germ ination te st of V0'/c or m ore will deteriorate by cureless m ethods of storing. A Tim e fo r Everything. In m ost every line of work on the farm there is a rig h t and a wrong tim e to do it. This is especially true of seed corn. It is not advisable to select the seed corn before it is well along tow ard m aturity . The w eather is usually hot and there is danger of mold. It is a very poor practice to w ait until husking tim e and select from the wagon. No record is kept of the stalk from which the ear w as produced, and all too often it is the large, late m aturing ear th at attra cts one s attention. The w orst practice of all, however, is to w ait until p lan t ing tim e and then select from the crib. W ith the up-to-date facilities and m ethods of selecting and curing fo r seed corn, one should not depend on too sm all an am ount fori seeding. U nder any consideration, It would require a t least eight bushels of se lected and graded seed corn fo r every ■ 10 acres to be planted. To provide ag ainst failure to g et a stand and for replanting, a t least 10 bushels should be selected fo r every 40 acres. If you have an especially good field of corn, a g rea t deal m ore m ay be selected and sold a t a good profit. There has never been a tim e when good seed corn, well selected and tested, would not bring a fancy price. HOW TO U SE PR E SS BU LLETIN . The fro n t page of the Press Bulle tin is prepared fo r clipping. The re verse side is used fo r conveying a g ri cultural news m atter, although it is not expected th is m atte r will be ex tensively used by Oregon weeklies, owing to its g re a te r length. The m at te r contained on the reverse page is designed 'p rim a rily fo r the benefit of farm ers and others interested, who are furnished the P ress Bulletin m at te r entire in the w ay of supplem ents. Because the p rin tin g fo r a very large num ber of readers m ay be done m ore economically from one plant than from m any it is done a t the College, editors using the supplem ent service g ettin g th e en tire benefit of the re duced cost. The m ater used on the reverse page is prepared in consider able detail, so th a t grow ers m ay read ily follow the practices suggested by th e articles. C uts are used to m ake th e m atte r still m ore plain and a ttra c tive. But while this w as designed as the m ethods of use, it has been found in actual practice th at much use is m ade of the supplem ent m atter by new spapers in localities w here the in form ation is especially applicable. E ntire stories are republished in full, and applications are frequently made for the cuts to be used in illustration. In fact it is not possible to supply these cuts as prom ptly as dem ands for them come in, but orders are book ed and filled as rapidly as possible. The use of these cuts is free, the only obligation assum ed by editors order ing them being th eir safe return to the College. .Most of the cuts were prepared to illu strate m atter printed on book paper, but by a little ex tra care in printing m ay be m ade to do very well on news stock. E ditors are invited to send requests fo r cuts when ever they think they can use them to advantage, and w hether the cuts de sired have been used in the Press Bul letin or not they will be forw arded as soon as possible a fte r, orders are re ceived. And all Oregon new spaper men are cordially invited to cooperate w ith the Press Bulletin in g ettin g the character of inform ation m ost needed by producers before them . Send in lists of subjects of g reatest im port ance in your locality and the Press Bulletin will secure the desirel inform ation if it is to be had and publish the sam e to the ex tent of its capacity. T hat is w hat the P ress Bulletin is for. Help m ake it effective fo r the ad vancem ent of scientific agriculture and thereby contribute to the agricul tu ra l developm ent of your section. The increased w ealth resulting will aid your com m unity and aid you. Let us know w hat your farm ers w ant in the w ay of b etter farm ing methods. [E ditor P ress Bulletin.] SEED S TESTED FR EE F arm ers and other visitors a t the S tate F a ir having field and garden seeds th a t they would like to have tested are invited to bring them to the Oregon A gricultural College E x hibit and hand them to the expert in charge o f seed testin g dem onstra tions. The seed will be „ested for p u rity and fo r germ ination and re ports will be m ade to the grow ers sub m itting the seed as soon as possible a fte r the close of the fair. FIR EB LIG H T FEA TU R ED One of the interesting features of the P lan t Pathology D epartm ent at the S tate F air will be an entire pear tree badly infected w ith fireblight. By m eans of inspecting carefully the characteristics of fireblight and the sym ptom s as they appear on the tree, grow ers will learn a g rea t deal in re gard to identifying fireblight, and from panels and charts, also on dis play, they m ay learn how to control it. Some Fair Seed Corn E ars, but not the Best ot College No 23, Dent