Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 February 1916 — Page 3

DE SURE TO TEST SEED CORN

AGRICULTURAL A experts predict short com crop this year. Farmers advised to test every I grain of seed in order to avoid loss -situation serious

By P. G. HOLDEN.

JHTwm HERE win be a short corn crop this year and milH|l • lions ot dollars will be lost to the farmers if great care 18 not taken In selectin S and testing- the best maty tured corn for this season’s A 1 \ planting. ' 7 y We may well take the warning to heart, for this section of the country lives and prospers largely on the production of its land, and follow the advice of agricultural Scientists who can tell our people how to escape heavy loss. This advice will work no hardship and no expense if followed. It will require a little careful work and sharp watching at a season of the year when the farmer is not overburdened with labor. Nineteen fifteen was a bad year for corn. A cold, wet season retarded the growth of the grain. The crop in many parts of the corn belt was immature; it contains an Excessive amount of water and is unfit for seed. The scarcity of seed corn is really the most serious in many years. You farmers may say you are going to use seed from your 1914 crop. Don’t trust it. The grain may have been damaged by the frost during the hard freezes of last year. Don’t trust It—test it. The high price of corn, too, on account of the war has nearly exhausted the 1914 crop and this Source of supply then is not reliable. Missing Hills, Weak Stalks. There are about 890 kernels on the average ear of corn. One poor seed means 800 weak, moldy or dead kernels. If these are planted It means missing hills and weak stalks producing little or nothing. According to reports Just received, every Indication points to very serious trouble with seed corn, especially in sections lying north of central Illinois and in North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and lowa. This community ought to get busy right now, for the prosperity of our community—our merchants, our bankers, our builders, our workers—depends on the prosperity of the farmers hereabouts. We ougirt to start a seed corn campaign. The county superintendent of schools can reach the farmers through the rural schoolteachers, who in turn will see that the children carry the message home. You bankers, merchants and implement dealers who trade directly with the farmers ought to write personal letters urging them to ga into this matter scientifically. In short, all of us ought to mobilize our forces, Just as our nation 1 would have to mobilize all its resources in case of war. You farmers must not use poor seed this spring. It means too much to all of us. Poor seed means not only a poor stand and. a portion of the field idle, but that you must cultivate missing hills, one-stalk hills, and poor, worthless stalks, and receive nothing in return. Don’t Work for Nothing. Thousands of people every year wof-k more than a third of every day on ground that produces nothing. Do not depend for seed on the occasional good ears selected during the husking period. The corn will be injured by freezing before it is husked or before it has had time to become dry after husking. Select the best ears, if you have not already done so, and string them on binder twine and hang up. Do not store seed corn In barrels or boxes. It will "gather moisture” and mold or freeze. Do not store over the stable. Do not put Immature or freshly gathered seed corn In a warm room, on the floor, or In piles. It will either sprout, or mold, or both. It should be hung up at once, and the windows opened to allow the freest circulation of air. Do not depend on the crib for seed corn. One day devoted to the seed corn, at the proper time, may be worth more than an entire month of hard work next summer put on a poor stand es -corn, ... The attic is a good place to hang up the seed corn. There should be a circulation of air through the room. A space three by eight feet will hold 200 strings of corn, twelve to fifteen ears to each string, or about enough to plant 200 acres. Three-fourths of. this a —

corn may be discarded after testing, but there will be enough seed to plant fifty acres, more than the average acreage on each farm. There are several objections to the average cellar. It is apt to be too damp, and the corn must be well dried before putting in the cellar, and it must not be corded up or put in piles, but hung up. Will Your Seed Corn Grow? It is good business to know that the seed that you put into th 6 ground will grow; and the only way you can tell good seed is by testing it. You can’t tell by merely looking at it. If you want profitable yields, you must plant good seed. The ten million acres of corn planted in lowa every year are grown in 217,000 farms, an average of about forty-six acres to each farm. It will take about 600 ears to plant forty acres. Twenty-sour 1 hours’ time of one man, two days’ work, will test six kernels from each ear to plant forty acres. Yet, because it is “too much bother,” most of us pick out 600 ears, look at them, guess that they will grow, and plant them. As a congegimncp, more than twelve acres out of each forty acres of corn planted produce nothing. This is worse than useless, because one must plow, plant and cultivate these twelve acres and get nothing In return. By testing you get rid of the bad, weak, and moldy ears. Testing does not hurt the corn. It costs but aboiit ten cents an acre, and can be done at a time of the year when other farm work is not pressing. By testing you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Discard Poor Ears. In the 1 winter, during a slack season or in the early spring, from February 20 to March 20, select the best ears from the corn you have stored in the fall and get ready to put them through the test. The sawdust germination box is no doubt the best method for testing seed corn. It costs nothing but a little time and labor. It furnishes nearly natural conditions. It is not essential that the box be of any particular size, although about, thirty inches square and four or five inches deep will be found convenient. This size will test 100 ears at a time. The sawdust is light, clean, and easy to get and handle in February and the first of March, when the testing should be done; is a good nonconductor of heat and cold, so that the temperature is kept even during germination, and holds the moisture so perfectly that there Is no danger of drying out; The number of boxes required will depend upon the amount of seed to be tested and the time limit. After the germination boxes are made, inspect carefully the ears you are to test from the standpoint of the kernel. Take two or three kernels from each ear, about a third of the length of the ear from the butt. Lay them germ-side up at the tip of the ear from which they were taken. If the kernels are small, wedge-shaped, narrow, shallow, too deep, or If they show immaturity, starchiness, a tendency to mold, or if the germs are small, or shriveled, discard the ear. Remove six kernels from ent places on each ear you have selected to t£st, taking two from near the butt on the Opposlte sides Ofthe ear, two from near the tip, turning the. ear enough so as not to take two kernel's out of the same row. How to Test Seed Com. Fill the box about half full of moist sawdust, well pressed down, so as to

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER. IND.

leave a smooth, even surface. The sawdust should be put in a gunnysack atid set in a tub of warm water for at least an hour (or still better, over night) so that it will be thoroughly moistened before using. Rule off a piece of good quality white cloth (sheeting), about the size of the box, into squares, two and one-half inches each way. Number the squares, 1,2, 3, etc. Place the cloth on the sawdust and tack it to the box at the corners and edges. Use care that the kernels do not get mixed with those from the ear next to it. After the kernels are removed, boards may be laid over the rows of ears to keep them in place until* the result of the germination test is known. Place the six kernels from ear No. 1 In square No. 1 of the germination box; from ear No. 2 in square No. 2, and so on with all the ears. Lay a piece of good cloth (a good quality of sheeting) on top of the kernels and dampen It. Press the cloth down gently with the palm of hand, being careful not to misplace the kernels in the squares. Now place over this cloth another cloth of the same material, considerably larger than the first one (about six feet square), and fill in on top with two or three inches of moist, warm sawdust. Pack it down firmly with a brick or with the feet. The edges of the cover should then be folded over the sawdust in the box to prevent drying out. Now set the box away until the kernels sprout Keep in an ordinary warm place, like the living room, where it will not .freeze. The kernels will germinate in about eight days. Remove the cover carefully to avoid misplacing the kernels in the squares. Examine the kernels in each square In the germination box, and discard all ears whose kernels In the box are dead, moldy, or show weak germination. Caring for Seed Corn. If the kernels show weak, spindling sprouts, or a part of them are very weak and uneven, the ear should be thrown out to make place tor an ear whose kernels give strong, vigorous sprouts. Remember that the kernels which are slow to sprout, and are weak, will be behind the strong ones in the field. After the seed has been sorted, tested, shelled, and graded for the planter, and the bad kernels removed, it should be placed In half-bushel sacks and hung up in a dry place. Put in sacks, separate from the rest, the seed from the best 100 ears. When planting, use the seed from "the beat 100 ears” on one sldtf of the field from which to pick your seed corn for the next year’s planting. We cannot afford to neglect this important work. If every farmer would test every ear of his seed Cdrn in the. winter in the Way described above, the yield would be wonderfully increased. No other time will be SO profitable to the farmer as that spent in testing the vitality of his seed and in grading to Insure the planter dropping the proper number of kernels tn each hfll; It is possible tor everyone to do this work. It will cost nothing but the time, at which there is plenty at the season when the wort should be done. \ <

HER RICH PRINCE

By KENNETH BURGOYNE.

A mellow, mirthful laugh rang through the old-fashioned kitchen of the Gordon farmhouse, and Aunt Selma adjusted her spectacles and surveyed the author of the merriment inquisitively. • What now, Milly?” she asked in her gentle, pleasant way. “Pretty near the bottom of the flour barrel, auntie!” replied Milly gayly. “And you think that is something to jollify over?” chided Mrs. Gordon in a reproachful tone. “Well, not exactly, auntie,” replied Milly in pretty penitence, “only I got thinking in my fanciful dreaming way. I had just been reading a story of a family like us that got poorer and poorer, until the flour barrel was really empty and they were nearly starving. Then along came a rich prince. He recognized the aged sire ot the family as an old loyal soldier and knighted him, and made his brother a lord chamberlain, and it was all so real to me I actually saw poor dear, clumsy old Uncle Zeb at court, bowing to the queen in his rich ermine trimmed robe, and he stumbled over it, and said, ‘Howdy,’ and I had to laugh.” ’ /' . “ “Dear child! it is well that you see brightness in everything,” murmured Aunt Selma, and turned her face aside to hide the rising tears. For they were poor, Indeed. She and her husband had arrived past the meridian of life with no income to depend upon. Mr. Gordon was unable to work and they had to hire a man

The Animal Started in Front of Her.

to attend tn what there, was of. the poor little farm. There were times when they just scraped'along, as the saying went. In addition to their own deplorable condition, they had to think and partly provide for Mrs. Gordon’s widowed sister, who lived a mile over beyond the range. This was Mrs. Ward. She had a daughter, Victoria, but the latter had gone to the city to become a great singer, and what Victoria earned as a stenographer barely paid for her board music. Miliy was a distant relative of the Gordons, an orphan who had been practically adopted by them when she was a child. Old Uncle Zeb declared her as ‘smart as a whip,” and Aunt Selma added that she was a girl with a heart of gold. Certainly Milly appeared clever and brilliant In conversation, considering the little education she had received. As to kind heartedness, she was everybody’s friend. When Victoria had gone to the city to try her fortune, she had urged Milly to go with her. For a moment Milly was dazzled. Then she thought of the old folks. They had done so much for her! They were old and feeble. She had become a systematic, economical young housekeeper and held things well together It seenfed base desertion to leave them. Milly cried one whole night. Then she took up her burden, laughing her sweet way along the path of duty, sometimes dark, ever hopeful. --^*=7 — —— Milly proceeded with her baking. She felt guilty at the extravagance, but She loved sweet and pretty things, even edibles, and had to add a pan of cookies to the heap of biscuits.— Of both she made up a small package, put it under her arm, and donned her sunshade. “I’m going to run over to Aunt Ward’s, ’ she announced. "It’s a pretty hard climb over the range for a hot day like this,” suggested Mrs. Gordon. “Oh, I don’t mind that,” chirped Milly, “and I’ve had rare luck with the baking.” . .. ... Just as Milly started to run across the yard she paused in startled wonder. Coming through the open gateway, limping, blood stained, swaying from side to side, was a dog. The animal seemed to have fallen or had been battered by a rock landslide up in the range. He ran to the pump and licked the empty water pall, looking imploringly into the face of Milly. “You poor suffeverl”.cried the sympathetic girt, and she filled the pail and placed it before the animal who dmnk thirstily. Then she tossed him a cookie from her bundle which he snapped greedily. -You just rest here until I get back,”

said Milly, "and IT! sea if there tn any cold meat for you.’’ But the animal, revived, ran about her in a circle. It would lift its head and utter a loud echoing, baying sound. Then, regarding her beseechingly the animal started in front of her, frequently lookin’? back to observe if Milly was following. To the intelligent Milly all this, meant something. She decided from the appearance of the dog that he had fallen somewhere, perhaps into a pit. In trying to escape he had grazed sharp-pointed rocks or they had fallen upon him. Was it possible that the animal had a human companion, who, too, had sustained Injury, and the faithful dog had started out to bring assistance and rescue? At least so Milly reasoned, and when, half way across the range, the animal paused at a spot with which Milly was entirely familiar, she guessed out the situation in a flash. “Someone has fallen into the cavern pit!” she exclaimed. f Milly quickly descended a slant twenty feet away. Further progress brought her up against a vine-clad wall of solid rock. She brushed aside a great clump of verdure to disclose a gap in the rock surface. Through this Milly crept, followed by the dog. She experienced a vivid shock as she noticed lying on the ground a young man. He was motionless and his eyes were closed. His clothing indicated taste and wealth, his features were open and handsome. A walking staff by his side indicated a stranger tourist, inadvertently fallen into the .pit - Milly did everything by infpulse. She threw down her bundle of goodies and hurried from the spot. The dog did not accompany her, but, as she retraced her way from the pit, came up and licked her hand, as if encouraging her in her good work. She did not consume much time in getting back home. Mr. Gordon was on a neighboring farm. Milly located him and recited the tragedy of the hour. There was no resisting her appeal and markedout plan. Mr. Gordon soon had a horse hitched to a light wagon, summoned a helper, and all hands hurried away to the vicinity of the old pit. “Dear me!” gasped Milly, starting back in embarrassment and wonder aa she once more found entrance to the cavern. For the handsome young man had revived, it seemed. He looked woefully haggard and in evident pain, but there he was —eating a cookie! And he smiled as Milly confronted him, and made a courtly bow with the words: “I knew that some angel had come to my succor in my distress! I needed strength, for I have been here nine mortal hours, and whoever made these famous edibles is a Jewel.” “It was poor me made them,” said Milly flatteringly—“and, please, are you dreadfully hurt, sir?” “Only a sprain,” declared the young man, but he carried his arm in a sling for a week, meantime a guest ot the Gordons, for the village surgeon forbade his removal for the present. Then the arm got better so he could use it almost naturally. One afternoon it felt so well, that, amid the leafy greenwood, it stole about Milly’s waist, while his lips framed a sweet welcome confession of undying love. Klnrl Ranonm did not tftll thft lOVcll girl who accepted him on faith how rich he was until after the wedding. Then he took her to his princely home in the city—and Uncle Zeb and Aunt Selma along with her. - (Copyright, 1916. by W. G. Chapman.)

Useless “Lest and Found Ado.”

An QjS man, well past sixty, entered the publication offices of the Book and Life, and asked to be directed to the Lost and Found counter. At the proper department, he requested the insertion of the following “liner ad": LOST—About forty yearsago—an opportunity. It is probably worthies* now, but I will reward the honest finder who brings rt to me, as I am Curious to know what it might have done for me hdd l not been careless with it. The clerk read the advertisement and then looked pityingly at the old man. “We’ll insert your ad,” he said, “but it Is my duty to inform you that there is hardly any use in putting it in. We have no records of any lost opportunities ever having been found.” The old man thought for a few minutes. Then he said: “Well, insert it anyhow. People will read it and start to thinking.” Then he went away.—Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Preserving Leaves.

In order to make preserved leases look their best, the leaves shouldrbe gathered at the season of . their greatest beauty and variety of tints. Sumac, and the leaves of similar plants and trees, are usually gathered early in October. Maple, alder, oak, linden, etc., are then at their best. To preserve the leaves, they should be thoroughly dried as soon as possible. A simple method is as follows: Spread the leaves, and press in a suitable pan with alternate layers of fine sifted sand heated as hot as the baud can bear, and set aside to cool- When the sand has cooled the leaves may be removed, smoothed under a hot iron, dipped for a moment in clear French spirit varnish, and allowed to dry in the air. Melted paraffin and wax are sometimes preferred to the varnish.

Mrs. Hep’s Sayings.

“Mabbe ambishum is a bad thing,” observed Mrs. Jpnathan Hep as she bought a few gifts, ‘ but I don’t beleeve aay more peepul dies from dyspepsy brought on by bitin* off more’n they kin chew, then perishes from lack of nutrishun brought on by bein’ afraid to Bite at alV'—Piitsburgh Dispatcn

ABIDING IN CHRIST

Prayer Must Be Guitfed by the Reverential Desire That Is Always Within Us. Prayer is asking God to give or do something. Prayer is not praise; it is not worship. Praise ought to go with it; thanksgiving and worship ought to he mingled with petition; but prayer as defined by the Lord Jesus is asking God to give or do something. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." God’s gifts we need, but more than gilts we need the Giver. - . Let us go a step further: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of his will. It is unthinkable that God should give or do something outside the circle of his will. That would be Immoral. “This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he beareth us.” And his will is a large circle. Salvation for the lost Is the will of God. The Holy Spirit for service is the will of God. Workers for the harvest field is the win of God. Pray that they may be sent forth. Another step: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of his will specified by human wish and will. “What things soever ye de sire, when ye pray, believe that ye recelve them, and ye shall have them.” “Lord, have mercy on us.” “What will ye that I should do unto you?” "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." Then, “straightway they received theix sight.” - ■ 7■' . » Prayer Must .Be Specific. The Lord' waited for the general wish to be specified; and in order for prayer to be answered it must be definite. The man who came at midnight asked for three loaves —not for four loaves, but three; and he pleaded for the three because that was what he needed. General prayers amount to little. They may be helpful as a spiritual exercise; we may get a sort of reflex blessing from them; but the prayers that secure the gift and act of God are very definite. “Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ Focalize your prayers and tell God exactly what you want. Again: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle oi his will, specified by human wish and Will in the name of Christ Of course, for the sake of Christ, but that is not all of it. In the name of Christ meant within the character of Christ. “Name” in the Bible stands for character. Prayer within the circle of God’s will is in the character of Christ. And asking the Lord Jesus Christ to do something outside the limitations of his character is equally incongruous, Bring your desire, your definite need, to the test of the character of Christ A step further still: Prayer is asking God to give or do something within the circle of his will, specified by human wish and will, in the name ot Christ, that the Father may be glorified. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it vrmiv nurn lliata ” TTrtF tfY ATI-* swer a selfish prayer would be to cultivate selfishness. For &od to give what you wish to consume upon your own pleasures would be to pander to a worldly spirit Finally: Prayer’is asking to give or do something within the circle of his will, specified by human wish and will, in the name of Christ, that the Father may be glorified, while we are in fellowship with God and with one another. True Prayer Always Answered. “If ye abide In me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye. will, and it shall be done unto you.” If you are abiding in Christ as the branch abides in the vine; like the branch asking the vine for sap and life, that it may be fruitful and useful, ye may ask Christ what ye will, for there Is nd discord between the will of the branch and the will of the vine, and no discord between the branches themselves. “If ye abide in me.” That means more than childlife. The child can be five thousand miles away from the parent and yet live; but If the branch is a thousandth -part of an Inch away from the vine, it dies. Branch-life means abiding life; and if you are in harmony with God, God’s thoughts and God’s will and God’s purpose circulating through your spiritual arteries and veins, what you ask for will be the expression of God’s wish and will. There is to be no discord between us and God. But “when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any.” There is to be not only harmony with Christ, but harmony with Christians, harmony with your fellows. The unforgiving spirit prevents an answer toprayer. When you pray, stop and think: Am in harmony with God? Am I willing to do his will? Am lat variance with my neighbor? Have lan unforgiving spirit towards anybody? If so, bring that under the blood and have God touch it away before you go a step farther in your prayer. Harmony with God and a forgiving spirit towards everybody is. necessary to successful praying.—Rev. A. C. Dixon. .

First Heed of the Church.

4, jso church can fully minister. to tho deepest spiritual needs Of its Own in embers, or reach the maximum of efficiency in its community until it is adequately adjusted to its missionary needs."—W. E. Doughtv.