Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1915 — Page 3

T IS surely an amazing fact that the A corn crop of the states should averarcß age year after year only about 30 bushels to the acre. The acreage planted Is increased by millions from year to year; vast areas of virgin territory are constantly being brought under cultivation; It is a AnkM, matter of record that many farmers raise 100, 200, some as high as 300 bushels to the acre, yet the average for the entire crop is never increased. - Is it likely that there is anything wrong with the government figures? Ido not think so. There is as much care given as is possible to insure accuracy, and I dare say that many farmers, even if they raise more than 30 bushels to the acre, will feel satisfied that the figures are correct from his knowledge of what .the average yield is in his district. The farms are tilled by a pretty good type of farmer, on the whole, hard working and intelligent The best that we have been able to produce of the true American, and for the most part the best of the sturdy sons of the soil from many foreign lands. We have a national department of agriculture that has been the envy and the copy of the world, which is in a sense a farmers’ university, and the sole aim and purpose of which has been, and is, to make better farmers. For a generation or more it has striven by study, experiment and printers' Ink lavishly disseminated, to educate the farmer and bring him to a higher level as an efficient tiller of the soli. Through the work of Its many.professors it has presumably told the farmer much about seeds and soils and methods of cultivation, and of protection from insect pests, an infinite variety of details about the vital facts concerning his business, yet the result remains the same, so far as corn is concerned, year after year—3o bushels to the acre. In almost every state in the Union there is now, and has long been, an agricultural experiment station, working in co-operation with the federal department of agriculture and hand in hand with the farmers of the state, to educate him. The stations are equipped with professors and experts, many of them of the highest authority in the land, vast tracts are under experimental cultivation, they have been planning, working, testing soils and seeds, fertilizers, to aid the farmer in the exercise of economy and the growing of better crops. The net results of their labors they are constantly disseminating by means of lectures, correspondence and bulletins, free, for all who would profit by such —yet the net result after all these years is an average of 30 bushels to the acre for corn. : The agricultural colleges have gone even farther than this. In many instances they have not been content to work and lecture and print the results of their labors for the benefit of progressive farmers; they have been militant.in their work, have instituted campaigns of education by sending out some of the professors on special trains, right In the heart Of farming districts, and giving the farmer heart to heart talks and object lessons in better farming methods; about soils, d methods of cultivation, seed selection, inviting him freely to ask questions, to the end that he may become a more enthusiastic worker and raise better crops. Although this has been going on for years and beyond question many have profited by it, yet the average yield of corn the past year was just the same —30 bushels. Is it possible that the present type of farmer has reached the limit of his capacity to improve? It may be so. At any rate, besides all this there is an agricultural press, of vast proportions throughout the states, working to educate the farmer and keep him posted on everything that may be of help to him in his business. Many farmers take several such publications. Then again, the tools that are available to the farmer for his work are far superior to what they have been In the past, and are improved every year. Is it possible that the farmer is not as a class taking advantage of the best tools for his work? ' ’f ■. " Whatis the first thing to be done in the growing of better corn crops? I think, in seed selection. There is nothing startling or original in this, I admit; It is the doctrine that has Ipng been preached, but I would simply add my testimony from the results of my experiments with the hope that it may lead others io try along the same lines. There is nothing, difficult about it, there is certainly nothing costly; it amounts to simply a little more thorough and intelligent heart interest In one's labor. ' To secure a corn that will yield tenfold what he has been accustomed to getting the farmer must breed for results. He has got to improve the corn in the same way that he would raise the standard of his stock or his flocks. And once he has secured a type of corn that shows increased productiveness, he must try to keep it pure, avoid inbreeding and maintain its stamina, with the same watchfulness and care that all breeding demands. It does not require a scientific education* to grow more and better corn, or better crops of any kind. It does require brains. One of the first things to be done is to get out of the slipshod ways of working. Corn, especially, is one of the most shnsed crops o* the farm. Because It will ' , - . ■ y ■'/ ; - -.‘a -.

IMPROVING THE CORN CROP

By HORACE MARKLEYS

grow and give some returns with a lot of neglect —it gets it. In no one respect is the average farmer more careless than in his choice of seed, and this may be said to be the prime essential. The farmer is plowing, manuring, performing all the operations from planting time to harvest, year after year, and with some of these he takes considerable pride; for instance, I know farmers who are perfect plowmen; they know it and are proud of their skill, but these same farmers are hidebound in an old custom of throwing their corp in their crib just as it is husked, and when they want seed in the springtime they go to the crib and pick out sufficient likely ears from what are left to meet their needs, and let it go at that It is an enigma how a man can be so skilled as a workman in many respects, and yet absolutely inert to one of the most vital phases of securing perfection in that work. It needs no argument, for it has been demonstrated over and over again that the breeding of plants can be followed with as much certainty as to results as the breeding of animals. Then why not do it? The only added equipment which nine out of ten require is the exercise of more intelligent care and precision in some of the details. It seems strange, but it is nevertheless a fact, that most farmers are aware of what may be done in plant breeding, and know the general principles, but they will not wake up to a practice of them in their own interests. . If we are to increase the corn yield we have got to get it in the breed. It is not in the soil, or fertilizer, or the weather, or in any other factor, Important though each may be. The first essential is to breed up corn for points with the same care given to animals or fowls.. Type, quality, stamina, productiveness, etc., must be known, must be sought for and improved with each season. It is not enough to pick out perfect eats or such as may be attractive at harvest time. It is necessary that pna shall know the plant that produced the ear, and all the conditions of its growth and environment. There are many mysteries to be solved in this question of seed selection with the view to breeding up a more productive type of corn. My own experiments in this direction will indicate some of the difficulties to be met with. In husking the corn in the fall I came across just one stalk containing two ears. It was the first 1 had ever met with, though upon inquiry I find that farmers do frequently come across such two-eared stalks, though they never pay' any attention to them, but throw them in the crib with the others. It occurred to me, however, that it would be well to plant from these two ears and endeavor to raise a two-eared crop. One ear was of good size and the other about two-thirds as big. Weighing them, the large one weighed 14 ounces and the small one 9% ounces. The large ear was an average ear such as every stalk carried. Thus this particular plant gave 9% ounces more than any other plant This gain would mean almost a ton more to the acre if the corn could be bred to yield two ears. It would mean even more if the two ears could be made to attain a good size instead of one being large and .one small, as in this.case. The corn was of a variety called yellow flint, obtained originally of a nearby farmer. From these two ears I selected 630 kernels, discarding the butts and tips. The field in which this was planted was fall plowed and dressed during the winter with a liberal application of a high quality of stable manure, as I keep such in a cement-bot-tomed pit The two-eared seed was planted at one end of the main corn field. It should of course have had a separate plot, and it may be that the tendency to revert to one ear was due in part to its contiguity to the ordinary corn. - The «30 kernels madd Hl hills. Fourteen failed to come up, probably being eaten By worms or mice. The germination showed very strong vitality. However, of the 616 stalks, all from the twoeared seed, only IM stalks produced a double ear. About one-fifth,

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

Another Interesting point, showing clearly the tendency to reversion to remote ancestors, is found in the fact that while the two-ear seed were of 12 rows about 75 per cent of the yield wr, of one eight-rowed cobs. Although this variety of flint corn will show frequent ears of 12 and 14 rows, it may be considered properly an eightrowed type of corn. Thus we see that after throwing the sport of a twoeared stalk, there is not sufficient stamina in all the seeds to reproduce like the parent The corn reverted not only to the one-eared but to the eightrowed type. This is one of the mysteries that will have to be solved, no doubt before a highly productive two-eared type of corn can be raised with the qualities of the parent so fixed that it

can be relied upon to maintain a big average yield. It may be due to a weakness of inbreeding. Some of the ears weighed over a pound each, making over two pounds to the stalk. If this could be averaged for an entire corn field it would yield over ten tons to the acre. Such may seem an exaggeration or an impossibility, but it is so only in comparison with what we have been accustomed to. Even if by judicious selection of two-eared seed each year still the type could not be fixed so as to produce even yields of the maximum amount, yet if it gave an increase of 20 per cent, as it did in my experiment, the return would be a big one for what is involved. It does not imply added cost in the production, but only a greater care and interest in one's work. <7 * Another thing to be kept in mind in breeding up a type of corn for higher productiveness is.that the number of kernels to the ear and their size has an important bearing on the yield of grain. A corn expert once figured out that if the pro xductiveness of corn could be Increased by only one kernel to each ear, on the entire crop it would mean a gain of 50 tons of grain! Even though the figures be not absolute, there is no gainsaying that the increase of yield would be a very big amount in the aggregate. The point is made very clear in the accompanying photo- , graphs, which show eight, ten and twelve-rowed ears of corn. Each ear was exactly the same in weight, being 11 ounces each. The eight-rowed ear gave seven ounces of. grain, and had a cob weighing four ounces; the ten-rowed ear weighed up eight ounces of grain and had a three-ounce cob; the twelve-rowed ear gave eight and onehalf ounces of grain. A difference of an ounce and a half to the ear of actual grain is an appreciable gain worth striving for. But that does not mean that such is the limit of the gain to be obtained. It would be quite within reason to obtain tenfold that increase. The chief requisites to substantial progress in the growing of a more productive corn must be the skill and judgment of the worker. The first essential is no doubt seed selection, but this does not merely mean the picking out of the best looking ears at harvest time or in the husking. It is necessary that the grower shall watch the corn from the first start of the seed and through the growing. Vigor, productiveness and early ripening should be noted, not merely in the mind, but in a book, and the stalks should be marked so that they can be identified at any time. My method is to snip out little bits of tin; punca a hole through them at one side and put a bit of thin wire through and twist this loosely about the stalk when marking It. On the tin I scratch a number with a sharp awl. There is not likely to occur any accident that can destroy this tag or erase the figures. • . -

“I> your new cook willing to learn?" asked the visitor. "Tee," replied the weary housewife. “She has already learned to embroider, and I think if she stays a few months longer she will know how to play the piano.”

"Don't say you don’t believe in signs any morn There’s Marie gone to Europe, and now she can’t get back.” “What have signs to do with that?” "Well, she would insist on traveling.there Is a maroon suit.”

OUT AND OUT.

Bill—How long was the jury out? Jill—Just two hours. "And how did you come out?* “Jest forty dollars.”

A LEARNER.

SIGNIFICANT.

Laura Jean Libbeu's Talks on Heart Topics

[Cwrirfc 1914 to ItoOm Nmnpw flndmtol “LOVE WIVES." She who ne'er answers till a hueband cools, - Or, if she roles him, never shows aha ’ ratosi. She Is—mine own! I am rich in having such a jewel As twenty seas, if .all their sand were pearls, % The water nectar and the rocks pure gold. Since the widespread publication of the Rogers scandal —that unhappy

root of this bitter feeling in the hearts of these wives. Who will say thatthey are not satisfied .in their Insistence that the name of wife should not be applied to the woman who has deliberately given herself to man’s lust without troubling herself as to the holy bond of matrimony not being entered into? The term love wife, when applied to an unmarried female, is a gross Insult; an indignity heaped upon the respectable women who bear with honor and dignity the name "wife." Webster’s definition of wife reads: "The lawful consort of a man; a woman who ia united to a man in wedlock.” It Is infamous to give to a woman who is willfully unchaste that sacred name. Call them "passion companions," ‘love thieves,” anything; but never give damaged affection the name of that which is pure and spotless.

Three women, whom the world knows of, have come under this man’s spell. Some writers have put forth the query: Why did not the first wife give him up when she found his heart had gone from her to another? It is very heroic to think of what other Women can do under such circumstances. But if it were their own case they would know it would be quite as easy to tear out the living, beating heart from their bosom as to resignthe idol they worshiped to another woman’s arms. Because some other woman comes along and takes a fancy to what we have is it just and right to relinquish one’s claim to another? If the wife whom he wedded was not a -love wife" by Clod’s approval what was she? The man wooed and won her Innocent heart in all its girlish purity, reverence and faith. She gives up her best years to him. When he casts her off for a passion companion, cart he restore to his wife those years with their lost possibilities, which have ended in loss of love, ruined faith, and outlook of a desolate future? With all this staring her in the face, weighing down her tortured heart, what is there left for her of happiness, peace and love? She is the first and only love wife until the day she dies. The woman who takes her chances on marrying a man who is 'light o’ love” must take her' chances on how long her hold upon his affections will last. When a man marries he can have no knowledge as to whether the good Lord will decree that union to be fruitless or otherwise. If children come, he should be thankful. If they are denied he should not rail against the wisdom of the all wise. This fact does not give him the right to cast off the faithful mate. He should love and comfort her. She is the more dependent upon him as the years slip by. She, who by the subtle art of family raising endeavors to usurp the wife’s place, will find her road a long and thorny one. Passion companions of this kind win find themselves ousted in their turn by a younger and prettier fascinater.

BRING YOUNG FOLK TOGETHER.

Now what is Love, I pray thee tell? It is that fountain and that well Where pleasure and repentance dwell; It is, perhaps, the soundinc bell That tolls all into heaven or hell; And this is love, as I hear tell! Where there are young folks in the family it should be a bright and jolly household. When their days are engaged in employment, their evenings, so far M possible, should be interspersed with pleasure to upset the humdrum of existence. * This not only appMfes to the working girl still in her teens, but to the woman who has passed that youth mark ten years or so ago. Life is happy or lonely, according to the plan one lays out. Monday evenings there MTMlways plenty to do. Tuesday-eve-ntng.why not tidy up the best ivom snd entertain two or three of your friends who would only be too pleased to have a place to go- Wednesday

episode In which a New York lawyer divorced one wife, wedded another, and in short order threw her over for an affinity—l have received an avalanche of letters asking me to denounce the term "wife,” as applied to the third woman In the tangle. These letters are mostly from society women, honorable wives and loyal mothers. I may as well strike right at the

—7——— : ——— —— - - I evenings you could visit other Meuds. Thursday evening Is usually bean evening. A girl could accompany her Seat young man to the theater or pass a nice pleasant evening at home, playing some dance music, If the weather was stormy. Friday evening is good for her to go to the movies or to attend some social affair, that is fun enlivening. Saturday evening is devoted to the marketing. Sunday, off course, is church night with the aforementioned beau accompanying her. If parents strive their best to give their daughter a happy girlhood, they do much toward smoothing the rugged path which leads to her future. She who has a happy life of it turns a smiling face to the world. If it is dull and lonely, it casts a shadow over her. Parents or guardians of young girls who deny them the pleasure of inviting company to their homes take from them their chief happiness and drive them elsewhere for enjoyment. The girl who fears to invite a young man to call upon her will be sure to blame those who are responsible few it later on if she is doomed to single blessedness. .

Young men and young women should have their opportunities of being brought together in wholesome social affairs If it is expected that happy marriages will come from IL There is but‘‘one youth time in the life of a young man or young girl. It should be remembered by them as a rainbow of brightness which time can never efface. The good people of neighborhoods who give little inexpensive affairs to bring young folks together are but living their own youth over again in watching the budding courtship of youthful lads and lassies. Pull the pretty bashful girls out of their shells; see that they join in the neighborhood frolics. Let no nice, single young man escape from responding to the invitation. Young folks must be brought together to look, love and wed.

THE HOUSEWORK?

X have heard of reasons manifold Why love must needs be blind; But this is the best of all, I hold— His eyes are in his mind. "If the wife works at any occupation which brings in moqey and the husband is out of employment, shouldn’t he fill in' the idle moments by doing the housework and looking after the children?" This is the blunt question which a wife who works asks me to decide. She dwells on her grievances still further by adding that she is obliged to to rise very early, get breakfast for the family; she is obliged to stack up the dishes for want of time to wash them. Her neighbor next door looks after thff children for a small amount until her return at night. After her supper dishes are cleared away at night, she has the children to put to bed, the washing, Ironing, housecleaning and mending to do. "My husband sits around the house all day,” she adds, "varying the monotony by going out to search for work, but secretly hoping he won’t find IL Now, while he is at home these long days, couldn’t he take care of the children, prepare an easily cooked meal for them, wash the dishes and sweep the floor at least? He says It isn’t a man’s work, and he refuses to do it I say if he cannot find work outside he should be glad to do it inside. Please decide for "OVERBURDENED WIFE." This case does not stand alone. There are many hundreds just like it the world over. Few men are brought up to perform household duties. The excellent bookkeeper, accurate at figures, who seldom makes a mistake, would find himself at his wits* end as to how to escape breaking some of the dishes he would be required to wash. Cooking would be an equal hardship. He wouldn’t know whether the making of coffee called for a spoonful of baking powder, sugar or an egg; how long it took to cook porridge to make.it thin as gruel or thick as dough;' whether to give the children bread and butter thickly coated with sugar every time they asked for it or not to give them half enough to satisfy their young appetites. There are husbands who fit nicely into the emergency. There are others whom it would knock all askew as being distasteful. Rather than to be pressed into the household service, which goes against the grain, a man should be up and doing, out looking for work early and late, refusing to accept defeat When he must spend a few hours in 'the home, love for hie wife should prompt him to do many little acts to lighten the load which is upon her overburdened shoulders. Assisting her does not detract from his manliness. He earns her gratitude, which is far more satisfying than outside pay even. > A happy, contented family means that each does all in his or her power to help, regardless of what the work to be done may be.

Resented the Insult

The thrifty peasant, Nasr-ed-dln, one day received a visit from. Mis needy cousin, Hafls the 111-Favored, who besought of him the loan for a day of his donkey. "1 should be most happy, good cousin,” said Nasreddin, “but unfortunately he has gone astray, and I have no manner of knowledge where he may be.” The words were no sooner spoken than the donkey set up a loud braying from a shed In the yard, “Hee-honk! hee-honk!” “But, Maar?” exclaimed H&fis, “there is surely -thy donkey at home and seemingly quite welt” Whereupon Naxr-ed-5 ww *