Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1874 — Testing the Vitality of Seed Corn. [ARTICLE]

Testing the Vitality of Seed Corn.

Many of those who are obliged to depend upon corn ripened last year will, undoubtedly, experience difficulty in its germinating promptly, for the reason that, owing to the peculiar season, the crop ripened imperfectly. These remarks will not, however, apply to those who have saved their seed in the autumn. We do not hesitate to say that, in those sections of the country where, from any cause, the corn has not ripened as it ought to have done, there may be trouble in the germination of the seed. To test the seed, therefore, we advise that those in doubt shell from various ears more or less of the kernels. Mix them together and, counting therefrom ten or a dozen of the grains, plant them in a favorable place for germination. Note how many of the seeds planted grow readily. From the percentage which grow an estimate may be made of the proper number to drop in each hill, in dlauting the field, to insure a stand. Another plan for testing seed corn is to examine the general appearance of the grain. If it break from the cob, presenting a black appearance at the point of attachment, and if it leave the cover and filament with the cob, it is probable, but not certain, that the seed is not sure. It may germinate slowlv, or it may not germinate at all, according to the conditions under which it is placed. It is safe to reject such as seed. On one side of the kernel, and that side lying toward the tip of the ear, will be found a groove or indentation; at the bottom of this, and next the surface, and covered with the pellicle or skin, will be found the germ of the future plant. If the grain be bright, and if, upon raising this, the germ be found to be of a bright straw color, inclining to white, plump, clear and bright, and of a distinct shape, not wrinkled and shriveled, the indication is that the germ is good; but if otherwise, if it be dull, shriveled or imperfect, throw the ear aside. Another test is to take the ear and break it through the middle. If it break brittle, and the cob is bright and firm, and the grains firm, the probability is that it is good. The two conditions between food and bad may be easily discovered y breaking an ear that you "know to be good, and examining it in comparison with one that you suspect to be unsound. Thus a person with a little experience may easily select sound from unsound corn from the crib. Nevertheless, we now advise, as we have before done, that this plaii of selecting seed be not depended upon another year. It is far better and cheaper in the end to select the seed at the time of ripening; hang it in an airy place to dry, and thereafter keep it dry; and if hung over a gentle smoke to assist the process of drying, so much the better. The smoke will not injure the corn, but it will tend to render it unpalatable to the horde of insects that always lie in wsit to prey upon it when planted.—Western Rural.