Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1902 — SEED CORN SELECTION. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SEED CORN SELECTION.

Different Varieties For Upland and Bottem Lande. S any farmers owning both bottom and upland cornfields make the mistake of using the same seed on both kinds of soil Corn which is adapted to the soil and .moisture conditions of the valleys will not do so well on the upland as will some variety that has by several years of cultivation and selection become adapted to the conditions there. It is for the same reason that the large Colorado potatoes that have been grown for years under irrigation wilPdo so poorly when used for seed in Kansas without the accustomed supply of water, says J. M. Westgate of the state station. It is generally the case on the farm that the corn from all the fields, both upland and bottom, is cribbed together. When the time for seed selection comes, the largest ears are picked out, irrespective of the kind of soil that grew them. As the bottom land produces the larger ears it is more than likely that the bulk of the seed will be from the lower and moister portions of the farm. This is the proper seed for the lowland, but it is not so well adapted to the dryer and poorer upland as is seed that has been raised there. It is advisable to select the seed eithefr before or at husking time, when not only the quality of the ground, but the character of the individual stalk and ear can be taken into consideration. As has been suggested before, a small box attached to the side of the wagon bed, into which the desired ears can be thrown, is the most practical device that can be recommended. By a little judicious selection for a series of years a strain can be established on the upland portion of any farm which will be well adapted to that and other soils similar to location and composition. An eight inch ear from the upland will ordinarily prove better for planting on the upland than will a 12 inch ear from the lower portions of the farm. Time to Sow Grass Seed. No other hay grass is so well known in this state as timothy. It is in general use throughout the northern Mississippi valley, where It is indeed one of the most valuable of our grasses. It is customary to sow this grass in the early spring, either with a nurse crop like oats and wheat, or to sow it by Itself, or in some cases it is sown with clover. It seems to me it is advisable to sow this seed in the fall. I have seen numerous fields sown in the fall which gave large crops the next season. It has become quite common to sow timothy in the fall in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern lowa. The land should be well plowed, pulverized and cleaned. Then the grass seed is ready to be sown. The following has proved valuable on my father’s farm in southwestern Wisconsin and certainly is advisable also for northeastern Iowa: Sow in early September at the rate of five quarts of timothy or four quarts of timothy to one quart of clover without a nurse crop. The hay crop the next season will be about two tons to the acre. If not allowed to seed, the clover will disappear the second year, says T, H. Pammell of lowa in Prairie Farmer. A Rye Sod Kills Potato Scab. Alva Agee makes a very Interesting potato note in the Ohio Farmer. He says: “Another year’s experience confirms my statement made a year ago in The Farmer that one can control potato scab by the use of a rye sod, if this is done in the right way. This is the fifth year of an experiment on two acres of land that had become so infested with scab that a decent crop of potatoes could not be grown. Five successive crops of potatoes have been grown in this land, turning a rye sod under each spring, and the seed used a portion of the time has not been wholly free from scab and has been untreated with any solution to kill the germs, but the crop is above the average in smoothness. The seed last spring, coming from northern Ohio, had more scab than seemed safe, but so far as examination of tne hills now indicates the crop will be all right. If the rye can be turned during a hot spell in the spring, it makes the soil a little acid, and that is fatal to the scab germs? Two years of that treatment practically cleaned the field.” Winter Hoghonses. The Illustration from The Country Gentleman shows three hoghouses built together of rails—common 10 foot rails—an arrangement within the financial reach of any ordinary farmer. As many houses as may be needed can be made in a row, thus saving rails. The correspondent who furnishes the plan says further: The houses are double rail pens, those on the outside being 9 feet

square and those on the inside 8 feet square, thus leaving a space of 12 inches between the pens, which is filled with straw and compacted. The openings are to the south. The pens or houses are 3 feet high at this side and 2% feet high at the opposite side, making a slant of 6 inches on the roof. The pens are covered with straw and fodder, several heavy poles being put on for weights. In front of each house is a rail pen in which the sow and pigs exercise and eat. These houses are cheaply constructed and are warm, comfortable and convenient. Any farm, I should think, has the ready material of which these inexpensive bouses are made. I never use them a second time, if a summer intervenes.

CHEAP AND COMFORTABLE.