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Library

Fig 1—Root Development
Forty-four days after planting—See Chapter VIII

Che Bonk of Carn

A Complete. Treatise Upon the Culture,
Marketing and Uses of Maize
in America and Elsewhere

for FARMERS, DEALERS, MANUFACTURERS
end OTHERS-~A COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL
Upon the PRODUCTION, SALE, USE and COM-
MERCE of the WORLD’S GREATEST CROP

Prepared under the direction of HERBERT
MYRICK, by the most capable specialists, in-
cluding among others, A. D. SHAMEL, in charge
of Corn Work, Illinois Experiment Station—
H. J. Waters, Director Missouri Experiment
Station—E. B. VooRHEES, Director New Jersey
Experiment Station—ALBERT W. FULTON, Man-
aging Editor American Agriculturist Weeklies
—J. C. ArtHuR, Purdue University, Indiana—
Wis G. JoHNson, late State Entomologist of
Maryland, Associate Editor American Agricul-
turist—LEv1 STOCKBRIDGE, ex-President Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College—CLarRENcE A.
SHAMEL, Associate Editor Orange Judd Farmer
—H. N. STARNEs, Georgia Agricultural College
—B. W. Snow, Statistician Orange Judd Farmer
—P. G. Hoven, Iowa Agricultural College.

Profusely Hllustrated
Second Revised Edition

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY |

New York Nineteen Hugdred and Eleven |. Gurgpeg
bo Ta

= lsbaaed
’

Wien

‘
5

137

Pis2
1904
1'76245

PRINTED IN U. S. A,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

BriEF HIsToRY. OF THE CORN PLANT . . é . 4
Its antiquity—Original form of the species
not yet identified—Early names given it by
Indians.

CHAPTER II

BOTANY AND VARIETIES eles Bs th BE se 1886
Outline of species groups, flint corns, soft
corns, sweet corns, pop corns, etc—Development
of the various strains—Varieties of dent corn
carefully described—History of famous and
well known kinds—Their characteristics de-
scribed in detail.

CHAPTER III
PLANT FooD . «le to Sl, pie. an 37-56
Necessary conditions for best plant growth—
Forms of atmospheric food—Root system de-
scribed and_ illustrated—Methods of obtaining
nitrogen—Seeding clover with and without nurse
crops—Other leguminous crops, including best
varieties of cowpeas.

CHAPTER IV

BREEDING AND SELECTION OF SEED CORN : 57-74
Corn breeding a specialized industry—Its field
very great—Approved methods of breeding—
Influence of soil on development—The brveding
field—Cross-pollinated corn—Bcst storehouse
for seed corn—Selection of seed corn—Conven-
ient methods of shipping—Testing seed—-Sorting

and preparing seed corn for the planter. é
u
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER V

Corn JUDGING a ee if: bee. ate ye 7
The types to be considered—Standards of
perfection—An approved score card, with ex-
planation of points—Rules for judging—Variety
standards and practical hints—How to study
shape, uniformity, color, tip, butt, circumfer-
ence, length, etc—Kernel uniformity and pro-
portion of corn to cob.

CHAPTER VI

PREPARING THE SEEDBED é s a 5 ‘ :
Conditions of germination — Best depth of
plowing—Fall or spring plowing—Disking and
subsoiling—Proper conditions of soil for the
plow.

CHAPTER VII

FEEDING THE PLANT 5 : i ‘ . . .

Soil characteristics a guide to needs of the

plant—Character and functions of manures and

fertilizers—Form to apply nitrogen, phosphoric

acid, potash, etc—Guides in use of plant food—

Approved fertilizer formulas—Fertilizers for
silage corn—Manures for sweet corn.

CHAPTER VIII

PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 5 : e ‘ .

Proper depth of planting—Hilling or drilling—

Listing corn—Testing the germinating power of

seed corn—Cultivation to conserve moisture—

Root pruning—Approved implements in culti-
vating.

CHAPTER IX

Smos—Location, CoNSTRUCTION AND FILLING . -

General classes of silos—Merits of the round
silo and methods of construction — Various
other forms—Table showing capacity of round
silos—Putting corn into the silo—Loading and
hauling—Cutting into proper lengths—Handling
stalks uncut—Cost of putting in silage—Pre-
serving green crops without silo.

75-86

87-95

96-114

115-127

128-143
TABLE OF co NTENTS

CHAPTER X

HarvEsTING . . . « 144-166

Best stages of development to observe—
Water and dry matter at different periods—
Cutting corn for fodder, and best time for this
work—Shocking and binding—Use of shred-
der—Husking standing corn—Cribs to use—
Shrinkage of ear corn.

CHAPTER XI

CULTURE OUTSIDE THE Corn BELT 3 , :
Methods followed in the south and east—The
Dunton system—The double row or alternating
method—New and old ways of harvesting in the
south—One acre yields 255 bushels—Culture in
eastern and New England states—Returning
favor for field corn—Culture under irrigation—
Proper time for flooding—Frequency of ap-
plication—Amount of water to apply.

CHAPTER XII
FEEDING : 3 : : : : . 7 5
Chemical composition in corn—Digestible
nutrients—Corn the best single stock food—
List of foods rich in protein—Foodstuffs for
balancing corn—Feeding dairy cows and grow-
ing steers—Corn’ as a feed for swine and
horses—In fattening poultry—Feeding value of
corn stover—Experiments in fattening steers.

CHAPTER XIII
MARKETING

The splendid home demand—Methods of dis-
tribution in vogue—The line elevator system—
Sale of corn on ’change—Speculative grain
trade—Non-farm constumption—Foreign outlet
—The best buyers of American corn—Country
elevator system— Co-operative storing and
handling—Inspection and grades.

CHAPTER XIV

Corn Pests AND DISEASES . ; 2 3 “ :
A myriad of insect pests~The most vulner-
able portions of the corn plan—Wireworms
injure seed in the ground—Methods of combat-
ing—Injury by white grub—Cutworms attack
stalks and leaves—Can be held in check by
poisons—Arresting the march of the army
worm—Approved methods of controlling chinch

bug—Pests in bin and granary.

. 167-191

192-227

228-214

245-292
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV

Cost of GRowING CorN . 3 ‘ ‘ +» -« 293-315
Exhaustive investigations recorded—Tabu-
lated records of 4000 acres—Items entering into
the cost—Deductions reached.

CHAPTER XVI

New Uses ror Copn «wee eee 36-323
Various classes of products—The corn mill-
ing industry—Glucose—Cornstalks in mechanic
arts.

CHAPTER XVII

SPECIALTIES IN CorN CULTURE . : 2 5 - 322-334
Sweet corn for canneries—Best conditions of
soil and climate—For the family garden—Cul-
tivation and harvest—Sweet corn fodder—
Standard varieties of sweet corn—Cultivation
of pop corn—Harvesting and marketing.

CHAPTER XVIII

Maize In OTHER COUNTRIES . . . . . 338-344
The crop of the world—Our chief competi-
tors—Corn culture in Europe and Argentina—
Slow expansion in area.

APPENDIX ‘ 3 1 + 345-3608
Tables showing crop and movement—Exports
from United States—Prices for a series of years
—Record crops in the American Agriculturist
contest—Manurial value of feeding stuffs—
Average composition of maize.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Root Development -
Uniform Ears, Boone County White;
Uniform Sample, Boone County White
Reid’s Yellow Dent.

Length of Ear, Boone County White
Circumference of Ear, Boone cone White
Leaming Corn i 5 .
Boone County White Corn j .
Shape of Ears, Boone County White
Kernel Indentation, Boone County White s

Page

Frontispiece

Large, Medium and Small Cob, Boone com White |

Maturity, Boone County White . ‘ :
Space Between Rows . : . . 5
Samples of Clover ‘ ‘ «ee Ye
Attractive Field of Cowpeas .
Good Specimen Soy Bean Plant.
Corn Silk ‘5 - ete ;
Effect of Inbreeding ‘

Effect of Three Years’ Inbreeding
Effect of Four Years’ Inbreeding
Young Ear of Corn Before Silking .. 7
Pollen Grains on Silk . . : >
Testing Vitality of Seed Com . . we
Pollen Grains ‘ ‘
Proper and Improper Shapes of Kernel .
Homemade Land Roller

Direction of Rows of Kernels, Boone’ County White

Corn Crib on Scales. : sie ee
Modern Corn Crib :
Corn Marker for Hand) Planting
Homemade Corn Planter a .
Effects of Listing .

Root Development of Corn in Field.
Distribution of Hoops on Stave Silo
Construction of Studding aM

Cheap Stave Silo . x e ‘
Silo Attached to Barn . 7
Low Wagon for Handling Silage Corn A
Placing Bundles in eee and Round ile
Filling the Silo

oe we © we eo we te ow

II
16
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
Vili ILLUSTRATIONS

Simple Corn Cutter.

Corn Ready to Cut for Fodder « .
Corn Binder at Work in Field
Filling Silo with Blower . :
Latest Corn Husking Machine
Rail Corn Cribs . :
Rat-Proof Corn Crib

Wagon Box Attachment
Root Development of a Corn Plant
Characteristics of Kernel of Corn ‘
California Silo Made with _ Siudding
Rack for Fodder .

Leaming Corn Variety . .
What King Corn Can Accomplish 5
Effects of Root Pruning

Butts and Tips of Boone County White

Grain Warehouse at Liverpool . r
Floating Grain Elevator . ‘
Typical Modern Grain Warehouse .
Forms of Wireworms . ‘ e
Parent of Wireworm .

ee ee ee eH ww wh te tt

Seed Corn Injured by Seed Corn Maggot

Adult of White Grub 2 .
White Grub . ‘ ‘ 3 P
Adult Click Beetle. ‘ is P
Pale Striped Flea Beetle .
Southern Corn Root Worm 3 .
Beetle of Southern Corn Root Worm
Army Worm r - ‘ ‘ e
Army Worm Moth . s ‘
Larger Cornstalk Borer : - 3
Smaller Cornstalk Borer

eo © © © © © 6 © oe ew tw ow

Page
145
149
153
157
159
162
165
169
179
194
197
198
201
207
214
221
237

+ 241

Corn Root Showing Northern Corn Root ‘Worm Within

Various Stages of Chinch Bug.
Winged Female of Cem Root Aphis
Grain Moth . 3 3 :
Grain Weevils . 5 . a

Indian Meal Moth <i
Common Grain and Flour Beetle ‘
Two Ears of Smutted Corn ‘ :
Smut Affecting the Tassels 5 3
Smut Affecting the Joints of Stem .
Corn Smut Spores - P ‘ y
Seed Corn Mezgot :
Corn Worm p - :
Corn Root Aphis 7 i
Mediterranean Flour Moth 2
Adult Moth and Cutworm 7

243
246
250
254
256
257
258
259
260
261
265
266
267
269
271
272

+ 274

276

- 278

280
281
283
285,
287
294
296
297
300
393
305
ILLUSTRATIONS 1x

Page
Work of Larger Cornstalk Borer . . . s + 307
Beetle of Northern Corn Root Worm . . 309
Ear of Corn Riddled by the Grain Moth . . = . 310
Saw-toothed Grain Beetle . - 311
Cornstalk Showing Work of Smaller Cornstalk Borer « 313
Use of Cellulose in Warships . ‘ + 317
Ear of Smutted Corn . ‘ é ‘ - 319
Specimen Ears of Early Sweet Corn. ar - 5
Varieties of Popcorn . 3 é . 229
Corn Crib which Holds 20, ooo Bushels ; F 5 “27
Small Corn Crib in Feed Lot ‘ é : a - . 339

Corn in Old Style Rail Cribs . . . © © «© 34%

PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE

part in writing this book, the publishers are sure

the work of these trained experts will at once

command the attention and confidence of readers.
This is the day of specialists—in medicine, in teaching,
in mechanic arts, in commerce and the varied industries.
So large a subject as the king of all American crops,
maize, requires equally thorough consideration in a
comprehensive work of this character. The authors,
therefore, have left their impress on the various chap-
ters of The Book of Corn, which are woven in a
compact whole covering the various phases of history,
development, production and distribution.

Prepared under the direction of Herbert Myrick,
President and Editor of Orange Judd Company, the
authors include the following:

Chapter 1—Dr F. M. Hexamer of the American
institute, and editor emeritus American Agriculturist.

Chapter 2—Dr F. M. Hexamer; A. D. Shamel of
United States department of agriculture, formerly in
charge of corn work at Illinois experiment station;
C. S. Phelps, recently of Connecticut agricultural
college.

Chapter 3—Prof P. G. Holden of Iowa agricul-
tural college; A. D. Shamel.

Chapter 4—Prof P. G. Holden; A. D. Shamel.

Chapter 5—Prof P. G. Holden; A. D. Shamel.

Chapter 6—A. D. Shamel.

4 N announcing the names of those who have had a

xi
xii PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE

Chapter 7—Dr Edward B. Voorhees, director
New Jersey experiment station.

Chapter 8—A. D. Shamel.

Chapter 9—Clarence A. Shamel, associate editor
Orange Judd Farmer.

Chapter 1o—Prof Henry J. Waters, director Mis-
souri experiment station, and specialist in feeding live-
stock; Clarence A. Shamel.

Chapter 11—Prof Hugh N. Starnes of Georgia
college of agriculture; Levi Stockbridge, ex-president
Massachusetts agricultural college; Prof Luther Fos-
ter, director New Mexico experiment station; Edwin
C. Powell, associate editor New England Homestead.

Chapter 12—Prof Henry J. Waters.

Chapter 13—Albert W. Fulton, managing editor
American Agriculturist weeklies.

Chapter 14—Prof Joseph C. Arthur, botanist
Purdue university, Indiana; Willis Grant Johnson, late
state entomologist of Maryland, associate editor Amer-
ican Agriculturist.

Chapter 15—Bernard W. Snow, statistician
Orange Judd Farmer.

Chapter 16—Bernard W. Snow.

Chapter 17—-Edwin C. Powell.

Chapter 18—Bernard W. Snow.

ORANGE Jupp Company.

INTRODUCTION

Y chief regret in not visiting America is that I
shall die without beholding what I conceive to
be the most superb crop that grows, as it is, in
itself, the most valuable,” was the tribute to

American maize, paid to the author by Sir John B.
Lawes, the great Englishman, who did so much for
scientific agriculture.

Impressed with this view of the corn plant, emi-
nent specialists in the scientific and practical aspects of
the maize industry have co-operated with singular
enthusiasm in the preparation of the present work. The
careful reader will marvel at the close co-operation of
science with practice in the evolution of the corn plant
and of the industries dependent upon it. There is no
more fascinating or important chapter in American
agriculture.

To the practical farmer, feeder or corn grower,
much that the following pages contain must come as a
revelation. The man whose knowledge of this subject
is really comprehensive will be first to recognize the
value and correctness of the mass of well-digested data
herein set forth. And even the farmer who is wedded
to the view that one hundred bushels of maize never
have been and never can be grown on one acre, will
perhaps obtain from this book a wider horizon and a
larger inspiration as to the possibilities of corn culture.

When two hundred and fifty-five bushels of
shelled corn, containing two hundred and thirty-five
bushels of crib-cured or dry grain, are raised on one
xiv INTRODUCTION

acre—nearly ten times the average crop of the United
States—the marvels of the corn plant must be recog-
nized. When forty-five crops all over the country
average ninety bushels of corn per acre, when improve-
ment also in. the chemical composition of the grain
itself is demonstrated, and when the uses of the plant
are becoming so manifold, it is full time to grasp what
maize may mean to the world in general and to Amer-
ica in particular.

For the United States possesses practically a mo-
nopoly of the corn crop. Other countries produce from
one-fifth to one-fourth of the world’s supply, yet while
this foreign production is capable of much expansion,
the possibilities of corn culture in the United States
are practically unlimited. This is in marked contrast
to wheat, the production of which in Canada and
Siberia, as well as in other regions, is destined to
increase the already keen competition felt by American
wheat in the world’s market. It is evident, also, that
new markets and new uses for the corn crop, both at
home and abroad, are likely to keep pace with increased
production. The larger exportation of corn from this
country to Europe is but a foretaste of what is to come,
while the possibilities of the Orient as a market for
corn have hardly been touched upon. Of course this
crop, both the corn and the fodder, should be very
largely sold on the hoof or in the form of butter, milk
or cheese, in order to maintain the highest agricultural
prosperity.

The financial importance of corn to national pros-
perity is further emphasized by the fact that every cent
that can be added to the price of a bushel of corn means
an increased profit to the American farmer of twenty-
five million dollars annually, a figure that will be
doubled, when the United States produces five thousand
INTRODUCTION xV

million bushels of corn in a single year, or twice the
maximum grown up to this time. Such a doubling of
the crop is by nu means impossible, since yields of from
fifty to one hundred bushels per acre, and even more,
are becoming increasingly common. Moreover, corn
readily adapts itself in various varieties to the soil and
climate of all sections, it is easy of cultivation, and its
value, both as a human food and a feed or forage for
animals, encourages a wide growth. The superiority of
the corn plant over other crops in these respects invites
carelessness in its cultivation, and this accounts for the
apparently low average yield per acre, which, however,
is generous in comparison with the small grains.

Special emphasis should also be placed upon the
corn plant as a renovating crop, whereas wheat and
other small grains have relatively an exhaustive effect
upon the soil. Unlike wheat, the production of which
depends upon an ample supply of available nitrogen in
or to the soil, maize possesses wonderful ability to
gather in and assimilate nitrogen in many forms, as
well as other elements of nutrition. To what degree
the corn plant actually takes nitrogen from the air,
either of the atmosphere or of the soils experience
shows that, if the land contains an abundance of phos-
phoric acid and potash, the more expensive nitrogen
need not be largely applied in order to produce large
and profitable crops of corn. Herein lies the explana-
tion of the great yields produced under years of suc-
cessive cropping in the American corn belt. This fact
also demonstrates the fundamental value of corn in
crop rotation, and its restorative effect upon the soil’s
fertility.

The various chapters which follow tell their own
story, but a wealth of-valuable data is also given in
the Appendix—notably, the results in the now historic
xvi INTRODUCTION

corn contest conducted by American Agriculturist. The
book is presented in the confidence that, in spite of its
imperfections, it may prove effective in promoting that
large improvement and vast development of the maize
industry in America which is so confidently expected
by the enthusiastic growers of Zea Mays.

Hersert Myricr.

The BOOK of CORN

CHAPTER I

Brief History of the Corn Plant

“~4¢ NDIAN corn is undoubtedly native to America,
S although for a long time some writers claimed

it was of Asiatic origin. But as corn was

not known in the old world until after it
was found in the new, there can be hardly any doubt
as to its original habitat. At present botanists
almost unanimously ‘concede that corn originated in
America, and it is probable that it is indigenous to
Mexico, although some of the South American table-
lands present equally favorable conditions for the
origination of a species of this character.

At the time of the discovery of the new continent
corn was one of the staples of agriculture from the
La Plata valley northward to the United States. It
has names in all the languages. The natives planted it
around their temporary dwellings where they did not
form a fixed population. Indian corn was found as a
common food when Europeans first landed in New
York. Extensive fields of this grain were cultivated
and the grain preserved for food. When Cartier vis-
ited Hochelaga, now called Montreal, in 1535, that
town was situated in the midst of extensive cornfields,
2 THE BOOK OF CORN

In 1620 the Pilgrims found quite extensive plantings
near Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Columbus found it
on the West India islands about the end of the fifteenth
century. The burial mounds of the natives of North
America who preceded those of our day, the tombs cf
the Incas, the catacombs of Peru, contain ears or
grains of corn, just as the monuments of ancient Egypt
contain grains of barley and wheat and millet seed. In
Mexico, a goddess who bore a name derived from
that of maize (Cinteotl) answered to the Ceres of the
Greeks. At Cusco the virgins of the sun offered sacri-
fices of bread made from corn.

The Antiquity of Corn—Nothing is better cal-
culated to show the antiquity and generality of the
cultivation of a plant than this intimate connection
with the relizious rites of the ancient inhabitants. A
most remarkable proof of the antiquity of corn has
been discovered by Darwin. He found ears of Indian
corn and eighteen species of shells of our epoch buried
in the soil of the shore in Peru, now at least eighty-five
feet above the level of the sea. “The Smithsonian in-
stitution at Washinzton has an ear of corn found de-
posited in an earthen vessel eleven feet under ground,
in a grave with a mummy near Ariquepe in Peru. The
grains are rather sharp pointed, small, and slightly
indented at the apex, lapping one over the other in
thirteen rows.

Although nearly all parts of tropical and sub-
tropical America have been explored by a great num-
ber of botanists, none has found corn in the condition
of a wild plant, and the original form of the species is
not identified as yet. Probably it may be a composite
species of which no single form can be taken as the
type. Some botanists consider that Indian corn orig-
inated from teosinte (Euchlaena Mexicana), an annual
fodder grass, similar to corn in general appearance
HISTORY OF THE CORN PLANT 3

and in the structure of the flowers, but differing in not
forming an ear. This is extensively grown in Mexico
and as experiments in crossing teosinte and corn have
resulted in producing cornlike plants, the very close
affinity of the two plants is clearly proven.

In summing up the conditions of Indian corn and
its habitation in America before it was cultivated, the
famous French botanist, A. de Candolle, says: “We

330 331 332
Fig 2—Uniform Ears of Boone County White

have nothing but conjectural knowledge. Maize is a
plant singularly unprovided with means of dispersion
and protection. The grains are hard to detach from
the ear, which is itself enveloped. They have no tuft
or wings to catch the wind, and when the ear is not
gathered by man the grains fall still fixed in the recep-
tacle, and then rodents and other animals must destroy
4 THE BOOK OF CORN

them in quantities, and all the more that they are not
sufficiently hard to pass intact through the digestive
organs. Probably so unprotected a species was be-
coming more and more rare in some limited regions,
and was on the point of becoming extinct, when a wan-
dering tribe of savages, having perceived its nutritious
qualities, saved it from destruction by cultivating it.
I am the more disposed to believe that its natural area
was small, that the species is unique; that is to say,
that it constitutes what is called a single-typed genus.
The genera which contain few species, and especially
the monotypes, have as a rule more restricted areas
than others. Paleontology will perhaps one day show
whether there ever existed in America several species
of Zea, or similar gramineae, of which maize is the last
survivor. Now, the genus Zea is not only a monotype,
but stands almost alone in its family.”

_ Whether the true origin of Indian corn, one of the
most important cereals of the world, will ever be ascer-
tained, is doubtful. But so much is certain, that the
white settlers of America early learned from the native
Indians the use of corn as an article of food. Several
Indian names for certain preparations, such as samp,
hominy, succotash, have passed into the language of
the American people.

Since these early days, when cultivation was very
crude, the grain has been improved so that it is now
adapted to almost any climatic condition in the United
States. The Indians planted their corn with sticks.
Floods and drouths wrought havoc with the corn
plants. Lack of cultivation and the constant struggle
for existence prevented large development of the
kernel. The early samples of corn were diminutive:
compared with those of to-day.
CHAPTER II

Botany and Barivties

aaq NDIAN corn belongs to the gramineae or grass
IS family. Botanically i* is known as Zea Mays,

This botanical name has a double meaning.

Zea is probably derived from two Greek words
meaning “T live” and “spelt,” a grain with which
the Greeks were familiar. The word maize is derived
from the Haytian word “tahiz,” which Columbus
adopted when in Hayti. The word corn as com-
monly used the world over means any kind of grain
used for food by man and animals. In the United.
States, it is applied to maize alone. When Europeans
first landed in America and found this kind of
corn they used the prefix Indian to distinguish it
from the corn with which they were familiar in the
old world. The corn plants vary greatly in hight,
ranging from three to as high as sixteen or seventeen
feet, but the standard hight is from five to eight feet.
One main central stem bears the ears and long, broad,
tapering leaves. ,

The plant is monoecious, that is, the male and
female flowers are borne separately. The male flowers
are borne on the tassels at the top of the stalk and pro-
duce the pollen. The pollen grains are produced about
the time the silks, or female flowers, develop. The
pollen is present in very great abundance, and it is
estimated that each plant produces as many as eighteen
million grains of pollen. The silks receive and retain
pollen. until the grains are fertilized. Originally, em-
bryonic ears were probably produced at the juncture
6 THE BOOK OF CORN

of each leaf with the stalk. Selection and development
has resulted in only one or two large and well-formed
ears on each stalk. These ears bear developed kernels
in from six to twenty-four rows.

The leaf is succulent and is divided into sheath
and blade. The sheath surrounds the stalk, then the
blade extends upward for some distance, and droops at
the tip. The stalks have a hard shell or covering. The’
plant is semi-tropical, with very dark, green, luxuriant
foliage. Wild corn must have seeds that can be readily
disseminated, consequently the grains of the original
corn were much smaller than those of the corn of
to-day. Cultivated maize would soon disappear if the
seeds were not preserved and planted each year. The
grains of wild corn were large and wholesome enough
to attract birds and wild beasts, which aided in the dis-
semination of the plant. In its original southern home
some authorities believe Indian corn propagated itself
by suckers grown from near the base.

The roots are of two classes. Those growing
underground are fibrous and transmit. plant food and
water to the growing plant. The secondary roots arise »
from joints just above the ground and simply act as
braces for the plant. These grow downward for some
distance into the ground. The stem is divided into sec-
tions technically called internodes. These are fur-
rowed on one side, the furrows alternating with
each joint.

OUTLINE OF SPECIES GROUPS

While the genus Zea has but one species, there
are almost innumerable forms and variations. The
most extended study of these has been made by Dr
E. L. Sturtevant, who has examined more than seven
hundred and seventy varieties and synonyms, with a
view of placing the nomenclature upon a sound scien-
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 7:

tific basis. He has divided the polymorphic species
(Zea Mays) into a number of groups which, on ac-
count of their well defined and persistent characters,
may be considered as representing specific agricultural
claims, and may properly receive specific nomenclature.
The grouping that he has adopted is founded upon the
internal structure of the kernel for our cultivated va-
rieties and the presence of a husk to the kernel in the
assumed aboriginal form. Arguments in favor of the
specific claims for these groups are based primarily
on the convenience thus attained, secondarily on the
absence or rarity of intermediate or connecting forms,
so far as our present data extend, and also on the
antiquity of separation. Each race is characterized by
numerous varieties, and these freely cross-fertilize.
The relative differences between the races are clearly
seen by splitting the kernels. These species groups as
established by Dr Sturtevant are:

Zea tunicata, the pod corns. In this group each
kernel is inclosed in a pod or husk, and the ear thus
formed is inclosed in husks.

Zea everta, the pop corns. This species group is
characterized by the excessive proportion of the cor-
neous endosperm and the small size of the kernels and
ear. The best varieties have a corneous endosperm
throughout. This gives the property of popping.

Zea indurata, the flint corns. A species group
readily recognized by the occurrence of a starchy endo-
sperm inclosed in a corneous endosperm at the sides
of the kernel, the starchy endosperm extending to the
summit. By the drying and shrinkage of the starchy
matter the summit of the kernel is drawn in or together
and indented in various forms. In different varieties
the corneous endosperm varies in length and thickness,
thus determining the character of the indented surface.
8 THE BOOK OF CORN

Zea amylacea, the soft corns. This species group
is at once recognized by the absence of corneous endo-
sperm. Through the uniformity of the shrinkage in
ripening there is usually no indentation, yet in some
varieties an indentation may more or less frequently
appear, but splitting the kernel infallibly determines
this class. This group includes the Cuzco, the largest
kermeled variety as yet known.

Zea saccharata, the sweet corns. A well defined
species group characterized by the translucent, horny
appearance of the kernels and their more or less
crinkled, wrinkled, or shriveled condition.

Zea amylea-saccharata, the starchy-sweet corns.
This species is founded upon the varieties found in the
San Padro Indian collection of Dr Palmer. The exter-
nal appearance of the kernel is that of a sweet, but
examination shows that the lower half of the kernel is
starchy, the upper half horny and translucent. These
varieties have all a white cob, the kernels deeper than
broad.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF DENT CORN

Zea Mays (Indian corn) is separated into six gen-
eral groups,* representing different species. These
groups are as follows:

I—Zea tunicata, the pod corns.
Sub-group A, kernel broader than deep.
Sub-group B, kernel as deep as broad.
Sub-group C, kernel deeper than broad.

IIl—Zea everta, the pop corns.
Sub-groups A, B and C as above.

IiI—Zea indurata, the flint corns.
Sub-groups A, B and C as above.

*Bulletin No 57, Sturtevant, United States department of agriculture
BOTANY AND VARIETIES e

IV—Zea indentata, the dent corns.
Sub-groups A, B and C as above.

V—Zea amylacea, the soft corns.
Sub-groups A, B and C as above.

Vi—Zea saccharata.

Sub-groups A, B and C as above.

These divisions are the result of growing corn in
different climates and for different purposes. The
division which is of supreme importance commercially
is the dent, Zea indentata, and its characteristics will
be taken up in detail. The dent varieties have been
developed in the central United States as a result of
acorn which will give the largest yield of shelled grain
adapted for general purposes. Naturally a corn of
such general and wide importance has been the subject
of great care in development. Unconsciously the corn
growers of the past have selected a corn which would
mature in the length of season natural to the climate
in which it was grown. The character of a corn under
such a system of selection slowly changed in response
to the effect of climatic and soil conditions.

As a matter of fact, the history of the development
of most of the strains of dent corn now grown is very
brief. With few exceptions no record has been kept of
the various crosses, and but few varieties have been
selected toward a particular type for a special purpose
for any considerable length of time. There have been
but few systematic attempts at improvement, and the
result is that as a rule mongrel or scrub varieties are
grown. A few varieties, however, have been carefully
selected in accordance with definite ideas as to improve-
ment for about a quarter of a century, and have devel-
oped certain characteristics distinguishing them from
other varieties. In such instances it has been found
that if the corn has been selected toward a uniform
type, the yield has been increased because of the pro-
Io THE BOOK OF CORN

duction of uniformly better ears. The yields of varie-
ties tested at the Illinois experiment station, 1888-1900
inclusive, show this result. Also, enough has been
accomplished to prove that almost any characteristic
desired in a variety can be fixed by persistent selection,
and these characteristics can be continually improved
by further selection.

The development of sugar in the sugar beet fur-
nishes a splendid illustration of the possibilities of plant,
breeding. Starting with the ordinary beets with about
four per cent of sugar, the French and German seed,
growers by selection have increased the sugar content.
to an average of twelve to sixteen per cent, making it.
possible to profitably manufacture sugar from this
source. There are probably as great or greater possi-.
bilities in the corn plant, and these possibilities can be
developed as easily as the sugar content, of the beet.
The development of the present. breeds of cattle and_
other live stock plainly shows how careful, systematic;
and intelligent selection has improved these animals.
The dairy and beef types have been developed from,
the same source; the light and draft horses, the bacon
and lard hogs, etc.

Corn responds to selection as readily as do beets
and cattle, and there is no longer any doubt that varie-
ties of corn can be further improved by similar meth-
ods. The chemical composition of the corn kernel
varies, and the experiments conducted by the Illinois.
station have conclusively shown that the proportion of
the.constituents can be varied at the will of the breeder.
In other words, it is possible to increase or decrease the
proportion of oil, or of starch, or of protein, by selec-
tion of the seed. When seed high in protein is planted
a product hich in nrotein is the result, and vice versa.

The same thinz holds true with seed high in starch
oroil, — a :
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BOTANY AND VARIETIES

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

For instance, the shape of the Leaming
igina

fi
i Eos

ference; 335, immature

What is true of the chemical
nently true of the physical characteristics of the ears

or the stalks.
kernel has been changed by twenty-five years of selec-

tion, from the or
deeper kernel with a deeper dent.

re Ren ert
ee au cy partie
a ee a
San

ht
Again, in the case of the Boone County
White variety the tips of the original corn were poorly

Fig 3—Uniform Sample of Boone County White
length of ear and a sl

No 333, too short for circumference}. 334, nearly correct length and circum.

variation in the shape of the kernel has gone an in-
" crease in

ference.
12 THE BOOK OF CORN

filled. This was due principally to the fact that the
Boone County White ears are very long. As an ear
matures from butt to tip, the tip maturing last, it fre-
quently happened that the pollen was all gone before
the tips of some of these ears had been fertilized. By
selecting for seed only those ears which were well
filled, in other words ears all parts of which matured in
time for the pollen to fertilize them, the best samples
of this variety have become well filled at the tips.

Effect of Selection—The Golden Eagle corn was
originally a medium to shallow grained corn, but by
constant selection toward deeper kernels and deeper
dent, the variety has developed a very deep kernel with
an unusually deep indentation. The amount of husks,
length of shank, size of stalk, position of the ear on the
stalk, the number of leaves, in fact every physical char-
acteristic can be varied in a short time by simple selec-
tion. The present meager records give only an incom-
plete history of the development of the variations of
corn varieties. It is just as important to know the
character of every part of the corn plant as to know
every characteristic of the animal. The size, shape and
characteristics of the stalk strongly influence the devel-
opment of the ear, and it is probable that it will be
necessary to know the nature of the root development
in order to breed intelligently.

VARIETIES OF DENT CORN

The varieties of corn described in succeeding
pages are extensively grown in Illinois, Iowa, Mis-
souri, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio and other com
growing states. These particular varieties have been
grown for a long time by specialists who by selection
of seed developed certain characteristics of ear and
stalk. They possess certain characteristics of color,
shape of kernel, shape and size of ear, etc, which have
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 13

been fixed by the breeder. Some possess character-
istics that others do not have. From an examination of
the different varieties, a list of the characteristics of
corn, as shape of ear, cob and kernel, nature of inden-
tation, color of grain and cob, character of tip and butt,
number of rows of kernels on ear, length and circum-
ference of ear, etc, has been made a basis of study of
varieties. This list is given here that it may assist
breeders to study their varieties of corn in a systematic
manner, The corn grower can take an average sample
of corn, and by going through the list of characteris-
tics mark the ones possessed by his own variety. He
can then take up the study of the characteristics in
detail. Following is the list of characteristics :

Ear—

Cylindrical—Uniform in circumference from butt to tip.

Partly Cylindrical—Uniform in circumference for a por-
tion of length.

Slowly Tapering—Taper slight, regular.

Distinctly Tapering—Taper very apparent.

Very Tapering—Extremely tapering.

Too Short for Circumference; Too Long for Circum-
ference—Proper proportion of circumference to length is as
three to four, or for medium varieties seven and one-half
inches to ten inches.

Rows in Distinct Pairs—Alternate spaces between rows
of kernels wider than the others.

Number of Rows—Counted three inches from butt.

Rows Lost—Disappearing after extending three inches or
more from butt.

pune Space Between Rows—Rows pressed closely to-
gether.

Medium Space Between Rows—Distinct furrows.

Wide Space Between Rows—Wide furrows.

Circumference of Ear at Butt; Circumference of Ear at
Tip—Measured two inches from the ends.

Length of Ear—Measured from butt to tip.

Rows Straight—Parallel with cob.

Rows Turned to Right; Rows Turned tc Left—Rows
angle to right or left of a straight line from butt to tip.

Butt~

Even—Entire end of cob exposed, with butt kernels at
right angles to axis of cob.
14 THE BOOK OF CORN

Shallow Rounded—Cavity at butt shallow, broad. _

Moderately Rounded—Cavity moderately deep, medium
diameter. : :

Deeply Rounded—Cavity at butt deep, small diameter.

Compressed—Cob rounded at end.

Enlarged—Large butt with no extra rows of kernels.

Expanded—Large butt caused by extra rows of kernels.

Open—Greater space between rows at butt. ae

Depressed—Kernels at butt flat, smooth and short, indi-
cating a tight husk. : ;

Kernels Diverging—Space between summits of kernels in
same row.
Tip— 5
-” Kernels in rows; rows may be traced to tip.

Flat—Cob flattened at tip. ;

Filled—Entire end of cob covered with kernels. —

Capped—A central kernel projecting from filled tip,
Kernel—

Firm—Rigid on cob.

Loose—Movable on cob.

Roof-Shaped at One Edge—Convex at one edge and flat
at the other.

Upright—At right angles with surface of cob.

Sloping—Leaning toward tip.

Overlapping at Summit—As shingles on a roof.

Straight Wedge-Shaped—Edges of kernels straight,
tapering.

Rounded Wedge-Shaped—Edges rounded lengthwise,
*- pering.

Square at Top—Corners not rounded at summit.

Shoe-Peg Form—Long, narrow kernel holding size to tip.

Rounded Corners—Corners rounded at summit and base.

Rectangular—Short and broad, as broad at base as
summit.

Beaked—With long, sharp tapering projection.
f Slightly Rounded at Edges— Rounded lengthwise of
ernel.

Small, Sharp Point at Summit—Pointed projection from
chit side of kernel.

Round Smooth Dented—Round, smooth depression at
summit of kernel.

Long Smooth Dented—Long, smooth depression.

Crease Dented—Edges of kernels pressed toward each
other, leaving small space between, and edges parallel.

yp tnetes Dented—Edges of kernels pinched closely to-

gether.

Rough, Projection Dented—With any rough, ragged or
beaked projection from summit of kernel. 4
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 15

Bridge Dented—Crease dented with fold across center.
Crumple Dented—Seed coat wrinkled, as in sweet corn,
Breadth, Depth, Thickness—Exact measure.

Color—Note shade.

Shank—

Large—Nearly the diameter of cob.

Medium—Half the diameter of cob.

Small—One-third the diameter of cob or less.
Cob—

Large—Larger than four and one-half inches in
circumference.

Medium—From three and one-half to four and one-half
inches in circumference.

Small—Not more than three and one-half inches in
circumference.

Color—Note shade.

REID'S YELLOW DENT

History—The following is the history of Reid’s
Yellow Dent as given by the originator and breeder, Mr
James L. Reid of Tazewell county, Illinois: In 1846
Robert Reid brought from Brown county, Ohio, to
Illinois a variety of corn called at that time the Gordon
Hopkins corn. This was reddish colored, grown
widely in the vicinity of the Red Oak settlement, the
home of Mr Robert Reid. The corn was planted in
Tazewell county, Illinois, by Robert Reid late in the
spring of 1846, and a fair yield of immature corn was
harvested. Seed was selected from this crop for the
next year’s planting, but on account of the immaturity
of the seed a poor stand was the result. The field was
replanted with seed of the Little Yellow corn, the miss-
ing hills ‘being planted with a hoe. The corn has not
been purposely mixed by Mr Reid since 1847, and has
been improved by. selection since that date.

It is adapted to central and northern sections of
Illinois and similar latitudes. This variety is of me-
dium early maturity, maturing in from one hundred to
one hundred and ten days. The characteristics are very
constant in all samples, due to the fact that they have
16 THE BOOK OF CORN

been strongly impressed by fifty years’ selection. The
photographs of the samples of Reid’s Yellow Dent, one
from the originator, Mr J. L. Reid, the other from Mr
A. C. Rhoades, illustrate the uniformity of the char-
acteristics running through the Reid variety. Mr
Rhoades secured seed from Mr Reid about five vears
ago, and has grown this variety without intentional
crossing since that time. In the samples of Mr
Rhoades’s corn sent to the Illinois experiment station

Fig 4—Reid’s Yellow Dent
Butts, tips, size of cob, depth of kernel, and shape of ears

for examination, the indentation and shape of kernel,
shape of ear, filling out at tips and butts, length and
circumference, size and shape of cob, are uniformly
and strongly Reid characteristics.. This condition
shows very decidedly that the characteristics that have
been impressed on this variety of corn are strongly
fixed and are uniformly reproduced. It offers one of
the best illustrations of the effect of intelligent selec-
tion, the original corn with small ears, poorly filled
ROTANY AND VARIETIES 17

out, and smal number of rows, being changed by selec-
tion to one of the most improved varieties of corn
grown.

Characteristics—1, ear slowly tapering; 2, cir-
cumference 6.9 inches, length 9.5 inches; 3, kernels
very firm on cob and upright; 4, number of rows 18
to 24; 5, space between rows very narrow; 6, kernels
in distinct pairs of rows; 7, butt deeply rounded, very
compressed, with diverging kernels; 8, kernels light
yellow, square at top, tapering to a point by straight
lines with long smooth to pinched indentation ; 9, shank
small; 10, cob medium, red.

GOLDEN EAGLE

History—The Golden Eagle variety was origi-
nated by Mr H. B, Perry of Stark county, Illinois, in
1871. Mr Perry selected seed from the so-called Mason
County Yellow corn. This corn had rather small ears,
red cobs and small kernels of a bright yellow color.
The selection since that time has been toward a large
proportion of corn to cob. This variety has been bred
by Mr Perry on his farm without mixture since 1871
and has developed certain prominent characteristics,
particularly deep grain and well-filled ends. The
Golden Eagle is of medium maturity, usually maturing
in from one hundred to one hundred and fifteen days ;
-dapted to the central and south half of the northern
division of Illinois. The characteristics are very uni-
form in samples grown under different conditions, a
result of twenty-nine years of continuous breeding
without crossing. The variety at present shows a
great improvement over the original type and is one of
the best examples of the results of selection.

Characteristics—1, ear slowly tapering; 2, cir-
cumference 7 inches, length 8.9 inches ; 3, kernels loose
18 THE BOOK OF CORN

on cob and upright; 4, number of rows 16 to 20; 5,
space between rows medium to wide; 6, kernels deep;
7, butt moderately rounded, compressed ; 8, kernels
deep yellow, very marked, rough proj ection at summit,
straight edges and rough projection dented; 9, shank
small; 10, cob small, red.

IOWA SILVER MINE

History—The Iowa Silver Mine variety of corn
was originated by Mr J. H. Beagley of Ford county,
Illinois, from seed selected from a prize-winning ex-
hibit of white corn at Ford county farmers’ institute
in 1890. After sufficient corn had been grown to plant
a twenty-acre field, the crop was sold to the Iowa seed
company, which named it Iowa Silver Mine, and sold
large quantities of seed to Illinois farmers. The orig-
inator has selected toward a creamy white color, cylin-
drical shape; tapering slightly at tip, with an average
of about eighteen rows of kernels. This variety has
been developed by selection, no crossing or mixing of
varieties having occurred. The variety characteristics
are strong, especially in those strains grown in the
northern division of the state. The variety is from
medium to early maturing, maturing in one hundred
to one hundred and ten days, adapted to the north
half of the central and the northern section of the.
state.

Characteristics—1, ears partly cylindrical and
partly slowly tapering; 2, circumference 7.2 inches,
length 8.7 inches; 3, kernels firm on cob and upright;
4, number of rows 16 to 20; 5, space between rows
medium ; 6, kernels in distinct pairs of rows, develop-
ing distinct rows at tips; 7, butt moderately rounded,
compressed; 8, kernels cream white, deep, even at
summit, except for rough projection, straight edges,
tapering ; 9, shank medium; 10, cob, small, white.
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 19

RILEY’S FAVORITE

History—The Riley’s Favorite was originated by
Mr James Riley of Boone county, Indiana, in 1885. It
is a hybrid, the result of a cross of a large late corn,
the Golden Yellow, with a small early corn, the Pride
of the North. It has been bred in the following man-
ner: A plot of one-half acre was selected away from

HEE RT

vbhb lhc)

304 305 306
Fig 5—Length of Ear, Boone County White
No 304, proper length and size; 305, too long; 306, too short

any other variety of corn and planted in the usual way.
As soon as the tassels began to appear, the barren and
diseased stalks were all removed, leaving only healthy
stalks. In this way future seed could not be fertilized
from pollen from barren or dwarfed stalks. Mr Riley
selected toward a medium-sized ear, small cob, well-
20 THB BOOK OF CORN

filled tips and butts, and stalks of medium hight. It is
a medium to early maturing variety, ripening in ninety
to one hundred and ten days.*

The Riley’s Favorite variety is of early maturity,
adapted to the central and northern divisions of Tili-
nois. This variety strongly illustrates the fact that im-
provement takes place in corn breeding at present
through selection without crossing of widely different
varieties. Our varieties are sufficiently variable with-
out introducing unknown characteristics, and selection
will tend to develop these variations along the lines
desired by the corn breeder.

Characteristics—1, ear slowly tapering; 2, cir-
cumference 7.1 inches, length 9 inches; 3, kernels loose
on cob and upright; 4, number of rows 16 to 20; 5,
space between rows wide; 6, kernels in distinct pairs
of rows, about half of the ears having distinct rows at
tips; 7, butt moderately rounded, compressed; 8, ker-
nels yellow, straight wedge-shape, pinched to rough
projection dented, with a tendency in the rough sum-
mits to be beaked; 9, shank medium to small; 10, cob
small, red.

WHITE SUPERIOR

History—The history of the White Superior vari-
ety as nearly as can be learned from the account of Mr

*As a matter of fact, neither Mr Riley nor other growers of Riley’s
Favorite have been able to fix the above characteristics of this variety.
One season would develop a certain set of characteristics, while a dif-
ferent season would bring out different characteristics. This condition
is a result of the cross made in the beginning of selection, in this way
mingling together widely differing characteristics. In order to fix any
characteristic, it takes years of selection for this point, and the Riley’s
Favorite has not been selected long enough to give the variety any fixed
type. In the illustration of the samples of Riley’s Favorite, one from
Mr James Riley and the other from Mr T._A. Baldwin, little uniform-
ity of characteristics of ear can be found. In a careful examination of
these samples, it was oleae demonstrated that little similarity of char-
acteristics existed between the two samples, although Mr Baldwin secured
the seed of this variety directly from Mr James Riley only a few years
ago. In a shipment from Mr Riley of about twenty-five bushels of
Riley’s Favorite seed in the ear, a large number of ears resembling the
Pride of the North variety and about an equal number of ears similar
to the Yellow Mastodon variety were found. A small proportion
ae Res the Riley’s Favorite type could be picked out by careful
selection,
BOTANY AND VARIETIES al

P. R. Sperry of Warren county, Illinois, a breeder of.
this corn, is as follows: Mr Shaffer, a seed corn
specialist, brought from Pennsylvania to Warren
county, Illinois, a variety of corn he called the White
Elephant, about 1880. In 1895 Mr Sperry began se-

Mi ‘

Bo)
oeanes

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ater

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319 320 | Bat
Fig. 6—Circumference of Ear, Boone County White

No 319, well-proportioned, proper circumference; 320, too large for length;
321, too small for length

lecting seed from this variety for a different type than
the White Elephant. He selected one bushel of seed
of the type desired and planted this seed by itself, so
that it would not be mixed with any other variety. In
22 THE BOOK OF CORN

changing the type of corn Mr Sperry changed the
name to the White Superior. It is a medium to late
maturing variety, ripening in one hundred and five to
one hundred and twenty days.

His selection was as follows: Kernels one-half
inch in length and one-fourth inch in width; ears
eleven inches long, seven and one-half inches in cir-
cumference, with little space between rows. The
White Superior is of medium maturity, and is adapted
to the central and north central sections of the state.

Characteristics—1, ear slowly tapering; 2, cir-
cumference 7 inches, length 8.4 inches; 3, kernels firm
on cob and upright; 4, number of rows 18 to 20; 5,
space betwéen rows medium; 6, kernels in distinct
rows; 7, butt shallow, rounded, depressed, slightly
compressed; 8, kernels white, tapering, with slightly
curved edges and rough projection dented; 9, shank
medium to large; 10, cob medium, white.

LEAMING

History—The Leaming variety was originated by
Mr J. S. Leaming of Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1826.
Mr Leaming began selecting seed at this time from
the ordinary yellow corn grown on the Little Miami
bottoms, Hamilton county, Ohio. He selected this
seed toward a standard type in his mind for fifty-six
years, to be followed by his son, J. S. Leaming, Jr.
His method of selection was to go through a field as
soon as the earliest husks began to show signs of ripen-
ing, selecting ears from stalks tapering from butt to
tassel, ears well filled over points, straight rows of
kernels, and ripening in from ninety to one hun-
dred and ten days.

The Leaming strain as grown by Mr E. E. Ches-
ter of Illinois is from seed secured from Mr J. S.
Leaming in 1885. Mr Chester has selected corn for
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 23

seed from those ears showing the first ripening of the
husk so as to secure corn maturing in from one hun-
dred to one hundred and twenty days. No crossing
has been allowed, the corn being planted in large
isolated fields. Mr James Riley of Indiana secured
seed of the Leaming variety from Mr Chester. Mr
Riley selected for a thick, strong stalk, ears close to
the ground, medium cob, deep grain and bright yellow

Fig 7—Leaming
Butts, tips, size of cob, depth of kernel and shape of ears

kernels. Mr J. H. Coolidge of Illinois secured Leam-
ing seed from Mr Chester. Mr Coolidge has selected
for a deep grain, long ear, well filled tip and butt, uni-
form rows of kernels and early maturity. _

The Leaming variety has the most uniform char-
acteristics of any variety of yellow corn grown. Its
adaptation to widely different conditions of soil and
24 THE BOOK OF CORN

climate by selection has done much to strengthen these
characteristics. It is no doubt the type from which
many varieties of yellow corn have been developed, as
most of the yellow varieties show some of the charac-
teristics of the Leaming corn; and when their history is
traced back they are usually found to have been devel-
oped from the Leaming seed. The Leaming variety is
of medium maturity, adapted to the central division of
Illinois. The three-quarters of a century of breeding
has fixed the following characteristics, and they can be
found strongly developed in strains bred by different
corn breeders, modified by the breeder in his selection
of seed. See Fig 7.

Characteristics—1, ear tapering; 2, circumference
7 inches, length 9.3 inches; 3, kernels firm on cob and
mostly upright; 4, number of rows 16 to 24, with a
tendency to drop rows about the middle of ear; 5, space
between rows medium; 6, kernels in distinct pairs of
rows, mixed at tip; 7, butt moderately rounded,
slightly compressed, with tendency to expand; 8, ker-
nels yellow, wedge-shape, with square-cut summits and
nearly straight edges, long dimpled to pinched dented;
9, shank medium to large; 10, cob medium, red.

BOONE COUNTY WHITE

History—The Boone County White corn was orig-
inated by Mr James Riley of Boone county, Inéana.
Mr Riley began selection from a large, coarse variety of
corn grown in Boone county, commonly known as the
White Mastodon, in 1876. This White Mastodon seed
secured by Mr Riley was planted in a separate field
from other varieties, and has never been crossed,
being changed in type by selection. Mr Riley at-
tempted to remove the barren stalks by cutting out
such stalks before they produced pollen. After several
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 25

years of selection he gave his new type of corn a new
name, Boone County White.

Seed of the Boone County White was early se-
cured by Mr O. C. Block of Champaign county, IIli-
nois, and by careful selection for about ten years the
characteristics of shape of ear, kernel and cob, and’ the
indentation of the kernel have been changed. The pro-
portion of circumference to length has been increased
by Mr Block. The indentation of kernel in the Block

Fig 8—Boone County White
Butts, tips, size of cob, depth of kernel and shape of ears

type is deeper than the Riley type, but the shape of
kernel has not been greatly changed. No doubt that by
continued selection along the lines already laid down
by Mr Block and other growers of the Boone County
White, a distinct type can be produced.

The Boone County White is of medium to late
maturity, ripening in cne hundred and ten to one hun-
26 THE BOOK OF CORN

dred and twenty days, adapted to central and southern
sections of Illinois. It has been bred for large ears,
and consequently matures slowly. There is a tendency
to the production of a poorly filled tip on account of
the length of ear, which must be overcome by careful
selection.

Characteristics—1, ear slowly tapering; 2, cir-
cumference 7.5 inches, length 9.3 inches; 3, kernels
firm on cob and upright; 4, number of rows 16 to 22;
S$, space between rows medium to wide; 6, kernels in
distinct pairs of rows, developing distinct rows at tip;
7, butt moderately rounded, slightly compressed, en-
larged or expanded; 8, kernels white, broad, even ‘at
summit, with slightly curved edges and creased to
rough projection indentation; 9, shank medium; Io,
cob medium to large, white. See Fig 8.

These varieties of dent corn above described will
be added to in the future in a systematic way. Already
organizations have been formed in Illinois and Iowa
for the purpose of assisting corn breeders in the devel-
opment of varieties. These seed corn breeders’ associa-
tions have established corn registers for the purpose
of recording authoritative pedigrees of varieties of
corn.

VARIETIES OF FLINT CORN

The second division of corn, the flint corns, are a
product of eastern and northern United States. Here
the cold climate induces a heavy protecting seed coat
to be formed over the outside of the kernel early in the
season. This does not allow of the development of a
deep kernel. Usually the kernels are broad and shal-
low, the ears having not more than eight to fourteen
rows of kernels. The kernels are composed of an
unusually large proportion of starch, and this kind of
corn is used in large quantities for starch manufactur-
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 27

ing purposes and for hominy. Owing to the shallow
kernels this corn matures in a short time, usually from
eighty to ninety-five days. The proportion of leaves
is comparatively small, and the plants are not so large
or high as the plants of the dent corn. This is partly
due to the fact that the dent corns are usually grown in
soils very rich in nitrogen, which induces a heavy de-
velopment of stalks and foliage. The flint corns grown

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Fig 9—Shape of Ears, Boone County White
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in the clay soils do not have such a large amount of
nitrogen to draw upon and the plants are consequently
not developed to such a great extent as the dent types.

VARIETIES IN NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK

While very little direct effort has been made to
produce distinct varieties of corn in New England,
28 THE BOOK OF CORN

there are many kinds with such distinguishing charac-
teristics as to entitle them to a place among the
varieties, A few comparatively new varieties, such as
Longfellow and Angel of Midnight, have been intro-
duced and have gained some general standing, but the
most popular kinds have only a local reputation and
are rarely known outside of a few townships.

In many cases in New England, New York, and
perhaps Pennsylvania, well-fixed types have been
established by growing one kind of corn for a long
period of years on the same farm without any change
of seed. These varieties are frequently designated by
the name of the family by whom they have been grown,
as “Doolittle” corn and “Warren” field corn. Not
infrequently some particular kind of corn has been
grown on the same farm for several generations of a
family, without new seed being introduced. At least
two instances are known in Connecticut where one kind
of corn has been grown on a certain farm by the same
family for over one hundred years. By growing any
plant for a long period of years under uniform condi-
tions of soil and culture, and by the exercise of con-
siderable care in selecting the seed, well-fixed types will
be developed.

The season is so short in New England that
mostly flint varieties are grown. In preparing statis-
tics for a large number of Connecticut varieties of corn
for the world’s fair of 1893, it was found that the
growing season of flint varieties ranged from ninety-
six to one hundred and twenty-five days, while for a
smaller number of dent varieties it ranged from one
hundred and fifteen to one hundred and sixty-seven
days, the greater number requiring a season of over one
hundred and thirty days. The average growing season
in Connecticut without damaging frosts is about one
hundred and forty-five days, yet there have been
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 29

several seasons within the past fifteen years when the
growing period covered only one hundred and thirty to
one hundred and thirty-five days. From these facts it
will be seen that only a comparatively few varieties of
dent corn are adapted to New England conditions.
Eastern Corn Varies Greatly in Composition—
Analyses of a large number of varieties grown in the

324 325 326

Fig 10—Kernel Indentation, Boone County White
No 324, smooth grains; 325, medium rough; 326, rough grains

east show a wide variation in the composition of corn.
For example, out of ninety varieties analyzed by the
Connecticut experiment station, the highest percentage
of protein in the dry substance of the grain of any
variety was 14.53 per cent, while the variety showing
the lowest proportion contained 8.33 per cent. It has
been found, too, that the percentage of protein varies
30 : THE BOOK OF CORN

somewhat with the season, being lower in a wet season
than in a dry, due probably to the removal of nitrogen
from the soil by the leaching action of heavy rains.

There is probably no doubt that those varieties
high in protein can be maintained high in protein
by thorough culture and the proper selection of seed.
By planting seed from varieties high in protein the
protein content of the resulting crop will be cor-
respondingly high. Fertilizers rich in protein will also
do much to maintain and even to increase the protein
content of corn. In experiments made by the Storrs
(Connecticut) experiment station, the average per-
centage of protein in the grain grown on plots where
liberal amounts of nitrogen were used as fertilizer was
about one per cent above that in the grain grown where
only mineral fertilizers were used. In the stover. a
relatively greater increase was obtained where the
nitrogen was used, than in the seed.

DENT VARIETIES IN THE EAST

Only a comparatively few varieties of dent corn
are grown over any considerable range of territory.
Probably the best known variety is the Leaming,
earlier described in this chapter. The season is found
to be long enough in New England for this variety,
as it will mature in about one hundred and twenty
days. It is quite generally grown in southern New
England, both for the grain and for silage.

The Early Mastodon is a large-eared variety of
white dent corn requiring a little longer season than
the Leaming. The ears are about nine inches in length
and two and five-tenths inches in diameter at the butt;
kernels orange yellow with light yellow cap and rather
loose on the cob; fourteen to eighteen rows ; season one
hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and thirty
days. The growth of stalks is somewhat heavier than
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 31

for the Leaming. This variety is one of the best for
silage in southern New England.

The Pride of the North is a dent variety that has
been introduced from the west and has been grown
over quite a territory in New York and southern New
England. This variety has smaller stalks and ears than
the Leaming. The ears are yellow; kernels rather
loose; length of ears six to eight inches; diameter at

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Fig 11—Large, Medium and Small Cob, Boone County White

the butt one and eight-tenths inches; season one hun-
dred and twenty to one hundred and thirty days.
Benton corn is a long-eared, eight-rowed dent
variety which has been so modified that it is now nearly
of the flint type. As far as can be learned this variety
was taken from Pennsylvania to Guilford, Connecticut,
by a member of the Hubbard family, while a soldier of
the American revolution. It is claimed that the ccrn
32 THE BOOK OF CORN

has been grown on the same farm by this family ever
since it was first taken to Connecticut. The color is
either cream yellow, or, in some instances, copper red.
The kernels are of the flint type, except that they are
slightly indented, although toward the tip many ker-
nels are found free from dents. It produces the longest
ears of any variety—fourteen to eighteen inches being
common. The stalks are larger than most of the flint
kinds, being eight to nine feet tall; the season is from
one hundred and forty to one hundred and forty-five
days. This variety is not generally grown outside the
coast towns of Connecticut. The length of season is
too long to make it a safe variety for seed north of
this small area.

The following dent varieties may be mentioned
among those grown in a limited way in New England
and New York, but they are not widely enough known
to warrant a description: Blount’s Prolific, Butler’s
Dent, Farmer’s Pride, Golden Dent, Hickory King,
Horsetooth, Long Island Dent, Minnesota King, New
England Dent, Sciota, Salzer’s Ensilage, and Tyler.

FLINT VARIETIES IN NEW ENGLAND

The flint varieties are best adapted to New Eng.
land on account of the short seasons and the smaller
growth of stalks produced. Many of the older culti-
vated fields are so reduced in fertility that they will not
carry to a normal development the larger growing dent
varieties, and at the same time produce a good crop of
grain. By heavy manuring any of the dent varieties
which will mature in from one hundred and fifteen to
one hundred and twenty-five days can readily be grown
in southern New England, but for the states north of
Connecticut and Rhode Island the flint varieties will
generally produce a larger proportion of grain to stalks
and are surer of reaching maturity.
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 33

From the earliest settlement of New England
there has existed a yellow, eight-rowed, hard, flinty-
kerneled corn with ears varying in length, according
to the latitude, from seven to twelve inches. At the
north this corn became known as the Early Canada.
As a result of partial failures in the crop of one locality

322 323

Fig 12—Maturity, Boone County White
No 322, fully mature, sound ear; 323, immature, chaffy ear

for a particular year, it became a common practice to
send north and get corn from some point where the
conditions favored a full crop, and to use this to im-
34 THE BOOK OF CORN

prove the local kind. The two kinds were seldom
planted far enough apart to prevent cross-iertilization,
and the result was a new type in the course of a few
years. The tendency, in bringing a certain variety
south, has been to shorten the season of growth, and
then to gradually increase the size and length of the
ears as the corn became acclimated. By slightly short-
ening the season of growth even partial failures became
rare, and the same kind was thus maintained on one
farm for a long period of years. These flint soris were
commonly known as Improved Canada Eight-Rowed,
but after a time many took the name of the owner of
the farm where they had been grown; as the “Asher
Wright” corn, the “Brainard” corn or the “Warren”
corn,

A good example of this type of corn is represented
by the “Doolittle” Improved Canada. The kernels are
large and firm on the cob; length of ear nine and five-
tenths inches, diameter at the butt one and seven-tenths
inches; ear tapering but slightly; hight of stalk seven
to seven and five-tenths feet; season one hundred and
ten to one hundred and twenty days. This general
description will fairly cover the characteristics of sev-
eral other varieties of Improved Canada flints of
local repute, which have developed well-fixed types,
by growing for a long period under uniform con-
ditions. About the only differences found in many
of these varieties are in the length and uniformity of
the ears. The longer a variety has existed on one farm
and the greater the care used in selecting the seed, the
more uniform will be the ears. The white flint corn
is essentially the same as the Improved Canada, except
that the kernels are a pale cream-white, and are often
more flinty than the yellow flints. The white flints are
grown on some farms because they are preferred for
making hominy. In the typical Improved Canada
BOTANY AND VARIETIES 35

white flint the ears are firm and the kernels large;
length of ear nine inches; diameter at the butt one and
five-tenths inches; ears slightly tapering and well
capped over at the tips.

The Rhode Island White Cap is one of the best
known varieties of corn in eastern Connecticut and
Rhode Island. The stalks are small, rarely over six
feet tall and commonly less. The ears are small, ker-

TTT Ts

307 308 309
Fig 13—Space Between Rows
No 307, narrow; 308, medium; space 309, wide space

nels very flinty and firm on the cob. The ears are five
to seven and one-half inches in length and nearly
always solidly capped over the tips. The diameter is
about one and one-quarter inches at the butt and tapers
but very slightly. The length of the season is one hun-
dred to one hundred and ten days,
36 THE BOOK OF CORN

OTHER GENERAL VARIETIES OF CORN

Soft Corn—The soft corns are grown for the most
part in the southern portions of the United States. The
long season does not compel early maturity and the
development of the hard covering which is the case
with northern grown corn. This corn is not valuable
for storing and is more subject to insect and other
attacks. The freezing in northern latitudes rapidly
destroys the life of the germ and the vitality is easily
impaired.

Sweet Corn—Sweet corns were developed on
account of their great amount of saccharine. Having
a sweet taste they are peculiarly desirable for table use
and are grown largely by market gardeners, canning
concerns, and occasionally they are grown for forage.

Pop Corn is a peculiar type grown extensively in
America on account of its composition. By heating
the kernels, they pop open in a large fluffy mass. These
varieties are described in detail elsewhere in this
volume.
CHAPTER III

Plant Food

Oe essential conditions of plant growth arc:
J 1, plant food; 2, vitality; 3, moisture; 4, heat;
5, light.

In studying the principles of plant growth, it
is important to understand what plants contain, and
what are the sources from which they derive food.
Plants are chiefly derived from air and from water.
The greater part of a fresh or living plant is water.
Young grass, for example, contains about seventy-five
per cent of water and the more succulent vegetables
contain a still larger proportion. This water comes
from the soil: i e, it is taken into the plant through
the roots. All the carbunaceous matters in a plant
are formed from carbonic acid, which is taken into the
plant through the leaves. Oxygen, which next to
carbon is the predominant constituent of the dry matter
in plants, comes largely from the air, though much
oxygen comes to the plant in the form of water.
Hydrogen also is derived from water. From the soil,
plants take in that small proportion of inorganic mat-
ter, usually ranging between one and five per cent,
which is left as ashes when the plant is burned.
Although the proportion is small, the constituents of
the ash are as necessary for plant growth as are those
constituents which come from the air. It is from the
soil also, through their roots, that all farm crops, unless
it be legumes, take in the nitrogenous compounds
which are needed for their growth.

Briefly, the elements of plant food obtained from
the air and from water are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
38 THE BOOK OF CORN

and in the case of legumes, nitrogen. From the soil
the plant takes the following essential elements:
phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium,
iron, sulphur and chlorine. Of these eight elements,
calcium, magnesium, iron, sulphur and chlorine are
used by plants in very small amounts and all ordinary
soils contain them in such quantities that they are
practically never exhausted. The elements contained
in the organic portion of the plant are carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. These elements occur
in approximate proportions as follows: carbon 45 per
cent; oxygen 49 per cent; hydrogen 6 per cent. In
addition nitrogen may be present in amounts varying
from 0.5 to I.o per cent. The inorganic elements are
phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur,
iron and chlorine.

NATURE OF THE ELEMENTS USEFUL TO PLANTS

Carbon—Carbon is found in the earth in the form
of a solid, as coal and diamonds. The compound of
carbon upon which vegetation depends is carbonic
acid. It is this acid in the air that feeds the plant.
This compound is 1.53 times as heavy as air, and
usually comprises about one-twenty-five-hundredth
part of the air. No green plant can grow without the
presence of carbonic acid. Although the carbonic acid
of the air comprises but a small part of the whole,
plants are able to secure enough to meet all of their.
needs. The supply of carbonic acid in the air is con-
stantly replenished by the oxidation of organic matter,
the combustion of wood or coal or peat, and by the
respiration of all kinds of animals.

Comparatively little is known regarding the exact
way in which the decomposition of carbonic acid is
brought about in the plant. Experiments have shown
PLANT FOOD 39

that light is necessary in order that decomposition may
be effected ; further, it has been proved that the process
is in some way intimately connected with the green
chlorophyl grains which give the characteristic color
to leaves. However, the important facts are that the
chlorophyl grains assimilate a part of the carbonic acid
of the air and that the assimilated product is converted
into the various components of the plant.

Oxygen—This element is a gas and comprises
about one-fifth of the air. Oxygen forms a part of
almost every compound that plants use as food, e g,
water and carbonic acid gas.

Respiration in plants as well as in animals is sup-
ported by the oxygen of the air. The supply of this
element, whether in free or combined form, is unlimited
and adequate for the needs of plants.

Nitrogen—Nitrogen is a gas. It comprises about
four-fifths of the atmosphere. Grain crops such as
corn and oats can flourish only when their roots have
access to certain compounds of nitrogen, namely,
nitrates and ammonium salts. On the other hand, for
leguminous plants it is essential either that nitrates
shall be present in the soil, or that certain microscopic
organisms having power to fix nitrogen from the air,
live upon the roots and accumulate nitrogen upon
which the plant can feed. The compounds of nitrogen
which the ordinary farm crops use are taken into the
plant, after being dissolved, through the roots. A
limited amount of nitrogen is found in plants, but it
is an absolutely essential element and the supply of it
in many soils is quite limited. Moreover, nitrogen in
a form available for plants is very liable to waste,
being readily carried from the soil with the water of
percolation. Therefore, nitrogen is one of the most
40 THE BOOK OF CORN

important elements of plant food and one which must
be supplied to almost all soils, for all crops except
those of the leguminous family.

Hydrogen—Hydrogen is a gas. It unites with
oxygen and forms water. It is useful to plants only
when combined with oxygen in the form of water.
Hydrogen is a very important factor in plant growth,
for the amount of water consumed by the growing
plant is enormous. For instance, as stated above, water
constitutes seventy-five per cent of many plants. The
amount of water, however, found in the growing plant,
is a very small proportion of the water required by
the plant during the entire period of its growth. That
this is true is proven by many experiments, which
show that from 300 to 500 pounds of water are
required by growing crops for every pound of the
dried crop.

Phosphorus—This element unites with oxygen to
form phosphoric acid. When a base unites with this
acid, a salt is formed (phosphate) which is available
plant food. The amount of phosphorus required by
plants is not large, but the quantity found in most soils
is so limited that this element of fertility often limits —
the productive capacity of many fields. In addition,
the phosphorus which is taken from the soil by
plants is largely stored in the seed or grain, and this
is often sold from the farm. For these reasons phos-
phorus is a very important element of fertility from
the farmer’s standpoint.

Potassium—This element forms with oxygen a
compound—potash, containing eighty-three per cent of
the element potassium. It is this compound which is
important in agriculture. Potash combines with an
acid to form a soluble salt which is taken up by the
roots of the plant. Some soils are deficient in potas:
PLANT FOOD 4t

sium, and when this is the case, this element can be
supplied with marked profit, either in the form of
potassium chlorid or potassium sulphate.

The other necessary elements of plant food are
usually present in the soil in sufficient quantities to
meet all of the requirements of the plant.

The corn plant requires an abundant supply of all
of these elements of plant food for maximum growth
and production. The only elements enumerated above
usually deficient in soils are nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. Therefore the corn grower is chiefly con-
cerned with the problem of keeping his soil well sup-
plied with these three all-important elements of plant
food in order that the productive capacity of his fields
may be maintained undiminished.

No other question merits more thoughtful atten-
tion on the part of the corn grower than this one of the
maintenance of the fertility of the soil. There is only
one way in which this can be done, namely, by keep-
ing good physical conditions and returning to the land
all of the fertility which is taken off by cropping, and
also that which is removed by the blowing, washing
ot leaching of the soil. There is no other way.

When phosphorus or potassium is lacking in the
soil, if sufficient manure is not available to supply these
elements in ample amounts they may be secured in
the form of commercial fertilizers and applied directly
to the land.

METHODS OF OBTAINING NITROGEN

It has been demonstrated, on the other hand, that
the atmosphere is the most economical source of nitro-
gen for all general farming.

The leguminous crops, such as clover, cowpeas, soy
beans and alfalfa,are most generally used in the various
42 THE BOOK OF CORN

sections of the United States for increasing the avail-
able supply of nitrogen in the soil, These crops not
only supply nitrogen much more cheaply than any
form of commercial fertilizers, but they are also
valuable forage crops. They send their roots deep into
the soil, and improve the mechanical condition of the
land and by means of their extensive root systems
bring plant food from the subsoil to the surface soil,
where it may be used by future crops. The roots of
the leguminous plants decay and add large amounts —

ReneS

Fig 14—Samples of Clover
Taken from equal areas; different methods of secding

of humus to the soil, which is an important factor in
maintaining favorable physical and_ bacteriological
conditions. :

Clover has been grown in this country as a part
of the crop rotation for many years, but not until the
last fifteen years has its value as a soil fertilizer been
fully appreciated. There are several varieties, adapted
PLANT FOOD 43

to different conditions of soil and climate. Of these
varieties the mammoth red, the medium red and the
white clovers are most generally grown. The medium
red clover is the variety which is most generally grown
as a fertilizer for corn land.

The methods of seeding clover vary with the
section of the country in which the clover is grown.
There are three general methods of seeding for ferti-
lizing purposes: I, with nurse crop; 2, in corn, at the
time of the last cultivation when the corn is laid by;
and 3, alone, that is, without a nurse crop. Of these
methods, the seeding with some nurse crop is in most
general use. The kind of nurse crop varies with the
agriculture of the country. In the great corn belt of
Illinois, Iowa and in the eastern portions of Kansas
and Nebraska, seeding clover with oats is the most
common practice.

In this case the land is prepared for oats, usually
by disking crosswise of the corn rows, if the land was
previously in corn, then seeding the oats, and disking
the field again the other way. The seedbed is then
harrowed once with the ordinary floating harrow and
the clover seeded, after which it is harrowed again
crosswise of the previous harrowing. This method of
preparing the seedbed provides a firm soil for the
growth of the oats, which is to be desired, and also
puts the ground into the best possible shape for the
growth of the clover crop. In such cases the oats
should be seeded medium to thin, as a very dense
growth of oats interferes with the growth of the clover
crop. With the ordinary varieties of oats, a seeding
of one and one-half to two bushels of well-cleaned
seed is sufficient. This will give a good crop of oats,
protect the clover and not seriously interfere with its

growth.
44 THE BOOK OF CORN

In this way a stand of clover can be secured with-
out losing a crop from the field, an important consid-.
eration to the farmer. The clover seed is small and
consequently contains little plant food. Therefore, it
must be seeded shallow in order that the young plants.
may reach the surface, yet deep enough to get sufficient
moisture for the best germination. It is extremely
difficult to get good clover seed. Very frequently the
vitality of the seed has been injured by cutting too
early or by improper harvesting and drying. If the
seed is moist it is liable to heat and injure the vitality
of the seed.

Clover seed is very likely to be mixed with noxious
weed seeds. The weed seeds are often of such a size
and shape that it is impossible, or at any rate difficult,
to separate them from the clover seed. For instance,
buckhorn grows very much like the clover plant an}
matures seed about the same time. The seed is about
the same diameter as the clover seed, and boat-shaped.
In screening the clover seed these boat-shaped buck-
horn seeds tip up and go through the clover screen,
making it necessary to secure special cleaners. Other
varieties of weed seeds are often found in clover seed,
as smartweed, stampweed, quack grass and pigeon
grass. All of these weeds are detrimental to the land,
and clover seed infested with them should not be used
under any circumstances. Such seed should be burned
or discarded if cleaning is impossible and the land put
in some other crop if good seed cannot be obtained.

The best rate of seeding is about ten to twelve
pounds of clover seed per acre. Less seed will give a
poor, thin stand, and more is likely to result in small,
spindling plants, and the expense is increased. Poor
seed should be sown more thickly than good seed, but
quantity cannot make up for lack of quality. Poor,

Fig 15—Attractive Field of Cowpeas
46 THE BOOK OF CORN

weak seed will result in poor, small plants, no matter
how rich and fertile the soil. The rate of seeding also
varies with the soil. On poor soils the seeding should
be heavier than on rich, fertile soils.

In seeding poor spots in the field or poor soils of
any kind, it is well to apply a good dressing of well-
rotted barnyard manure before preparing the seedbed.
It is a good plan to seed early in order to give the
clover plants all the time possible for growth before
the hot, dry weather begins. In this case the plants
will have matured sufficiently and be better able to
withstand the unfavorable weather. Clover does not
burn out so easily when the nurse crop is harvested.

Other nurse crops such as wheat, barley and rye
are more favorable for clover seeding than oats. These
crops grow more thinly on the ground and are less
likely to lodge than oats.

In harvesting the nurse crop, cut as high as pos-
sible. The stubble offers some protection to the young
clover plants until they become accustomed to the full
heat of the sun. If the nurse crop is cut close to the
ground, the sudden removal of the shade will often
result disastrously to the clover plants, especially if
the season be hot and dry. The earlier the nurse crop
can be cut the better, as it removes the protecting
shade before the sun attains full summer strength.
It has recently been found that by growing a crop of
rape in the oat crop, that the rape, growing very
rapidly after the oats are harvested, tends to protect
the clover plants. All fields so seeded, that have been
reported, are said to have grown a fine stand of clover.
Ordinarily the clover crop should not be cut the year
it is seeded, but may be cut the second season and the
second crop of that year plowed under. This permits
the greatest possible development of the root system
PLANT FOOD 47
and of the root tubercles. These root tubercles, with
the power of taking nitrogen from the air, are the
cause of the direct addition of nitrogen to the soil.
The amount of nitrogen that can be added to the soil
will depend on the number and size of the root tuber-
cles. In other words, it is the object of the clover
grower to produce as many root tubercles as possible.

The second method of seeding clover, i e, in the
cornfield at the time of the last cultivation, is often
successful and is the source of considerable benefit to
the soil where a good growth is secured. The seed
is usually sown broadcast and cultivated in when the
corn is Jaid by. A little heavier seeding is desirable
at this time, as part of the seed is lost among the
leaves of the corn plants, and under ordinary con-
citions of soil moisture at this season of the year, a
considerable proportion of the seed will not receive
moisture enough for germination. If the season is
very dry the seed will not germinate, therefore such a
method will prove successful only when there is
enough rainfall for germination.

The third method of seeding, i e, alone, without
any nurse crop, is recommended for some sections,
such as Wisconsin. In this case the use of the land is
usually lost for one year. In most old cultivated fields
there is such a supply of weed seeds in the soil that
the weeds grow faster than the clover crop. These
weeds use up as much soil fertility as a nurse crop
without any return. Therefore the nurse crop system
is preferred. If the clover is seeded alone, the seedbed
should be prepared in the same manner, and seed
sown at the same rate as when seeded with a nurse
crop. However, in heavy soils it is often best to plow
the land and to prepare the seedbed as for corn.
48 THE BOOK OF CORN

In plowing the clover sod for corn there are two
methods used: 1, to plow under the second crop in
the fall; 2, to allow the clover to get all possible
growth in the spring and plow under just before corn
planting time. The desirability of either of these
methods will depend largely upon the age of the
crop. If the crop is plowed under the first year
after seeding it should be allowed to grow in the
spring as late as possible, then be turned under to a
good depth. The soft stems and roots will quickly
decay, so that the corn crop can safely be planted in
such fields. If the clover is allowed to grow one year
on the field, it should be plowed under in the fall. In
this case it will take some time for the stems and roots
to decompose, so that it is necessary to plow in the fall
to get a thorough disintegration. The field should
then be thoroughly disked in the spring before planting
the corn.

OTHER LEGUMINOUS CROPS

Cowpeas and Soy Beans—Clover seems particu-
larly adapted to central and northern United States.
For southern fields all the elements of a successful
nitrogen gathering crop have been found in the cowpea
and soy bean. Cowpeas are probably of Asiatic origin,
being’ an article of human diet in India and China.
The crop was introduced into southern United States
and has rapidly spread until it is being generally grown
as far north as central Michigan. The crop produces
a large yield of very valuable feed and is one of the
best for collecting atmospheric nitrogen.

There are many varieties, as a result of contaed
selection and growth on widely differing soils and
under different climatic conditions. Of these varieties
the most common are the Whippoorwill, Black, Red,

Fig 16—Good Specimen Soy Bean Plant
50 THE BOOK OF CORN

Clay, Black Eye and New Era. The Black Eye and
Red are the favorites in central United States, while
the Clay, Whippoorwill, New Era and Black Eye are
most extensively grown under southern conditions,
The Whippoorwill, Clay and Black Eye have particular
trailing habits of growth, while the Black and Red are
more bushy and upright growing varieties. The only
objection to these crops comes from the fact that with
present machinery there is some difficulty in planting
and harvesting them. This difficulty’ will disappear
when machinery especially adapted to the handling of
these crops comes into general use. In localities where
live stock farming is practiced these crops are gener-
ally used for soiling or for pasture.

The seedbed for cowpeas is prepared as for corn,
by plowing medium to shallow and thoroughly pulver-
izing the ground. The cowpeas are seeded broadcast
or in drills, the drill being most satisfactory because
the fields can then be cultivated. In drilling, the rows
should be about thirty inches apart and the seed from
two to four inches apart in the row. If the crop is
grown for seed the rows should be from thirty to
thirty-six inches apart, with the same number of seed
in the row as in the thirty-inch rows. In this case it
will be necessary to use about one-third of a bushel
of seed per acre. The cowpeas should be drilled in
to a depth of two or two and a half inches, and care
should be exercised not to exceed this depth. The
field should be cultivated with weeder or harrow until
the young plants come up. This will prevent the
starting of weeds. This is the most important point:
in all cowpea cultivation, as the weeds will quickly
check the growth of the cowpeas and cannot be re-
moved without hand labor after they once get a start.
PLANT FOOD 51

When grown simply for soil fertilizing purposes,
the crop should be plowed under in the fall; it will
decompose before spring and be in shape for feeding
the corn plants. When it is desirable to save the crop,
it can be cut with the mower, cured and the seed
threshed with an ordinary separator. Part of the
concaves and teeth should be removed and the machine
run slowly in order not to break or injure the seed. If
the seed is to be used for future planting, it should
be dried before storing away in a bin. Otherwise it
is likely to heat and the vitality be destroyed.

Before planting the seed it is absolutely neces-
sary to test the germination or vitality of the seed.
Select samples of fifty seeds from ten representative
places in the seed bin and mix together. Take out
two hundred seeds and test in the germinator. Exper-
iments in growing corn on cowpea land prove that
cowpeas are very valuable soil fertilizers. This crop
is rapidly extending to all corn growing sections. By
drilling in cowpeas between the rows of corn after the
last cultivation a considerable growth can be secured
and the fertility of the soil increased. When cowpeas
are so seeded, they should be drilled in between the
rows of corn or sown broadcast at the time of laying
the corn by. These cowpeas generally will not mature,
but the fertility of the soil will be improved.

Soy beans are grown by the same methods as
cowpeas. They seem to do fairly well in the winter
wheat section of the United States and southern
Canada. There are several varieties, the most common
of which are early yellow, medium and late soy beans.
The early yellow and the medium will mature in north-
ern United States, the late in the southern sections.

This crop is frequently planted, as is the cowpea,
by drilling in with the corn planter. In this case large
52 THE BOOK OF CORN

enough plates should be used in the planter boxes to
drop one or two seeds every two or three inches. If
a seed crop is desired, drill the rows the ordinary width
of the planter rows. Ifa forage or soil fertilizer crop
is the object, straddle the planter rows so that with
the ordinary three feet six inch planter the rows will
be twenty-one inches apart. This method can also be
used for planting cowpeas, care being taken that the
_ planter plates do not break the beans or peas.

The soy bean or coffee berry, as it is sometimes
called, grows in an upright bushlike form, the pods
containing three or more seeds. From the peculiarity
of growth it is possible to harvest them easily and as
a result they are extensively grown for feeding pur-
poses. If a good stand is secured, the soy bean will
produce a large crop. Ii they are to be used for hay,
they should be cut early in the season before the
seeds are ripe and before the leaves have begun to fall.
This will prevent, in a large measure, the formation
of a hard, woody fiber, which is present in the matured
plants. As the plants are frequently harvested early
in the season before the seeds are fully matured and
dried out, and the seed stored in this condition, it fre-
quently happens that the pile of seed heats, and the
vitality is destroyed. It is absolutely necessary to test
the vitality of all soy bean seed before planting.

By moving the crop north gradually, the plants
are so changed in their habit of maturity that they
become acclimated. At present great crops of this
soy bean are annually grown as far north as northern
Michigan. As a result large tracts of clay and sandy
soils are being greatly improved in productiveness.
It has been found from many experiments that soy
beans are very valuable soil fertilizers for corn and
that a crop of corn grown on soy bean land yields
PLANT FOOD 53

many more bushels per acre than corn grown on the
same land not fertilized by soy beans.

Alfalfa is a crop which is widely grown in west-
ern states. In Kansas and Nebraska corn grown on
alfalfa land gives splendid returns. The alfalfa roots
penetrating the soil to a great depth, loosen the subsoil,
and bring the soil fertility to the surface, where the
corn plants can make use of it. Further, it adds to
the supply of soil nitrogen and in this way prepares
the soil for the corn crop.

The only difficulty with alfalfa as a crop to be
introduced into a corn rotation is that there is con-
siderable trouble in securing a stand. Moreover the
crop does not reach its full producing capacity until
about the third year after seeding. This being the
case, the alfalfa crop is usually allowed to stand for
several years, in some cases as long as fifteen to twenty
years. As many as four crops are frequently harvested
each year. If these are taken off the soil and no
manure returned, the land will eventually be drained
of its fertility. As it is desirable to have something
which can be seeded and a crop obtained the first year,
alfalfa is not likely to come into general use as a part
of a corn rotation.

BARNYARD MANURE

For enriching a soil for corn, barnyard manure
is a most valuable fertilizer. The application of barn-
yard manure increases the amount of available fertility
in the soil, adds to the humus content, and improves
the mechanical condition of the soil.

Therefore, the preservation and application of
manure is an important problem with the corn grower.

The conditions affecting the saving and preserva-
tion of the elements of value in manure, have largely
to do with the value of manures. An effort should
54 THB BOOK OF CORN

always be made to handle manure in such a way as to
reduce to a minimum the loss of valuable constituents.

The chief sources of loss are: first, through the
escape of the liquid portion of the excrements; second,
by leaching and exposure to rain; third, by fermenta-
tion. Excessive fermentation results in the serious
loss of nitrogen; the escape of the urine results in the
loss of nitrogen and potash.

When possible, an abundance of litter or bedding
should be mixed with manure, to prevent loss from
drainage. The manure should be kept so as to prevent
washing and leaching; compact and moist to prevent
too rapid heating. It should be kept compact, also, to
prevent too rapid formation of nitrates. It is true that
it is in this form that the nitrogen in the manure is
available for the corn crop, but this change into the
nitrate form can go on far more safely in the soil than
in the manure heap, for in the latter the nitrates are
likely to suffer loss through the action of the nitrate-
destroying bacteria present in the lower portions of
the heap.

Should manures be applied fresh or rotted? The
important points relative to applying fresh manure
are: first, the earlier manure is applied to the field, the
less is the loss of plant food; second, fresh manure fur-
nishes more humus to the soil than that which is well
rotted; this is true because in the process of decay
a portion of the organic matter is destroyed; third, on
a majority of farms, the amount of work is compara-
tively light at the season of the year when the greater
part of the manure is produced and it is often a source
of economy in getting out the manure to spread it as
fast as it is made.

The objection may be offered to this plan that the
manure suffers serious loss from lying upon the sur-
PLANT FOOD 55

face. In this connection it is well to remember: first,
that the proportion of soluble constituents in fresh
manure is less than in rotted; second, that fresh
manure does not contain any considerable amount of
ammonia.

When fresh manure is spread in the winter, before
the nitrogen of the urine and dung is converted into
ammonia by the process of decomposition, there is
little or no loss into the air; further, ammonia will
not form when the temperature reaches the point
which usually prevails during the winter months.

There is one possible source of serious loss, how-
ever, when manure lies exposed on a sloping or hilly
surface. Under these conditions a portion of the
soluble constituents of the fresh manure may be
washed out and carried away over thesurface. It is
generally preferable to spread manure on pasture,
meadow or stubble ground where there is less danger
of washing and consequent loss.

On the other hand, well-rotted manure is a highly
concentrated product. Certain anaerobic ferments act
to destroy the woody fiber in the manure and thus the
proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium,
the valuable: fertilizing elements, may be larger in
well-rotted manure than in the fresh manure. This
shrinkage in volume, which occurs when manure fer-
ments, is an important saving in the cost of distributing
the product upon the field.

Thoroughly rotted manure is esteemed highly
because it may act more quickly than fresh manure.
A large proportion of the elements of fertility are in a
condition to be taken up by the roots of plants. In
addition the humus of well-rotted manure would in
case of drouth, serve a better purpose than that of
fresh unfermented litter.
56 THE BOOK OF CORN

Use of Manure Spreader—In spreading, it is a
great advantage to use an improved manure spreader,
for this machine will scatter manure evenly over
the field. i

If the spreader is carefully housed and cared for,
it should prove serviceable for a long term of years and
should soon pay for itself on an average sized farm. |

The even distribution of finely divided manure is
of great importance. When manure is left on the
surface in heaps of various sizes it often proves an
absolute injury to the soil. The plants growing on
the excessively fertile spot are inclined to develop an
abnormally large growth of stalk or stem and to yield
comparatively little seed. :
CHAPTER IV
Breeding and Selection of Seed Corn

ORN breeding has become a specialized indus-
try. Like stock breeding, the development of
corn varieties will always be more or less in
the hands of a comparatively few men who

devote their lives to this particular work. All great
progress will be made by those especially fitted for
work of this kind. As the field is broad and the
results profitable many will engage in the business of
seed corn production.

The general farmer will never breed corn. He
must secure seed from the specialist and from this
source procure improved strains. Eventually on the
average farm the valuable characteristics will be lost
through mixing and careless selection. Then it will
be necessary to secure a supply of seed corn from a
corn breeder. In such cases the farmer must secure
such strains of corn as are adapted to his conditions
of soil and climate. Otherwise the beneficial effect of
the special breeding may be lost. The live stock
breeder usually cannot afford to breed corn and will
depend for the most part on the corn breeder for
his seed..

The field for this branch of farming is very great,
as is shown by the fact that the corn growers of
Illinois alone use over one million bushels of seed
every year. The corn growers of the United States
use annually over fifteen million bushels of seed corn.
Of course, it is not necessary that this seed be secured
from the breeder fresh every year, but as a rule seed
58 THE BOOK OF CORN

will not remain pure more than four or five years,
It then becomes necessary to again secure well-bred
seed. As yet the demand has been but little developed.
Farmers are just beginning to realize the importance
and benefit of improved seed, but even now corm
breeders are not able to supply the demand. That
this demand will increase far beyond the capacity of
corn breeders to supply, there is no doubt.

The advantages of improved seed corn
are numerous and the grower quickly
reaps the benefit. For instance, improved
corn tends to diminish the percentage of
barren stalks. This is important because
the barren stalks represent a direct and
great loss to the corn grower. Statistics
secured with great care show that the
loss caused by barren stalks, in many
fields, approximates ten and even fifteen
per cent.

Again it is true that in the average
field the ears of corn are not uniform in
size. Only a small proportion are large.
The majority are irregular, many being
very small and stunted. It is the func-
tion of the corn breeder to increase fhe
uniformity of the crop by selecting and

x preserving only the best ears. The pro-

" portion of corn to cob, the shape of ear,
Gretimaesaok the filling out of ends, are all subject to
palcanltanse “the breeder’s influence, so that by con-
tinuous selection of a uniform ear an

improved type may be raised for the benefit of
the grower. This benefit is out of all proportion
to the increased cost of seed for improved strains.
In buying an ear of corn, the growers get a thousand
individuals capable of reproducing themselves in one

BREEDING AND SELECTION 59

year. The live stock breeder, on the other hand, pays
a great amount of money for one individual which
requires a mate.

In years past little attempt has been made to
systematically improve corn. The corn plant was but
little understood. In fact, the whole field of corn
development is practically unexplored. Enough is
known, however, to: show the boundless possibilities
and in a general way to direct the work of the breed-
ers to some definite end. Following will be given an
outline of the methods now in use. These are the
result of the experience of the past and the study of
the present.

APPROVED METHODS OBSERVED IN BREEDING

There are two grades of seed corn—the highly-
bred seed and the stock seed. The highly-bred seed
can never exist in large quantities and will conse-
quently never enter into the commercial transactions
of the corn breeder to any great extent.

By highly-bred seed is meant seed that represents
the best of the improved types. In other words, those
ears which as nearly as possible represent the ideal
ear. As every ear is different from every other ear,
there can never be a large number of such ears.
However, this very fact of wide variation makes the
improvement of varieties possible. If there was no
variation from which selection could be made, there
could be no improvement. It is by selecting those
ears which vary in the direction desired and discarding
the poor ears that a general advance can be made.

The stock seed is the corn one generation removed
from the highly-bred seed. The corn breeder will
concentrate his main effort in the production of highly-
bred seed. From this seed large quantities of stock
seed may. be grown and sold to the farmers. This
60 THE BOOK OF CORN

seed possesses nearly all the good points of the
highly-bred seed, and differs only in the fact that
individual selection by the corn breeder has ceased,
This kind of seed can be produced in large quantities
and can be sold at a moderate price. No farmer,
however, can afford to depend on imported seed for
the main part of his erop. Seed corn imported from

2 A ye | ‘
teh.

Cross-bred Self-fertilized
Fig 18—Effect of Inbreeding
Small stalks inbred; large stalks cross-bred

‘a distance and especially from a different latitude
seldom gives satisfactory results the first two or three
years, even though the seed may be of the best, which
oftentimes is not the case. It is well known that
most of the seed corn put on the market by seedsmen
is bought of farmers in crib lots, shelled, screened and
BREEDING AND SELECTION 61

sacked, ready for sale, little or no attention being paid
to the selection; in fact, it is generally handled with
a scoop shovel and is known as the “scoop shovel
method of selection.” The chances are that the
farmer has in his own crib better corn than that which
he purchases from seedsmen at four or five times the
market price. And then he runs the additional risk that
it will not mature in his locality. If it were simply
a matter of losing the price of the bushel of imported
seed corn, it would not be serious, but when we con-
sider that a bushel of seed corn ought to produce four
hundred bushels of corn worth from $130 to $160,
the serious nature of the question is very apparent.
If for any reason a farmer’s corn is not satisfactory
for seed, he certainly should not send away for seed
corn, but should purchase from someone in the vicinity
whose corn has given good results during the past
three or four years. It is an excellent plan,
however, for two or more persons in a neighborhood
to secure a small amount of good seed of some of the
standard varieties and give them a good trial. In
this way it is probable that varieties will be found
which, after they have become acclimated, will prove
of considerable value to the community.

The selection of the variety is the first important
point in breeding seed corn. The variety must be
adapted to the conditions of soil and climate in which
it is to be grown. Of course, by reason of the great
variation in corn, varieties suited to almost any con-
ditions may be chosen, but in order to save time it
is wise to begin with a variety already adapted to the
conditions. It takes considerable time to effect any
marked change, consequently a variety which has been
thoroughly tested should be selected. There will be
ample opportunity to make any desired changes, and
by taking advantage of the previous breeder’s effort
62 THE BOOK OF CORN

much time may be saved. If a mongrel or impover-
ished strain be selected, it will require years of the
most careful work to get the variety ready for definite
improvement. In other words, it will require years
to eliminate unfavorable characteristics. For the same
reason it is not wise to select a variety the result of a
recent cross. There is already so much variation in
corn that it is not desirable to begin with a corn which
has the characteristics thrown together in confusion.
It is better to select one with the characteristics sorted
out, and then give them definite direction by selection.
Otherwise the undesirable characteristics will crop out
from time to time, and will hinder improvement.

The color of the variety is unimportant, except
that there is frequently a prejudice in favor of a
particular color in a neighborhood, or among a certain
class of corn growers. A farmer who has always
grown white corn is apt to fancy that color, and vice
versa. In any case, the breeder must select a color
that he desires and likes, and which most nearly meets
the demand of his market. Otherwise, he will not
so readily become attached to his particular strain.
It is unwise, however, to begin with any variety which
is unusual, as a striped kernel; it is more judicious to
select a solid, deep, strong color. :

In every case it is very important to begin with a
corn which has possibilities for marked improvement.
It is essential that the variety have a good-sized kernel
with large germ, a medium ,to large cob, and a well
proportioned ear. In the flint corn, however, a
medium to small ear is usually preferred. It is
easier to eliminate undesirable features than to build
up absent ones. It is also extremely important that
the variety have a large, well-developed stalk with
broad leaves, and an extensive root development.
These provide for the development’of the ear, ‘and
BREEDING AND SELECTION 63

make it possible to bring about almost any desired
improvement.

Influence of Soil on Development—The soil upon
which the corn is to be grown has a very important
influence on the character of the variety. A poor soil,
or a soil deficient in any element of fertility, or one
which is in poor mechanical condition, will produce
poor stalks and poor ears. On the other hand, a soil
having the proper proportions of the elements and
handled so as to be in the best possible mechanical
condition, will give the best results. It is further
necessary to rotate the crops on the soil. If corn is
grown year after year upon the same field, numerous
insect enemies accumulate and little opportunity is
given for the, development of corn. The ideal con-
ditions of soil seem to be the prairie loam of the
Mississippi valley, so rotated as to include leguminous
crops, and the judicious application of manure. If
the soil is found to be lacking in any essential element
the deficient element should be applied in some way,
as by commercial fertilizers.

Thorough under-drainage is absolutely necessary
for a successful corn breeding field. This is true in
order that the best possible mechanical condition be
maintained. All superfluous water is drained off
quickly and the soil is then prepared to hold moisture.
against a summer drouth. The preparation of soil
and cultivation of the fields should be consistent with
good practice for the particular neighborhood in which
the corn is grown. It is possible that extra surface
stirring will be found profitable and useful during the
summer in order to conserve all possible moisture.
One important point is to plant the corn immediately
after the seedbed has been prepared.

The thickness of planting must vary with the
fertility of the soil and with other conditions. The
04 THE BOOK OF CORN

general rule is to plant few kernels in the hill far
enough apart to admit of the best possible cultivation,
The usual distance is three feet six inches between
the hills, and to plant three kernels in every hill. If
three stalks is too great a number, one or more can
be pulled out early in the season, and the field thinned
to the number desired.

Breeding Field—The field for the highly-bred
corn must necessarily be small. This is true because

Cross-pollinated Self-fertilized |
Fig 19—Effect of Three Years’ Inbreeding
Large stalks and ears cross-pollinated; small stalks and ears inbred

there must be individual selection and a large field
would make the most careful attention impossible. On
the other hand, a small field will allow all possible
intensive selection. A good sized field for this pur-
pose is about an acre. This must be so located as to
prevent mixing. As the pollen from corn will float
BREEDING AND SELECTION 65

about in the atmosphere for at least a quarter of a
mile, or farther, it can be seen that this breeding plat
must either be located far away from other cornfields
or protected in some way. This protection may be
given by a hedge or other obstruction, or the breed-
ing plat may be located in the field of the same variety.
If this last plan is adopted, the field should be planted
from highly-bred or stock seed, so that the corn breed-
ing plat will not be fertilized by the pollen from
inferior stalks of corn. The best plan, if possible, is
to isolate the breeding plat. The breeding area must
be so planned that every seed ear is planted in a
definite space. There are two general ways of doing
this and both give satisfactory results. Whether
there is any special benefit in either plan is not known,
and it remains for future experience to demonstrate
the best methods of planting. The two systems are
called the “plat” and the “row” systems. In the plat
system a plat, usudlly ten hills square, is planted from
a seed ear. The plat is definitely. located; any
remaining kernels on the ear are preserved, properly
marked, for future reference. The plats are arranged
in a square, to allow the greatest possible amount of
fertilization within the plat. The accompanying
diagram shows in general the arrangement of the
plats:

1] 2] 3] 4] 5] 6
71 8| 9{ 10) 11 | 12
13 | 14| 15 | 16] 17] 18
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30
81 | 32 | £3 | C4 | 35 | 36

Breeding Plats Arranged in Squares
66 THE BOOK OF CORN

Breeding Plats Arranged in Rows Each of One Hundred Hills

The three thousand six hundred hills make a
convenient number and can be enlarged or decreased
at will of the breeder. The object is to secure the
number which will give enough seed for producing
stock seed, and yet small enough so that every ear can
be carefully studied before a final selection is made.

The method employed in the work is as follows:
In the fall, the ears from each plat or row are put
into separate bags and taken to the seed house. In
all cases ears should be selected only from well-
developed and strong stalks. The bags should be
numbered to correspond to the rows from which the
corn has been husked. Each bag of corn should be
laid out separately, weighed, and the number of ears
true to type and of the kind desired picked out and
laid by themselves. The ten rows or plats producing
the largest yield and number of ears of the type de-
sired must have been planted from seed prepotent for
the production of that type. Now, if the seed for the
next year’s seed plat be taken from these plats or rows,
this prepotency will be taken advantage of and pre-
served. The rest of the corn can be used to plant
the fields for growing stock seed.

Barren Stalks in Breeding Plat—During the sum-
mer the breeder should go through the breeding plat
BREEDING AND SELECTION 67

and cut out or detassel all poor or dwarf stalks which
later might prove to be barren stalks. This should
be done just as the tassels are coming out, and before
any of the pollen has been shed. This plan will pre-
vent the seed -being fertilized by the pollen of these
undesirable stalks.

Corn is Cross-Pollinated—Corn is cross-fertilized.
The silks on a stalk generally mature at a different *

Fig 20—Effect of Four Years’ Inbreeding
Small row inbred; large row cross-bred

time than the pollen and thus the pollen of one stalk
fertilizes the silks of other stalks. Careful estimates
show that a well-developed tassel may produce as
many as thirty to sixty million pollen grains. These
pollen grains are wafted by the wind about the field,
and if blown upon silks which are ready for fertiliza-
tion they will attach themselves to them and perform
the function of fertilization. This production of
pollen is an enormous draft on the strength of the
68 THE BOOK OF CORN

plant. By removing the tassel at the proper time, so
as not to injure the plant, and allowing the ear to be
fertilized by other pollen, the ears on such detasseled
stalks are better developed than the ears on the stalks
not so detasseled. By detasseling two rows and leav-
ing two rows with tassels, enough pollen will be pro-
vided for the complete fertilization of the field. See
‘Fig 22, illustrating pollen grains greatly magnified.

‘The Illinois experiment station found that by
inbreeding, that is, placing the pollen of the stalk
upon ,the silks of the ear on the same stalk, the size
of the ear and stalk would be eventually decreased.
In other words, it is evident that inbreeding in corn
tends to develop weakness and a general deterioration
of the vitality of the plants.

Corn naturally crosses within the variety. Evi-
dently there is little danger from the evil effects of
inbreeding, in the judicious selection of seed from one
variety or strain.

Corn intended for seed should be allowed to thor-:
oughly mature on the stalk or in the shock before it
is gathered. It is then important that the corn should
be placed in a crib where there is thorough ventilation.
If it is placed in a warm room there is danger that
the corn will begin to germinate or mold as a result
of the moisture and the warmth. By the middle of
November it is best to transfer the corn to the seed
house where some artificial heat can be applied for at
least a few days until the corn is thoroughly dried.
Often it is advisable also to warm the room occasion-
ally during damp spells or during extremely cold
weather. In ordinary seasons fire drying is not abso-
lutely necessary, but is a precaution which it is wise
to adopt every season.

The best plan to date is to place a inate layer
of ears in the seed room on two strips raised a few
BREEDING AND SELECTION 69

inches from the floor to permit the free circulation
of air. This seed room should be sufficiently large
to admit of storing all the seed corn. This row of
ears should be put down carefully, all ears being

Pig 21—Ilustrating Young Ear of

Corn Before Silking
Magnified

turned the same way.
Now place a_ second
layer on top of the first,
reversing the position of
butt and tip, so that the
butts of the ears on the
second layer will rest on
the tips of the ears of
the first layer. Lay two
more sets of ears in
similar position on top
of the first two. Then
place a one-by-one-inch
Piece on each side, one
on tip and the other on
butt. In order to do
this it will be advisable
to have upright two-by-
four pieces set along the
row about eight feet
apart. These small side
strips can then be tacked
on either side of the up-
right pieces. This will
permit the piling of the
corn from the floor to
the ceiling, admitting of

the storing of a very large amount of corn in the

smallest possible space.

_ It is convenient to have a small stove set in the
middle of the room so that on damp, cold days a
slight heat will dispel all moisture and remove all —
7o THE BOOK OF CORN

danger from freezing. When the corn is to be taken
down the top layer should be removed first, and so
on until the entire section is removed. A space of
two feet, or any convenient distance, should be left
between every section so the air may circulate freely
and the corn can easily be inspected at any time.
All windows, etc, should be battened securely so that
no snow or rain can drive in during storms.
Selection of Seed Corn—
At husking time the corn
should be brought from the
field and placed in the
general crib. Here all of
the corn should be scooped
on a table and carefully
sorted by an experienced -
man. The rejected corn
4 can then be piled in one
end of the crib and the seed
ears taken to the seed house
and placed in the racks as
described in the preceding
paragraph. During the ©
winter the ears can be
taken down and packed for
shipment. All seed corn
should be shipped in the
Fig 22—Pollen Grainson Silk ear, and it will not be
Sey ea many years until it will be
impossible to sell shelled seed in the case of corn to
be used for breeding purposes. A most convenient
method of shipping is to wrap each ear in paper, and
put the ears in a box which will hold about one bushel.
This box or crate can be purchased of box fac-
tories, or the seed grower can make it himself at a

BREEDING AND SELECTION Fe

slight expense. A sugar barrel is convenient for
packing large shipments.

Shipping Seed Corn—In any event, the greatest
care should be taken that the seed corn reaches the
customer in the best possible condition, with no injury
to the ear. It is also desirable that care be taken to
groom the ears, by removing all shanks or husks,
and the ear be made to present the best possible
appearance. /

Testing Seed Corn—lIt is imperative that all seed
corn should be thoroughly tested, and given a ger-
mination test of not less than ninety-four to ninety-five
per cent.

(By courtesy Iowa Experiment Station)

The above cut illustrates one of the most con-
venient methods for testing the vitality of seed corn.
g2 THE BOOK OF CORN

Fig No 1 shows the box in which are placed folders
containing samples of corn to be tested. Fig No 2
shows a folder ready to put in the box after the edges
have been folded down over the corn. Any box will
answer the purpose although the cigar box represented
in the cut, or a wooden one like it, is preferable.

The folders should be thoroughly. moistened
before placing the corn in them. Put four or five
thicknesses of moistened paper in the bottom of the
box and as many more over the samples to prevent
drying out. Then shut the cover and wrap a string
around the box to hold the cover down to prevent the
corn from drying out, and set away in the sitting
room or some place where the temperature does not
fall below fifty-five degrees. The best folders are
made by taking five or six thicknesses of newspaper.
and cutting the strips about five by ten inches and
folding as shown in the cut. The only precaution
necessary is to be sure that the folders are thoroughly
moistened before the corn is placed in them for testing.
In two or three days it will be. well to examine the
corn and if the folders are getting dry, they should
be moistened by sprinkling water over them in the
box. At the end of five days the sample should be
taken out and examined carefully. Every kernel that
has not at this time sent out vigorous root and stem
sprouts should be counted unfit for seed. The corn
ought to test not less than ninety-four to ninety-five
per cent. This method has the advantage of requiring
very little attention and makes it possible to see
whether the kernels are making a uniform and vigor-
ous germination, which is very important. Kernels
which make a slow, feeble germination are not fit to
plant. The practice of unscrupulous seed dealers in
the past has justly prejudiced many people against the
use of imported seed corn. In many cases the corn
BREEDING AND SELECTION 73

was poor in quality and of no particular selection, so
that the results were unsatisfactory. This condition
of the seed business cannot long continue and conse-
quently such dealers will be rapidly driven out of
business. With improved seed, increased yields may
be expected and a more uniform and satisfactory type
of corn will be produced.

Sorting and Preparing of Seed Corn for the
Planter—Probably there is no better way to sort and
prepare the seed corn than to place forty or fifty ears
on some boards or tables and with all the tips pointing
one way. Select an ear that most nearly represents
the type you prefer. With this ear in your left hand,
go over all the ears on the board and with the right
hand push out those ears which show too great varia-
tion from the type in size, length, shape, roughness,
color, size and shape of kernels, etc. Now gather the
few remaining ears together, and, with a knife, remove
three or four kernels from each ear and place in front
of each ear, with the germ or chit side up. Now go
over these kernels carefully, for here is where we have
failed most in the past. We have studied the ears,
but have paid little attention to the kernels. First
discard those ears which have kernels unusually broad,
long or thick, also those which are very narrow, thin
or short. This is absolutely necessary before we can
expect any planter to drop a uniform number of ker-
nels in each hill. Discard all ears with kernels which
ate shriveled, or are too pointed, indicating low
vitality and poor feeding value. The butts and tips
should now be shelled off and the ears shelled as
above described. But this is not all. This corn is
not ready for the planter until it has been picked over
by hand, removing the broken, rotten, discolored,
irregular, weak and chaffy grains. This seems like a
74, THE BOOK OF CORN

great deal of expense, but no farmer can afford to do
less than this.

When we remember that it is possible for a bushel
of seed corn to return us seven hundred bushels next
harvest, we can readily see the folly of neglecting this
work. What is a day, or even two days, spent on this
bushel of seed corn, and especially at this season of
the year?
CHAPTER

Corn Iudging

HE great object which the judge has in mind is

J to select that sample of corn for first place,

which in his estimation, is best for seed pur-

poses, namely: which will if planted next spring give

the greatest profit per acre in the district in which it
is grown.

There are a number of things which the judge
takes into consideration in scoring or marking the
samples. In the first place the samples will be laid
side by side on a table or long plank so that they can
be studied carefully and compared. Two or more
kernels are taken out of each ear and laid at the tip
of their respective ears with the germ or chit side up.
In case there are any poor samples which for any
reason stand no show of winning they are laid to one
side without spending any more time upon them.
The judge then scores the remaining samples, taking
up one point at a time, and marking each sample
what he thinks it deserves on this particular point
and so on until the samples have been marked or
scored on all the different points. The scoré for each
sample is then added and the one with the highest
score receives first place, and the next highest second
place, and so on.

History of the Score Card—There are certain
general points in all varieties of corn which must be
taken into consideration by the judge and the breeder.
This has led to the formulation of these general points
in a so-called score card. In this standard of per-
fection for corn the corn growers have given the
76 THE BOOK OF CORN

different points in an ear of corn their proper degree
of importance. It is an invaluable guide to the judge
in keeping in mind during judging a proper sense of
the proportional importance of the general points, so
that peculiar characteristics are not given undue im-
portance. A score card for corn was first formulated
by the late Orange Judd and was recently modified
and revised by the members of the Illinois corn grow-
ers’ association. This lead was immediately followed
by other score cards made by the corn growers’ socie-
ties of other states. At present there are several in
existence. Further changes will doubtless be made
in the score card, adapting it to future requirements.

VARIETY STANDARDS

Each particular variety has its characteristic
shape, etc, which must be known by the judge in order
to properly pass upon the exhibit. Further, each
variety has its peculiar length, circumference, and
proportion of corn to cob. These points, determined by
a careful study of the best samples of the different
recognized varieties, are as follows:

‘ircum-
Tengt» | ference, | %,°orn
Leaming .......ccccececcccvcccescesees 10 7.0 88
Boone County White............s00e. ; 10 7.5 «86
Silver Mine........ccecsccvececevesees 9 7.0 -90
Reid’s Yellow Dente sees cava cosevess 10 7.0 .88
Riley’s Favorite............ceccceeves 9 70 90
Golden Hage. weisssrcinstdesstecennas 9 7.0 90

PRACTICAL JUDGING HINTS

In judging corn, it is the custom to use ten ears
for a single sample. This number furnishes the most
CORN JUDGING 77

‘simple and easy calculation, and has been adopted as
the standard number for all exhibitions. It is very
desirable that the exhibits be so arranged that the
samples can be laid out side by side on a table with
a few inches of space between each sample. It is
convenient for the judges to work on a table about
three feet high and it is imperative that there be a
good light on all sides of the samples. The samples
should be handled as little as possible during judging,
care being taken that no kernels be knocked off by
careless dropping of the ears. Any kernels that are
missing are usually regarded as mixed and the usual
cut made for such imperfection. However, it is
allowable in selecting a sample for an exhibit to
remove two kernels from near the middle of the ear
for the purpose of studying the shape, size and general
characteristics of the kernels. Danger of injury can
be avoided in shipping by carefully wrapping each
ear in paper or other protection, and packing the ears
firmly in the shipping box.

Corn should never be sent to any exhibition in a
basket or bag, as there is always great danger of
damage from careless handling. It is always allowable
and perfectly proper that the exhibitor take special
pains in preparing the exhibit for the judge. All
silks and shanks should be carefully removed and the
ears groomed so as to present the best possible appear-
ance. However, it is not allowable to mutilate or cut
the ear itself in any way. Any ear with the pro-
truding tip cut off should always be cut to the limit,
as the presumption is that the tip was very poor or it
would not have been cut off. Neither is it allowable
to remove mixed kernels and: substitute kernels of
proper color. Changes of this sort.can usually be
detected by the expert judge, and a full cut for color
for that ear should be made.
78 THE BOOK OF CORN

The shape and other characteristics of ears will
vary with every variety. It is the function of the
expert judge to know the variety characteristics and
to score accordingly.

HOW TO STUDY THE EXHIBIT

Shape—The shape of the ear should conform to
the variety type. With most of the varieties it is
important that the ears should not be slender nor
taper too rapidly, as this indicates weakness or lack
of constitution; rather have the ears full in the mid-
dle, carrying their size well up to the tip, rounding
over quite rapidly. This shape allows the develop-
ment of uniform deep kernels from butt to tip and
usually results in a large percentage of corn to cob.
However, the characteristic Leaming ear is partly
cylindrical, that is, cylindrical for part of its length
at butt and then slowly tapers to tip. This is usually
the result of dropping two or more rows of kernels,
about one-third the distance from butt to tip. In the
Leaming variety this characteristic shape is not par-
ticularly objectionable and no cut should be made for
such condition. Another objectionable shape is the
tapering ear, which begins to taper at butt and runs
out to a sharp-pointed tip. Such shape is always
objectionable from the fact that the butt kernels are
large and the tip kernels very small, usually the case
in an ear with a small percentage of corn to cob.
The exhibit showing the best variety shape should be
given the full number of points.

Uniformity—A uniform exhibit means a sample,
all of the ears of which have the same size, shape,
type and general characteristics. This is one of the
most important points in the score card. A uniform
exhibit shows good breeding, while an irregular
exhibit shows poor selection. In judging uniformity
CORN JUDGING 79

the characteristics of the ear must be taken into con-
sideration. The indentation of the kernels, color and
straightness of rows must be particularly taken into
account, The rows should be parallel from butt to tip.
If they are crooked, or as is frequently the case, turn
to the right or left in a spiral manner, a proper cut
should be made. The most simple way for the judge
to decide upon the marking for uniformity is to push
out all irregular ears and then decide upon the cut
to be made from the proportion of uniform to the non-
uniform ears.

SCORE CARD FOR CORN AND EXPLANATION OF POINTS

1. Trueness to Type or Breed Characteristics........eeececeeess 10
The ten ears of the sample should possess similar or like
characteristics and should be true to the variety which they
represent.

2 Shape of Eatsocvscsevnveesiaces Satelnweieeie TO
The shape of the ear should ‘Conform to variety ‘type, tapering
slightly from butt to tip, but approaching the cylindrical.

3- Color—a. fae ar ayavellshate are 6% ails aVaNG Wier atereralieieea y oS Sree 5

b.
The color of the grains should be. true to variety and free from
mixture, with the exception of a few varieties. White corn
should have white cobs, yellow corn red cobs.

4. Market Condition (vitality, maturity, etc.).. es Vesienessee 10
The ears should be sound, firm, well matured, ‘and free from
mold, rot or insect injuries.

Be “TS wxreaey se eeenuwesas< ox osyeyeius savers matewiwe ss)
The tips of the ears should not be too tapering “and should be
well filled with regular uniform kernels.

Gs. SBRGUES se taysvers icin ova ve tesanciesatovs''eosavscaitesevaranne wi alevene Slates eyorepee wearers sbiataiers 5
The rows of kernels should extend in “regular order” over the
butt, leaving a deep depression when the shank is removed,
Open and swelled butts are objectionable,

6 Kernels—a. Uniformity of ..dcccccecncdcenann soe sieceversce'eieiere: 10)

Di: Shape: Of: acecscevicscers savers w0dsecalsassieysyere ecaiejovesersvels eee eens +

The kernels should be uniform in size, * Shape and color, and
true to the variety type. The kernels should be so shaped that
their edges touch from tip to crown. The germ or chit and

. the tip portions of the kernels are the richest _in protein and
oil, and hence of the highest feeding value. For this reason
the germ should be large and the tip portion should be full
and plump.

&. Length of Wahissvevessuncee 9 eeiewnerd eee ares 10
Northern sections 8 1-2 to 9 1-2 inches; central sections 8 3-4
to 9 3-4 inches; southern sections 9 to 10 inches.

9. Circumference SOE aE spcesrsiniences'c cise vavszecan eis cecsepaoravavoraSajeiayeneceeee 5
Northern sections 6 1-z to.7 inches; central sections 6 3-4 to
7 1-4 inches; southern sections 7 to 7 1-2 inches.

Io. Space—a. Furrow between rowS....+++: aasacsiosaceisiejoiwieelaisieiereten. "5.

Space between kernels at COD...ececsceceees 5
The furrow between the rows of kernels should be small,
Space between kernels near the cob is very objectionable.
80 THE BOOK OF CORN

11. Proportion of corn to cob......... ene eeene see cevvenees cess 10
The proportion of corn to cob is determined by weight.
Depth of kernel, size of the cob and maturity affect the pro-
portion.

Total ..cccccccccccccccsccvccscccresscvccsccicesccccsesssI00

RULES TO BE USED IN JUDGING

1. Length of Ear—The deficiency and excess in length of ali
ears not conforming to the standard shall be added together, and for
every inch thus obtained, a cut of one point shall be made.

2. Circumference of Ear—The deficiency and excess in circum.
ference of all ears not conforming to the standard shall be added
together, and for every two inches thus obtained, a cut of one point
shall be made. Measure the circumference at one-third the distance
from the butt to the tip of the ear. .

3. Proportion of Corn to the ‘Cob—Percent of corn should be
from 86 to 87. In determining the proportion of corn to cob weigh
and shell every alternate ear in the exhibit. Weigh the cobs and sub-
tract from the weight of the ears, giving the weight of the corn.
Divide the weight of the corn by the total weight of ears, which will
give the percent of corn. For each percent short of standard a cut
of one and one-half points shall be made.

. In judging corn, a red cob in white corn or a white cob in
yellow corn shall be cut at least two points. For one os two mixed
kernels a cut of one-fourth point, for four or more mixed kernels, a
cut of one-half point shall be made. Kernels missing from the ear
shall be counted mixed. Difference in shade or color, as light or dark
red, white or cream color, must be scored according to variety
characteristics.

5. Exposed Tips—Where the full diameter of the cob is exposed,
a cut of one point shall be made and a proportionate cut as the cob
is less exposed. Regularity of the rows near the tip, and the size and
the shape of the kernels, must also be considered in scoring tips.

6. Scoring Butts—If the kernels are uniform in size and extend
over the butt {n regular order, give full marking. Small and com-
pressed or enlarged or open butts are objectionable, as are also those
with flat, smooth, short kernels, and must be cut according to the
judgment of the scorer. :

7. Each exhibit should consist of ten ears of corn.

Color—The color should be either a pure yellow
with a red cob or a pure white with a white cob. A
white cob in a yellow sample or a red cob in a white
sample should bar the exhibit. It indicates very
poor breeding. In many cases individual kernels are
tinted, the yellow with white and the white with yellow
color. In this case it shows that a single stray pollen
grain has fallen upon a single silk and fertilized the
kernel. It is of little detriment to the variety and
should be judged accordingly. A rule followed by
CORN JUDGING 81

many expert judges is to cut one-fourth point for
two, one-half point for five, three-fourths point for
seven and one point for ten or more mixed kernels.
A white ear or cob tinted with yellow or a yellow ear
tinted with white must be cut according to the judg-
ment of the scorer.

Fig 23—Illustrating Pollen Grains
Magnified. See Chapter IV

Tip—The tips of the ears should not be too
tapering and should be well filled with regular,
uniform kernels. Where the full diameter of the cob
is exposed, a cut of one point should be made and a
proportionate cut as the cob is less exposed. Reg-
82 THE BOOK OF CORN

ularity of the rows near the tip and the shape and
size of the kernels must also be considered in scoring
tips. The failure of an ear to have the tip well filled
may be due to several things, first and most generally
to the fact that the silks are not all ready for
pollenization during the period when the pollen is
ripe. For example, in the case of a very late ear of
corn, the tip may not be well filled because the tip
‘silks ripen too late for pollenization. The filling of
the tip is also influenced by the season. If the season
is unfavorable because of an excessively wet period,
during which time the pollen is washed away, or in
case of excessively hot winds or a very dry spell
during pollenization, the pollen often is destroyed
before it has time to completely fertilize the ear.
In such seasons and under these circumstances very
many ears may be poorly filled. It is desirable that
any variety be so bred that all parts of the ear mature
in time for the pollen to fully fertilize them. When
conditions are favorable doubtless this may be accom-
plished by the breeder selecting for seed only those
ears which are well filled out over the tips.

Butt—In a well-filled butt the kernels should
stand out about the shank so that when the ear is
broken from the shank a small hollow is left. This
assists in securing a large proportion of corn to cob.
Not only is this true, but a poorly filled butt is usually
accompanied by a large shank. This large, strong
shank makes it very difficult for the ear to be broken
off during husking, an undesirable quality in any
variety. On the other hand, if the butt is very small
the shank supporting the ear on the stalk may become
so weak that it cannot hold the ear securely and the
result will be that the ears will be too easily blown
off during windstorms.
punoz Ayrvaw 003 [eur9y “piryy Sorenbs joutoy ‘puosss fodeys o8paas todosd jourey Wya1 TV
[eFUsJZy Jo sadeys sJadosdmy pus sol01g- pz 314

84 THE BOOK OF CORN

Circumference—In measuring the circumference
of an ear pick up the ear in the left hand, holding the
tape line in the right. Press the forefinger of the left
hand on the end of the tape and with the right hand
bring the tape line around the ear. Keep in mind the
deduction in scoring each ear as every ear is measured,
and when through measuring subtract the total cut
from five, in this way getting the marking for circum-
ference. The circumference is usually measured
about one-third the distance from the butt to tip,
because this seems to be the most constant point in
all ears. If there are any rows dropped or if any
other irregularity is present, it usually begins about
this point in the ear.

Length—In measuring the length the most simple
and satisfactory plan is to hold the rule in both hands
so that the left hand near the butt of the ear can
guide the measurement. Have a rule or tape at least
twelve inches in length, as many ears are that long.
By holding the thumb of the right hand at the
eleven-inch mark or whatever length is the standard,
and running the rule over all the ears, a quick meas-
urement can be made. The judge should keep in
mind the number of inches every ear is short of the
standard, and by adding these measurements the total
deficiency is found.

Ripeness—The ripeness indicating maturity is
largely a matter of judgment and no set of rules can
be given for the guidance of the judge. Ears that are
not sound and dried out; that are not firm, and which,
when violently twisted do not give a crisp rasping
sound should be given a full cut. An ear on which
the rows of kernels are loose, and in which a knife
blade can be stuck down between the rows, is
immature. Frequently the kernels are very deep and
have especially deep indentations. If this be carried
CORN JUDGING 85

too far, the kernels will not fill out or fanee properly
and a chaffy ear will result. This condition should
be taken into consideration under this head. If there
are any rotten or immature kernels in an otherwise
fairly well-matured ear a proportional cut should be
made.

Kernel Shape—The shape of kernel varies with
the different varieties. Every variety has a character-
istic shape of kernel, but in general there are certain
conditions of shape that all kernels must fill. Such
kernels fit around the cob tightly and do not leave a
space at the tip near the cob nor a deep furrow
between the rows of kernels. If the kernels are
square they will angle and a space or furrow between
the rows of kernels will result. A broad, square
kernel is usually shallow and only a few rows of
kernels grow on each cob. This means a small per-
centage of corn to cob. On the other hand, a well-
shaped kernel is usually found on an ear with a large
number of rows of kernels and results in a large
percentage of corn to cob. The sides of the kernels
should be straight. . In some varieties the kernels are
broad and shallow and there are only a few rows of
kernels on the ear. This sort of kernel is the flinty
type and is early maturing. In judging the shape it
is a good plan to take out two kernels from each ear
from about the middle of the ear and lay them out in
front of the ear with the tip of the kernel toward
the judge. Push out in a separate row the ill-shaped
kernels and determine the marking by the proportion
of well-shaped kernels.

Kernel Uniformity—The uniformity of kernels
can be determined largely by an examination of the
ears. The kernels should be of the same size in all
parts of the ear with the exception of the egg-shaped
rounded tip. The kernels of the different ears should
86 THE BOOK OF CORN

be of the same size and have the same general char-
acter of indentation. The marking on this point is
largely a matter of judgment and cannot be guided
by any set rule.

Space between rows refers to the furrows formed
by the rounding off of the tops of the kernels. It is
not, as is generally supposed, the space found on
immature ears or ears where the rows of kernels are
loose. The ear with space is usually firm and well
matured, but the peculiar rounded crown of the ker-
nels causes the furrows. It is indicative of poor
breeding, and is usually found in ears having but few
rows of kernels. These kernels are usually shallow
and broad, and rounded at the corners. Such ears
always yield a comparatively small percentage of corn
to cob.

Proportion—In determining the proportion of
corn to cob, it is the usual custom to select every other
ear, making a total of five ears to be weighed. After
weighing, shell these ears carefully so as not to break
or injure the cob. Then weigh the cobs and subtract
this weight from the weight of the five ears; this
will give the weight of shelled corn. Divide the
weight of shelled corn by the weight of the five ears,
which will give the percentage of shelled corn.

Before the individual samples have been shelled,
it is advisable to pick out the ten samples scoring the
highest, lay them side by side and carefully go over
them again in order to get a careful comparative
study. This will enable the judge to pick out the
best sample with confidence, and is always much safer
than to trust to the individual scoring. In fact, it is
true that the expert judge soon learns to do away
with any hard-and-fast lines in scoring corn.
CHAPTER VI

Preparing the Seedhed

HE conditions of germination are vitality, mois-
i ture, heat and oxygen. A judicious handling
of the soil in order to supply these conditions
is necessary for the best germination of the
seed. The yield of the crop depends upon the ger-
mination of the seed. By supplying these conditions
to vital seed, a complete germination resulting
in a perfect stand, will be secured. Further, this
vigorous start in the life of the plant, if unchecked
by unfavorable circumstances of plant growth, will
allow the full and complete development of the plant.
Unfavorable conditions, that is, the supplying of the
conditions ‘of germination in part, always result in
slow growth and a stunted plant.

The kind of preparation for the seedbed will de-
pend upon the nature of the soil. With a clear under-
standing of the conditions to be secured and the effect
of different treatments upon the soil, the kind of prep-
aration is simply a matter of judgment. Under this
division of the subject there are a number of particular
questions of general importance which will be taken up
in their respective order.

Depth of Plowing—The depth to plow varies with
the nature of the soil, the season of the year and with
the character of previous crop. In general, a coarse,
loose, sandy soil should be plowed shallow and a finely
divided, heavy clay soil deep. The loose soil needs
packing in order to furnish the conditions of germina-
tion, while the heavy soil must be opened up to the
action of the atmosphere and sun.
88 THE BOOK OF CORN

The plant food in the soil is liberated for the use
by the plants through the agency of soil organisms
and chemical action. The organisms require oxygen
in their process of development. Therefore the air
must circulate freely in the soil in order that these
organisms may carry on their work. In the germina-
tion of the seed, oxygen is absolutely necessary, so that
air must be present for the first process of germination
to begin. For instance, it frequently happens that
directly after the planting on a clay soil, a heavy dash-
ing rain packs the surface soil so that little air can
enter. The seed will germinate very imperfectly even
though the other conditions of germination be fully
supplied.

It is never advisable, even in the heavy clay soils,
to greatly vary the depth of plowing in any one season.
If the soil has been turned to a certain depth during its
previous cultivation, and then some one season it is
plowed several inches deeper than ordinary, a layer of
cold soil will be turned up for the young plants to feed
upon. If this is done in the fall the action of the
weather in freezing and thawing corrects the mechani-
cal condition and puts the plant food in usable form
before a crop is grown. However, if this deep plowing
is done in the spring, the young plants are unable to
use the plant food in this layer of soil and are con-
sequently checked in their growth. This frequently
results in an almost complete failure of the crop. +

This is illustrated in the history of the cultivation
of the sugar beet in Illinois. Before the culture of the
crop was thoroughly understood, it was thought neces-
sary to plow very deep in order to furnish a loose seed-
bed. As a result, most of the fields were plowed several
inches deeper than ordinary. The seed was planted in
this layer of cold soil and the young plants attempted
to secure nourishment from this source. As this soil
PREPARING THE SEEDBED 89
was not in condition to furnish the plant food, the
beets were stunted and the crops on rich fields were a
failure and a loss to the farmers. The next year beets
planted on these fields, plowed to the same depth as the
previous year, produced paying crops.

As a rule, spring plowing should not be deeper
than previous plowings, or if so, the change in depth
from year to year
should be gradual,
not more than an
inch or so in any
one year. Of
course, this prac-
tice will vary with
the texture of the
soil. A lighter soil

Fig 25—Homemade Land Roller

An effective but simple homemade land roller
is here shown. Cover cast-iron mower wheels

with 2x4’s any suitable length, seven feet a good
size. The projections from the surface of the
wheels can be first removed with a heavy ham-
mer and cold chisel, Have blacksmith drill the
holes, one every four inches on alternate edges
of the wheel, for half inch bolts. Bolt the jour-
nal boxes under the frame and use set screws in
hubs. Make the frame of4xq stuff. Cuttenons
in end pieces to fit mortises in front and back,
and cut mortises in end pieces eightinches from
shoulder of tenon for the second front and back
pieces. These second pieces make the frame
rigid, if properly put together. Notch the
tongue one inch where it crosses frames and
brace with heavy iron straps. A seat can be
attached by bolting on two light wagon wheel
rims.

may be plowed
deeper or shallower
from year to year
than a heavier soil.
The time of plow-
ing will determine
to a_ considerable
extent the depth.
Fall plowing can
be deep without
danger of injury
to the crop. This
is particularly true

in the colder climates, where the soil is frozen deeply

during the winter.

Freezing mellows the soil, and by allowing the air

to circulate be.ween the soil particles, the plant food is
put in usable form. The practice of deep fall plowing
is particularly beneficial upon the heavier soils, as it
increases the depth of the seedbed and consequent
go THE BOOK OF CORN

amount of plant food available for the growth of the
crop. If a heavy crop of stalks or manure is to be
turned under it should be done in the fall or early win-
ter and deeply enough to cover the crop completely. If
done in the fall the manure or crop of stalks will be
decomposed by spring so that a disking will firm the
soil, readjust capillarity and put the seedbed in admi-
rable form for plant growth.

FALL OR SPRING PLOWING

Whether to plow in the fall or the spring will
depend largely upon: 1, the condition of the soil; 2, the
lay of the land; and 3, the kind of previous crop. If
the soil is subject to washing and the climate is such
that the fields are exposed during a large part of the
winter unprotected by snow, fall plowing is apt to be
detrimental. If the land is level, and particularly if
infested with insect enemies such as the grub worm,
corn-root worm, noxious weed seeds, fall plowing is
usually very beneficial, if properly handled in the
spring. Of course, if a manure crop is grown on the
land, or if any trash or straw remains in the soil, it
should be plowed under in the late fall.

Many of the harmful insects which infest the corn
fields live over the winter safely housed in the soil. By
fall plowing their homes are broken up, the insect
forms are thrown upon the surface of the soil, where
they are subject to the winter weather, and most of
them are thus destroyed. So in the case of noxious
weed seeds which are brought to the surface by fall
plowing. The vitality is weakened or lost by the freez-
ing and thawing, and if the vitality is not impaired by
such means the weeds are placed where they germinate
the first thing in the spring, to be destroyed by the
early disking and cultivating of the seedbed.
PREPARING THE SEEDBED gI

As the soil organisms which liberate the plant food
do not work during the winter in the cold soil, there is
probably little plant food lost by evaporation into the
atmosphere or leaching through the soil. It has come
to be a common practice among the best corn farmers
where large areas are cultivated, to fall plow all of the
land possible, so that a large amount of land can be
quickly planted in spring. In such cases the soil is
mellowed through the action of the weather and with a
disking, the top and bottom of the seedbed are put into
ideal condition for the reception of the seed.

Fitting Spring Plowing for Seedbed—In the case
of spring plowing very great progress has been made
in the last few years in the methods of handling the
soil in order to get the best results. Briefly the most
important points are as follows: immediately after
plowing the soil should be floated. This should be done
at the end of every day’s work. A convenient and very
successful float can be made by splitting an eight or
ten-inch pole twelve feet long. Place the halves two
feet apart as split and mortise so that they will be held
firmly in place. Arrange a box for weight about the
middle of the float and weight as heavily as found de-
sirable. A longer float for two horses can be made in
the same manner and the driver can stand on the float.
The ordinary plank drags are also used successfully
for this purpose. By running the float over the surface
of the ground the clods are easily crushed and the top
of the seedbed fined so as to make a perfect mulch.
This mulch will prevent the excessive evaporation of
water and still allow a free circulation of air.

Disking—When the fields of either spring or fall
plowing are ready to be planted, disking will loosen
and stir the soil, allowing the excess of air to escape,
and the seedbed to warm up to the point required for
best germination. This point is about 70° F. © This
g2 THE BOOK OF CORN

cultivation also firms the bottom of the furrow so that
capillarity will furnish the necessary moisture for ger-
mination. No more important point in the preparation
of the seedbed can be found. In heavy soils with a ten-
dency to lumps, the clods are broken up by the disk-
ing and no air space is left to dry out the seedbed and
injure the roots of the young corn plants. In loose soil,
disking packs the soil, making a more complete and

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329 327 328

Fig 26—Direction of Rows of Kernels, Boone County White

No 329, straight rows; 327, rows turn to right; 328, rows turn to left.
See Chapter II

‘

successful mulch. By using an ordinary adjustable
smoothing harrow after the disk the seedbed is put in
the very best condition. ;

Subsoiling has been recommended by many agri-
cultural writers as a necessary procedure for prepara-
tion of the seedbed. A careful distinction must be put
PREPARING THE SEEDBED 93

down between trench plowing and subsoiling. Trench
plowing is the turning of the bottom of the furrow up
on top of the seedbed. This is usually done by a pecu-
liarly constructed plow following in the furrow of the
breaking plow.

Subsoiling is the breaking or loosening up of the
subsoil without bringing any soil to the surface, This
is usually done by a subsoil plow following the furrow
of the breaking plow and simply “rooting,” or stirring
up the subsoil. In the heavier soil it is an advantage.
The plate in the bottom of the furrow where the plow
pressed and the horses walked year after year, is
broken, capillarity re-established and the roots per-
mitted to penetrate the subsoil. The difficulty is the
cost of the operation. Even though it be done only
once in three or four years, the returns are not enough
larger to justify the outlay on corn soils.

It was found that leguminous crops, such as
clover, cowpeas and soy beans, rooted deeper in the sub-
soil. The roots dying and decaying in the soil, allow
the air to circulate, permit the action of frost and in
fact act as a complete and successful subsoiler. There-
fore, owing to the value of these crops as soil fertilizers
and as foods, they have come into general use as
subsoilers.

Plowing under stalks, straw or manure crops has
come to be necessary to the successful culture of corn.
In the days of the first cultivation of prairie and other
rich soils, the fertility was abundant. Humus was
plentiful and it was not necessary to look to the con-
servation of soil fertility or to the mechanical texture
of the soil. As a result of these conditions stalks were
burned, and corn grown year after year on the same
fields, as the most profitable rotation of crops. This
condition does not exist now. Soils that were thought
to be inexhaustible in fertility produce less and less,
94 THE BOOK OF CORN

until the returns are no longer profitable. Hence it has
become necessary to consider the waste of soil fertility
in corn culture and to conserve this plant food care-
fully for future crops.

A large amount of fertility is lost through burning
stalks and straw. The important element in this mate-
rial for plant food, nitrogen, is lost in burning. The
other two. valuable elements, phosphorus and potash,
are left in such shape that they are easily washed away,
dissipated and lost. The remedy for this condition is
to plow under all stalks and straw. In the case of corn-
stalks, where they have been pastured off during the
winter, they can be easily harrowed down and plowed
under. This can be accomplished successfully by hitch-
ing one horse to a section of a harrow behind the plow.
If the stalks are very heavy, they can be cut with stalk
cutters, the plow provided with a rolling coulter or
jointer and the rows of stalks easily turned under.
Another successful plan is to disk the field of corn-
stalks. This plan will cut up the stalks and permit
their being plowed under successfully.

In plowing under fertilizing crops which have been
sowed in the corn at the time of the last cultivation,
such as cowpeas or soy beans, or have been sowed
after oats have been harvested, it is desirable to do this
as early in the fall as possible. The longer they have
been turned under previous to freezing weather, the
more complete the decomposition and decay by the
time the crop needs the fertility. One advantage of

such a fertilizing crop is that after the corn has ceased
growing or after the oats have been harvested, the soil
fertility is being continually liberated by the action of
the soil organisms during warm weather. These crops
coming on at this time take up this fertility, which
might otherwise be dissipated into the atmosphere or
leached out by rains. They hold it until they are
PREPARING THE SEEDBED 95

plowed under, when through decomposition they give
it up for the use of the succeeding crops. In the case of
leguminous manure crops, there is a valuable addition
of nitrogen to the soil directly through the action of
the organisms forming the tubercles on the roots of
such plants.

Time of Plowing—One of the points in the prep-
aration of the seedbed above all others is to plow the
ground when it is in proper condition. If a heavy soil
and too wet, it runs together, and when the seedbed
dries out and bakes, is injurious to the roots of the corn
plant, and will not retain soil moisture. The more
finely divided the soil the more moisture it is capable of
conserving. If the seedbed is caked by wet plowing,
only a small amount of the plant food can be used by
the plants, and not enough moisture will be retained for
the growth of the crop. As a result, when the soil is
too dry and breaks up in clods and large lumps, a great
amount of preparation is needed to get such a field into
condition for planting and by the time such cultivation
is finished the tilth of the seedbed will have been
destroyed. There is usually a time in every season
when plowing will leave the field in splendid condition,
and it is important to wait until that time, as it always
results in a saving of time and money and a better pre-
pared seedbed.
CHAPTER VII

Herding the Plant

HE corn crop thrives well on a wide variety
i of soils, ranging from a light sand to a heavy
clay. A typical soil for the crop’ may be
described as a medium loam, well supplied
with vegetable matter, and overlying a subsoil of
good texture. The chief needs for the crop are
an abundance of moisture and of available plant
food during the season of its growth. The fact
that the average yield for the United States is reported
as only about twenty-five bushels per acre, shows that
notwithstanding the very high yields that are obtained
under perfect conditions, there is a large area grown
under conditions which are so imperfect as to result in
a small and generally unprofitable yield, and in many
cases, particularly in the eastern and southern states,
this is due to a lack of available food during the season
of growth. This need of food is due to two causes,
first, the impoverished character of the soil, both nat-
ural and artificial, the latter due to long years of crop-
ping, without adequate return of manure; and second,
to improper methods of management. That a large
crop cannot be grown on a very poor soil is clearly
indicated by the composition of the plant. A crop of
fifty bushels of shelled corn rer acre, with the accom-
panying stalks, will remove from the soil, on the aver-
age: Nitrogen, eighty pounds ; phosphoric acid, twenty-
nine pounds; potash, fifty-five pounds.
From the standpoint of the removal of the fertility
elements, therefore, it is an exhaustive crop; neverthe-
less, because of the period of growth, and because of
FEEDING THE PLANT 97

its ameliorating and renovating character, its growth
really results in reducing immediate fertility much less
than would a crop containing the same amount of con-
stituents grown at a different season and without cul-
tivation, Still, in order that the food required by a
crop of this size may be obtained, it is essential that on
land of good natural fertility, it shall be well prepared
and managed, and that poorer soils shall receive a
judicious application of manures.

THE NATURAL CHARACTER OF SOIL A GUIDE AS TO THE
NEEDS OF THE PLANT

The natural character of the soil is a guide to
some extent in determining whether the crop can be
successfully grown without added fertility. A large
crop cannot be expected on a light, sandy soil, naturally
deficient in potash, unless that particular element is
applied, because the analysis of the crop shows that
this constituent is required in relatively large amounts.
The same is true of nitrogen; a sandy soil is naturally
deficient in this element, and a large crop could not be
expected without the direct addition of fertilizers con-
taining nitrogen, or the introduction of this element
indirectly in the form of green manures from legumi-
nous crops. Still a good corn crop can be grown on
such soils with a smaller quantity of both nitrogen and
potash than could a crop of a different class, which
makes its maximum growth at a different season.

Corn Plant a Good Forager—The corn crop is, in
the first place, a good forager, due to the vigor of the
crop itself, extracting food unavailable to less vigorous
growers; in the second place, it has an advantage over
many cereal crops in the seasan of its growth, namely,
the summer, when the natural agencies, sun, air and
water, are most active in causing insoluble materials
98 THE BOOK OF CORN

to become more rapidly available; and in the third
place, the cultivation assists materially in unlocking
and providing food otherwise unavailable.

It must be remembered, too, that owing to the
widely varying conditions of soil and climate in those
states in which corn can be grown, the requirements
in reference to manures may also vary widely even on
the same character of soil. In the more northern sec-
tions, where the season is short, a relatively greater
abundance of available food in the soil is required than
would be the case in the more southern sections, where
the season of growth is much longer, or in the middle
western sections, where the period of hot, bright, grow-
ing weather is longer.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS: THEIR CHARACTER AND
FUNCTIONS

With these general considerations concerning the
crop, and its characteristics, arises the special question
of its feeding, and, in order that a proper understand-
ing of the subject may be obtained, it is necessary to
discuss the question of manures and their functions
in some detail.

What Is a Manure?—In the first place, a manure
in the broad sense may be regarded as a substance that
will cause an increase in crop. Still, this is indefinite.
The idea that should be conveyed by the term “manure”
is that it shall contain those constituents that are liable
to exist in soils in minimum amounts, and which are
carried away in maximum amounts by the crops re-
moved. These essential constituents are usually lim-
ited to three, namely, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and
potash. The term “essential” does not mean that they
are more essential to the growth of the plant than
others required by it, like lime, iron, sulphur, etc, but
FEEDING THE PLANT 99

that they are more essential than the others in manures,
which are usually present in great abundance in most
soils, and their addition would not contribute to actual
fertility.

In the second place, certain substances containing
these constituents have both a direct and indirect ferti-
lizing effect, that is, they add to the constituents in the
soil, as well as change and make available the otherwise
unavailable constituents already in the soil, while others
are only direct in their effect, and still others indirect.
The natural products, as farm manures and wastes of
various sources, belong to the first class, namely, those
which possess a direct and an indirect value.

This indirect effect is often of great service, chiefly
in changing the physical character of the soil in such a
way as to enable the natural agencies to act more
effectively. As, for example, on a heavy, compact soil,
which does not freely permit the entrance of air and
moisture, the addition of the vegetable matter con-
tained in farm manure would have the effect of opening
up and separating the particles, thus making the soil
more porous and permitting the free access of air and
water, and consequently greater and more rapid
changes, which contribute indirectly to an increase in
crop. On a sandy soil, on the other hand, the addition
of manures of this character would also improve be-
cause making the soil less open and porous, drawing:
the particles of soil together and making it more com-
pact, thus preventing the rapid drying out of the soil,
and the rapid leaching from it of the soluble con-
stituents.

Direct Manures—To the second class, or to the
direct manures, belong the artificial products, which
are valuable chiefly because they contain the constituent
elements, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, which
contribute directly to the potential fertility of the soil,
too THE BOOK OF CORN

or, in other words, these products contain those con-
stituents which are likely to be deficient, and are valu-
able mainly for this reason.

In the third place, it must be remembered that
manures, both direct and indirect, differ in respect to
the character of the constituents that are contained in
them. The plant can obtain its food only in a soluble
form, and all materials containing plant food in an
insoluble form must change to the soluble state, and
the different materials containing these constituents
differ widely in the rate at which they change from an
insoluble form to a soluble and available one, even
when used under the same conditions of soil and cli-
mate. Those materials containing constituents that are
soluble are in most cases called immediately available,
and those containing them in an insoluble state vary in
their value according to the rate at which they will
change from an insoluble to a soluble form under the
average conditions of soil, season and climate.

In the farm manures, for example, the solid por-
tion contains the chief constituents, nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, in an insoluble form, while the liquid por-
tion contains them in a more soluble state, and experi-
ments have demonstrated that the nitrogen, particularly
in the liquid portion, is more easily obtained by the
plants than that in the solid. Of the same amount of
nitrogen in the solid and the solid and liquid portions
combined, the immediate crop will use three times as
much of the latter as of the former. It is, therefore,
not altogether a question of manure, but of the quality
of the constituents contained in it. The same principle
is true in regard to the nitrogen in the different arti-
ficial products—there is a wide range of availability.
Nitrate of soda contains it in its most soluble and avail-
able form, and the returns from a unit of nitrate nitro-
FEEDING THE PLANT tol

gen, other things being equal, will generally be greater
than from other forms.

' These considerations apply to all of the constitu-
ents, though more particularly to nitrogen and phos-
phoric acid. The insoluble form of phosphoric acid,
for example, must change to the “reverted,” or soluble
form, before the plant can use it; great care should,
therefore, be exercised in the use of the insoluble. That
form which will be most likely to change quickly
should be selected, though there are conditions where
insoluble forms are quite as useful as those more.
quickly available, owing to the differences that occur in
soils and crops and in their periods of growth.

WHAT SHALL BE USED

Naturally, the first question the thoughtful man
asks is, “What shall I apply, nitrogen, phosphoric acid
or potash, or all, and in what form?” The question can-
not be answered in a categorical way. The answer will
depend upon the conditions that exist. In many in-
stances one element only may be deficient in the soil;
in others two, and in still others all three may be re-
quired. Positive and helpful information on these
points cannot be obtained except by actual experiment.
Still, much very useful information may be given the
practical man who is unable to make these experiments
for himself, and it is based upon a knowledge of the
original character of the soil, the kind of cropping that
has been practiced, the rotation, and the methods of
management adopted.

As already indicated, soils differ widely in their
composition. The poorest are those made 1p chiefly of
sand, which can, from the natrre of the substances
composing it, contain but small quantities of plant
food; the best, those which are admixtures of sand,
102 THE BOOK OF CORN

clay, lime and vegetable matter, and which contain in
themselves naturally such an abundance of plant food
as to supply the needs of plants for very long periods:
As a broad general rule, therefore, sandy soils are
deficient in practically all of the constituent elements,
while peaty soils are deficient in the mineral elements.
The various clay soils are usually rich in potash, shale
and limestone soils are rich in lime and phosphoric acid,
and alluvial soils rich in all the plant food elements.

Guides in Use of Plant Food—The previous crop-
ping also is a reasonable guide as to the probable
necessities of the plant. If, for example, wheat or corn
or hay, or any one crop has been grown continuously
for a long time, and no manure has been returned, then
the chances are that in order to continue their growth
on soils not naturally very rich, all of the constituents
will be required, as the crop will remove the same con-
stituents in the same proportion year after year, thus
reducing very rapidly the store of active fertility. If,
on the other hand, crops have been grown in rotation
which take from the soil the constituents in different
amounts and proportions, and also introduce by their
roots and stubble considerable vegetable matter, the
apparent exhaustion will be extended, and the applica-
tion Of one or two of the constituents will meet
the needs.

In the next place, the character of the crop, and
the period in which it makes its most rapid growth,
will guide as to the application required. If the period
of growth is short, a greater abundance of available
food will be required than if the growth extends
through a long period. The food requirements for
particular seasons are also important if the maximum
growth is in the very early season, as April and May,
as is the case with wheat, and the grasses—a larger
amount of nitrogen will be required than for a crop
FEEDING THE PLANT 103

which makes its most rapid growth during the summer
season, June, July and August. The conditions are
not favorable in the early spring months for the change
of organic nitrogenous matter in the soil into nitrates,
whereas during the hot summer months the conditions
are extremely favorable for the change.

Hence, upon soils containing a reasonable amount
of vegetable matter, the application of nitrogen to
wheat and grass might result in a very large increase,
whereas its application to a corn crop might not be

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Fig 27—Corn Crib on Scales

At Iowa experiment station

followed by a considerable increase, because in the fitst
case the conditions make it needful that the crop:shall!
have an abundance of nitrogen, and in the second case
the conditions favor the change of the nitrogen already:
in the soil into an available form. So it is that on the.
same soil, one crop might be benefited by the applica-
tion of nitrogen, while for another the application of
nitrogen would not be likely to cause a profitable in-
crease in yield. The crop grown, too, and its period
of growth, determine to some extent the form, as well
as the kind, of element that should be applied.

104 THE BOOK OF CORN

In the case of wheat and grass, an application of
organic nitrogen in slowly available forms would not.
result in an increase in crop, because the conditions
that are not favorable to the change of the nitrogenous
material in the soil would apply just the same to those
applied, and the result would be that the plant could
not obtain it. Hence for those crops the nitrogen
should be in a soluble and active form, so that it may
be readily distributed and that the crop may obtain it
at once. Whereas, in the case of corn grown upon land
deficient in nitrogen, organic forms, which are likely
to chanze rapidly, owing to the favorable conditions,
would be likely to be quite as useful as the soluble and
immediately available forms, because these might be
carried away from the plant by the rains that are
usually abundant during this season.

From these considerations, it will be observed that
no positive and definite rules can be given as to the
kind and amount of application, but only broad, general
rules, which must be interpreted by the farmer himself
for his peculiar conditions.

RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS

The experiment stations of the country, particu-
larly those of the eastern and southern states, have
carried out experiments to determine the fertility needs :
of different soils and crops. Widely varying results
have been obtained, chiefly for the reasons already out-
lined. In a broad general way, the results in the east-
ern states show that of the minerals, potash seems to
be needed especially for corn, while in the southern
states phosphoric acid is the chief constituent lacking,
though upon lands naturally poor, the addition of all
of the constituents is required, if maximum crops are
obtained.
FEEDING THE PLANT I05

Still, the results, broadly interpreted, show that
with the exception of limited areas of special character,
the lands of the east and south, which have been culti-
vated for a long time, are benefited by the addition of
fertilizers, and in most instances all the constituents
are required. This is a safe assumption, where no
specific information derived from experiments is avail-
able, because we have not yet attained maximum yields

Fig 28—Modern Corn Crib
At Minnesota experiment station

in these states under natural conditions. The experi-
ments also show that it is a question of applied plant
food, not only, but also of its systematic and intelligent
use. The “hit or miss” system in the application of
fertilizers or manures is not a good one.

Classification of Crops—It has also been clearly
demonstrated, in addition, that there is a proper rela-
tion between the cost of the material applied and the
106 THE BOOK OF CORN

value of the crop obtained, which must be observed in
the profitable use of materials. Crops are, in respect
to fertilizers, divided into two general classes, first,
those which possess a high fertility value and a low
commercial value, and second, those which possess a
low fertility value and a high commercial value.

To the first class belong the cereals and to the
second class vegetables and fruit crops, hence in the
application of manures or fertilizers to the first class,
greater care must be exercised in order to obtain a
profit, because the financial return per unit of applica-
tion is much less in the first than in the second class.
That it can be done profitably has been shown by many
experiments and by practice, provided all the consid-
erations underlying are carefully observed, for, as
already pointed out, crops differ in respect to their
need of added food, due both to their specific require-
ments and their period of growth. Hence in a rotation
of crops the application may be adjusted in such a way
as to reduce the cost of application to a minimum,
while at the same time encouraging a maximum
growth.

In any rotation of. the first class of crops which
may be adopted, whether (1) corn, (2) corn, barley,
wheat and hay, (3) corn, beans, wheat and hay, oats,
wheat and hay, (4) corn, wheat or rye and hay, (5)
corn and cotton, (6) tobacco and cotton, or others
which are used, a careful observation of the principle
that different crops require different kinds and propor-
tions of food, because of differences in their power of
acquiring food, and their season of growth, should re-
sult in the application of those constituents that are
specifically needed for the particular crop, which will
contribute to its increase and leave a residue for the
succeeding crop. By this method there would result
from a systematic application of manures and ferti-
FEEDING THE PLANT 107

lizers, in a rotation, a profitable increase in crop, and a
constant increase in “condition” of soil.

FERTILIZERS FOR FIELD CORN

In view of the character of the crop, and the sea-
son of its growth, there is no cereal crop which will
utilize to better advantage the coarser yard manure of
the farm. The crop is a gross feeder, besides the sea-
son of growth and cultivation are favorable for the
decomposition of the manure. Too many farmers
allow the manure made in winter to lie in the open
yard until fall for application to wheat, thus losing
much of its value, besides getting no return from it
until the next season, when the wheat is sold. It is a
good practice for the eastern and middle states, there-
fore, to apply manure broadcast in the late fall, winter
or early spring, at the rate of from six to eight tons
per acre; by this method the soluble portions are
well distributed and are absorbed by the soil before
plowing.

If the corn is planted on sod land, then the nitro-
gen contained in the manure and in the organic matter
in the roots and stubble should be sufficient upon ordi-
narily good land to supply all the needed requirements
for this element. If the land has been heavily cropped,
or the purpose is, as it should be, to obtain a maximum
yield, then the possible deficiency of minerals in the
manures should be made good by an application of two
hundred and fifty pounds per acre of a mixture made
up of:

MIXTURE NO I

Ground bone ........eseeseeccees 250 pounds
Acid phosphate ........eeececees. 500 pounds
Muriate of potash ........e.ee00 250 pounds

In this mixture a part of the phosphoric acid is
in a soluble form, and will supply the early needs of
108 THE BOOK OF CORN

the crop; the remainder is in the form of ground bone,
which will decay rapidly enough to supply the demands
of the latter growth, and the portion not used will con-
tribute to the potential fertility. The potash may be
in the form of muriate, as it is distributed readily, is
cheap, and does not contain substances which would
make it unsafe to apply in the drill in the quantities
here given, and may, therefore, be added in the row
with the planter, though on heavy lands the minerals
would better be applied broadcast and harrowed in,
since the use of muriate of potash results in a loss of
lime ; if it is continued, the land should be limed at the
rate of twenty-five bushels per acre, once in five or eight
years, on the sod the year previous to planting. Lime
is also useful in aiding in the decomposition of vege-
table matter, in setting free. phosphoric acid and
potash, and in neutralizing any acidity of soil.

The constituents furnished by the manure and the
mixture are sufficient for a good crop, without de-
pendence upon soil supplies, if all could be obtained,
but this is not usually the case, because absolutely per-
fect distribution cannot be expected, and besides con-
ditions of season are not always so perfect as to per-
mit a continuous feeding throughout the entire grow-
ing season. In an average season, however, a large
increase in yield should be obtained, and a considerable
residue of fertility left for subsequent crops. On light,
sandy soils, the mixture should also contain nitrogen
in addition to that added in the manures, both to give
the plant an early start and to aid in the feeding
throughout the season. A brand well adapted for sup-
plementing yard manure on sandy soils may contain
ammonia two per cent, available phosphoric acid eight
per cent, and potash ten per cent, and which may be
made up of:
FEEDING THE PLANT 10g

MIXTURE NO 2
Cottonseed meal, or dried ground fish 200 pounds
Acid phosphate ................00005 600 pounds
Muriate of potash .............000005 200 pounds
An application of from three hundred to five hun-
dred pounds per acre of this mixture would be sufficient
under average conditions. In the more northern re-
gions, where the season is shorter, larger applications,
and in the more southern sections, where the season is
longer, small quantities of the fertilizer mixture would
answer where the physical conditions of soil are good.
It must be remembered that the better the physical
and mechanical character of the soil, the greater will
be the absorption by the plant per unit of food applied.
That is, a better distribution of the fertilizer would
occur, and the agencies which assist in solution would
on such soils have a better opportunity for action.
Moderate Quantities Often Sufficient—Large
quantities of fertilizer are not recommended for corn
under average conditions; an application of a medium
amount would be more likely to result in a profit.
Where farm manure is not available, and entire depend-
ence is placed upon purchased supplies, or where raw
ground instead of sod is used, mixtures containing
larger proportions of nitrogen and heavier applications
are required. A brand containing nitrogen four per
cent, phosphoric acid (available) eight per cent, and
potash eight per cent, applied at the rate of five hundred
pounds per acre, should supply the needed constitu-
ents in good forms and proportions. Part of this ap-
plication may be made broadcast and harrowed in, the
remainder, say one-half, applied in the drill at time
of planting.
It is a good plan to apply the materials broadcast
wherever possible, and in lieu of the recommendations
made, three hundred and fifty pounds per acre of mix-
Ito THE BOOK OF CORN

ture No 1 may be used, applied broadcast, in connec-
tion with a compost, applied in the hill. This would
be particularly advantageous on heavy, clayey soils, as
it is desirable there to have minerals well distributed
and to encourage the early growth of the corn by sub-
stances rich in organic matter, applied in the hill. This
compost may be made up largely of fine cow or horse
manure, fortified by the addition of ground fish, dried
blood or cottonseed meal. The addition of three hun-
dred pounds of dried blood, or five hundred pounds of
ground fish or cottonseed meal, to a ton of dry com-
posted manure, would be excellent for this purpose,
and make a relatively cheap compost.

In the southern states, there is probably no better
and cheaper, and, therefore, no more satisfactory form
of organic nitrogen, all things considered, than cotton-
seed meal, and in Georgia particularly, where a careful
study of the matter has been made, the following for-
mula is recommended for well improved upland soil, or
bottom lands:

Cottonseed meal ..............5 870 pounds

Acid phosphate ...........00005 1000 pounds

Muriate of potash ............05 30 pounds
and for wornout upland soils:

Cottonseed meal ........... .....1000 pounds

Acid phosphate ..............08. 1250 pounds

Muriate of potash.............. 30 pounds

The chief need of these soils is for nitrogen and
phosphoric acid, and an application of from two hun-
dred and fifty to four hundred pounds per acre has
been found the most economical. These recommenda-
tions will probably apply to the upland and bottom
lands of the southern coast states, whereas for the
sandy lands, a larger proportion of potash is needed;
in Kentucky and Tennessee, potash has been shown to
be a very important ‘ingredient in fertilizers for corn.
FEEDING THE PLANT 1IT

FOR FORAGE AND SILAGE CORN

In the growing of field corn, the main object is to
obtain the greatest yield of grain, whereas in the case
of forage, when used green or for silage, a larger pro-
portion of stalk and leaf is desirable; besides it is advis-
able when possible to obtain a focd richer in protein,
and a thicker planting and an abundance of nitrogen
in the manures contribute to this end. Hence, while
the recommendations already made for field corn may
be followed in respect to the kind of materials for
silage corn, larger applications are desirable. On good
soils apply ten tons of good manure to supply the or-
ganic nitrogen and part of the mineral constituents,
and from three hundred to four hundred pounds of
mixture No 1.

Briefly stated, then, for silage corn, apply broad-
cast previous to plowing, ten to twelve tons of good
yard manure, and either broadcast or in the row at time
of planting, three hundred and fifty to four hundred
pounds of mixture No I. On poor soils, the manure
need not be increased, but the amount of fertilizer
added and the proportion of nitrogen should be. The
same recommendations that are made for different
localities may be followed, as in the case of field corn.

Where a leguminous crop like crimson clover is
used as a catch crop, a continuous growing of corn is
entirely practicable, though the fertilization should be
very different from that recommended when either a
sod land or raw ground is used. This system is well
adapted for the middle and northermost of the gulf
states. For the more southern and central states, and
those of the middle west, such crops as cowpeas or soy
beans may be grown to much better advantage as green
manure. In any case, whatever crop is grown, pro-
vided it is a leguminous crop, the practice in reference
I12 THE BOOK OF CORN

to fertilizers should not be far different, and should
consist mainly of the applications of the minerals, the
nitrogen gathered by the legumes furnishing vegetable
matter containing nitrogen, which would be readily
acquired by the corn plant.

A practice that has given very excellent satisfac-
tion upon naturally good soils in the middle states is as
follows: Seed the crimson clover in the corn usually
in July, at the last cultivation, plow in spring, when
the clover is beginning to head, or before it has made
its maximum growth, in order that all of the crop may
be turned under before it has absorbed too much of the
surface moisture. Roll immediately, in order to com-
pact the soil, and thoroughly and deeply cultivate the
surface, and at time of planting apply two hundred and
fifty pounds per acre of a mixture made up of:

Acid phosphate ............e0ee 150 pounds
Muriate of potash ............06- 50 pounds

Where the soils are poorer, or where the physicai
condition is not good, then a larger application of the
minerals should be made, preferably broadcast and
harrowed in. The application then may consist of
four hundred pounds per acre of the mixture recom-
mended. On very poor soils, where the leguminous
crop does not grow vigorously, a larger application of
this mixture may be made, say five hundred pounds
per acre, and at planting, accompanied by the top-
dressing of compost, already suggested. This practice
may be continued from year to year, and should result
in continuously increasing the fertility of the soil, as
the minerals applied and the nitrogen gatliered would
be more than sufficient to supply the needs of a
large crop.

The one element of danger in the use of green
manures, particularly crimson clover, is that the farmer
FEEDING THE PLANT 113

will not plow down early enough, and should hot, dry
weather follow, the young corn plant will not be able
to obtain sufficient moisture ; the mass of organic vege-
table matter plowed down prevents the water connec-
tion between the surface and subsoil, the surface thus
becomes so dry as to injure the crop. Should the
weather be very warm and moist, then the very rapid
fermentation of so large a mass of vegetable matter
may also be injurious.

In any case, or all cases, however, injury of this
character may be obviated by the occasional dressing
with lime, and where considerable amounts of vege-
table matter are added, either directly as farm manure,
or indirectly, as green manure, it is a very desirable
practice, as already pointed out, to lime at least once in
five or eight years, at the rate of twenty to twenty-five
bushels per acre; the lime neutralizing the acidity de-
veloped by the too rapid fermentation of the vegetable
matter, besides encouraging the development and
growth of bacteria, whose influence in improving soil
conditions is very marked. In case of crops like cow-
peas, which make their growth in the season preceding
the planting, injury to soil is not to be feared.

MANURES FOR SWEET CORN

The growing of sweet corn for the market is a
very considerable industry in many states, and its
proper fertilization is an important matter. The most
profitable crops, as a rule, are those that are grown
early. Hence, the fertilization should be such as to en-
courage a very rapid early growth. That is, corn should
be ready for market from a month to six weeks earlier
than is the case where planted at the usual time, and
grown under ordinary conditions. It is necessary, there-
fore, that the plant should have an abundance, not only
114 THE BOOK OF CORN

of all food constituents, but that they shall be of a
highly available character.

The mineral elements may be derived from the
same source as those recommended for field and forage
corn, The nitrogen should be obtained from quick-
acting materials, and preferably in organic forms,
though part may be obtained from nitrate of soda. An
application of five hundred to eight hundred pounds
per acre of a mixture showing: nitrogen four per cent,
phosphoric acid (available) six per cent, and potash
eight per cent would furnish on most soils suitable for
the crop a sufficient abundance of the constituents. For
the central and eastern conditions of climate, one-third
at least of the nitrogen may be in the form of nitrate
of soda or sulphate of ammonia, the remainder in or-
ganic forms, as dried blood, dried fish, cottonseed meal,
etc; for the southern conditions, all of the nitrogen may
be derived from cottonseed meal, though where this
material is the entire source of nitrogen, a larger appli;
cation should be made. Sweet corn may be regarded
as a crop belonging to the second class, or possessing a
high commercial value, and, therefore, much larger
applications can be afforded than in the case of the
field corn.

In all of these recommendations care has been
exercised in the suggestions to keep well within prac-
tical limits. The principles are well defined; it rests
with the farmer intelligently to apply them to his con-
ditions. Corn growing can be made profitable by the
judicious use of fertilizers, in. a reasonable rotation,
and in connection with the proper saving and using’ of
manures,
CHAPTER VIII

Planting and Cultibating
OS HE time for planting corn is after the seedbed

has been so prepared as to furnish the con-

ditions of germination, and danger from frost

is passed. There is a decided loss to the
grower by planting corn under unfavorable conditions
or by having it cut down by frost. If cut off by frost
the seed will regerminate, but the plant will never
recover its vigor and vitality. Regermination always
results in a lessened yield.

Late Planting—Ii planted too late the plant does
not have time enough during the growing season to
mature. Absolute rules for the time of planting for
all sections of the country are obviously impossible.
However, there is a time every season which is favor-
able for planting. It is the business of the farmer to
have the seedbed prepared in order to take advantage
of this propitious time.

The depth of planting varies with the kind of
soil. In general corn should be planted deeper in
light, loose, sandy soils than in heavy clay soils. This
rule holds true, because in order to furnish the required
amount of moisture for germination it is necessary to
go deeper in loose soils than in the heavier clay soils.
Further, it is easier for the plumule to reach the sur-
face in loose than in heavy soils, as the young plant
cannot secure any plant food from the air or soil until
the leaves reach the surface.

It is necessary to plant shallow so that the seed
will furnish enough plant food to supply the young
plants until the leaves reach the atmosphere and the
116 THE BOOK OF CORN

plant can begin to use the food in the soil and in the air.
The loose, sandy soils warm up more quickly than the
heavier clays, so that in order to get the necessary heat
for the best germination the depth of planting must be
regulated by the character of the soil. In the loose
prairie loams of Illinois, Iowa'and Nebraska the state
experiment stations find that two to four inches will
give the best results. This depth will vary with the
season and the time in the season of planting.

In an early sea-
son, or if the
planting is done
late in the season,
after the soil has
been _ thoroughly
warmed, the corn
can be planted
deeper than dur-
Fig 29—Effective Corn Marker for Hand ing a late season

Planting or early in the sea-

5 son before the soil
A few farmers still prefer to plant corn b

hand, and for these the marker here shown will Warms Up. The

prove helpful. The materials needed are one il 1

piece of wood, a, a about nine feet long, one depth will also
iece, 5, 2x4, about four feet long, two pieces

es each two feet long, an two pieces or scant: vary somewhat

ling, ¢ c, about four feet long, two old plow | i

handles, an old pair of buggy shafts, and three with the size of

or four old cultivator shovels. Set the shovels ceed If the seed
the proper distance apart to make rows as re- 7

quired. is small, it should

be planted shal-
lower than larger seed. Where small seed has been
planted deep in the prairie loam soils, only a small pro-
portion of the plants reached the surface, while large
seed planted at the same depths all came up.

The depth of planting must vary with the amount
of moisture in the soil. If the soil is very moist at the
time of planting, the seed should be planted more shal-
low than if the soil is comparatively dry. This is true

PLANTING AND CULTIVATING T17

from the fact that it is necessary to go deeper in a dry
soil in order to secure the moisture for germination,
and because the dry soils warm up more quickly than
the moist soils. Seed planted deep in dry soils
obtain enough heat for germination. It has recently
been discovered that no matter how deep seeds may be
planted, the root system develops always at about the
same depth. That is, the seed planted deep in the soil
sends up a tube to the ordinary point at which the roots
develop. At the end of this tube the permanent roots
branch out and a stem is sent up into the atmosphere.
See Fig 32.
HILLING OR DRILLING

The practice of hilling or drilling corn will depend
upon the fertility of the soil, the condition of the field,
the amount of weeds or weed seeds in the soil, and the
variety of corn. As a rule it is not advisable to plant
more than four stalks in a hill, because they will inter-
fere with each other in plant growth. So then if in a
very fertile soil it is desirable to plant more kernels
than this per hill, it is the best practice to plant in drills.

However, if the field is very weedy it is not
desirable to plant in drills, because the drilled corn can-
not be cross-cultivated and the field is likely to grow to
weeds. Ifa small variety of corn, more kernels can be
grown in a hill than a large variety. This is particu-
larly true if the large variety has a correspondingly
large amount of foliage. The large plants growing in
a hill will naturally shade the other plants and interfere
in their development. On soils that have been plowed.
for the first time, it is sometimes desirable to drill the
corn. Such fields are usually comparatively free from
the noxious weeds which seem to follow continued cul-
tivation. They are usually very fertile and able to
118

THE BOOK OF CORN

support more plants than can be grown in hills. In
this case it is good practice to drill in order to use up
the fertility of the soil which might otherwise be lost in

Fig 30—Homemade Corn Planter

A very satisfactory corn planter is here
shown, Make a frame, a, like a wheelbarrow
frame and thrce inches longer than the pan used.
Take a tin pan and put on the axle of the wheel-
barrow against the wheel 4. The hole in the
center of the pan must be in the center and
must fit the axle. Put into the flaring side
of the pan inch openings the shape of the
end of your thumb, only do not remove the
piece of tin. Leave one side hanging so that
ou can spring it open or push it shut, to regu-
ate the dropping of the corn. Make these
openings three or four inches apart, then open
them or shut them, according as you want the
corn dropped. By wheeling this barrow along
in your marked field it can he easily adjusted to
drop as many kernels as desired. The pan is
filled through a two-inch hole, c, in the board
wheel. This is subsequently closed with a
swing Slide, @. The corn may be covered with
aharrow across the rows or other suitable im-
plement.

the atmosphere or
through leaching.
When corn is
grown for a soil-
ing or forage crop
drilling is desir-
able. In this case
ears are not
sought, but the ob-
ject is to secure
the largest possi-
ble amount of fol-
iage. This can be
done by drilling
the seed closely in
the rows.

LISTING CORN

This method is
followed with suc-
cess in some of
the western states,
as Kansas, Nebras-
ka and Minnesota.
In this case the soil
is a loose, sandy
loam, which dries

out early in the spring and the water percolates through
it quickly after a rainfall. In many cases where listing
is followed successfully, there is a scarcity of moisture

in the soil for germination.

Therefore it is necessary

to get the seed down in the soil in order to secure
enough moisture for proper germination. The general
PLANTING AND CULTIVATING II9Q

practice in listing is to go into the unprepared field
with a specially constructed machine called a lister.
This lister is arranged like a double plow, so that it
throws out a furrow. The corn is drilled in the bot-
tom of this furrow, and loose dirt is dragged over the
seed by small hooks which catch the earth on the sides
of the furrows. The rows are usually drilled about
three and one-half feet apart, and when cultivated, the
dirt is rolled down into the furrow until at the end of
the season the field is level.

Listing in Eastern States—Owing to the success
of this practice in the western states, it has been intro-
duced into Illinois and some of the eastern states. In
these cases it has not been entirely successful. The
method of listing has been changed to suit the eastern
conditions. Instead of going into the unprepared field
and listing the corn, most farmers furrow out the field
late in the fall or during the winter. These furrows
are drawn about three and one-half feet apart, so there
is a ridge of loose dirt between the two furrows. At
the time of planting these ridges are split with the
lister and the old furrows filled up. In this way the
surplus water is allowed to drain out of the soil and
the seedbed is put in condition for germination. After
the second set of furrows has been made the seed is
planted with an ordinary corn planter, the runners of
the planter following in the furrows made by the lister.
Usually the seed is checked, thus allowing cross-
cultivation.

The objection to listing, as ordinarily practiced,
in the eastern states, or in the heavier loam soils, is
that the seed is put down in a dead furrow where it is
too cold for germination. There is no reason, in such
soils, for going down to secure moisture, because there

‘is usually an excess of water for germination. After
the corn comes up it is not possible to stir the soil about
120. THE BOOK OF CORN

the young plants and cut out the small weeds. They
cannot be covered up and killed with loose dirt, and the
consequence is that the corn is injured by weeds and
the weed roots are allowed to mature and seed the field.

Where the listed corn is checked, this disadvantage
is partly done away with, and the field corn can be more
perfectly cleaned. In the loose, sandy soils listing
might be an advantage. The seed is put down deep
enough to secure plenty of moisture for germination
and the soil is usually warmed up as deep as the seed
is planted. It is further claimed than a deeper root
development is a result of listing and that listed corn
will withstand the storms of summer better than corn
not listed.

At the Illinois station, extensive series of experi-
ments with listing compared to ordinary culture showed
there was little difference between the listed corn and
the corn planted in the ordinary manner. In fact, ob-
servations on this point in different sections of the state
showed that corn planted in the ordinary manner
seemed to stand up better than the listed corn. The
results of the experiments at this station showed a
uniformly larger yield from the corn planted with the
ordinary planter than the listed corn. The soil in the
listed fields was left in poor condition to stand the rains
of winter, and was exceedingly difficult to plow in the
spring. A large crop of weeds was grown in the field,
even with the most careful and frequent cultivation.
In the western states, where the fields have not become
seeded to noxious weeds as yet, and with their peculiar
conditions, listing may be an economical and satisfac-
tory method of planting corn.

Number of Stalks per Hill—The number of stalks:
to plant in the hill will vary with the variety of corn |
and with the character of the soil. With a large variety
of improved corn, a few stalks in the hill will give
PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 121

better results than a large number. With ordinary
field seed, experiments made by the Illinois station
show that a larger number of stalks will give the best
result on the rich prairie soils.

Fig 31—Effects of Listing

The stalks on extreme left planted in ordinary way. Second, listed on pprepater
ground. Third, listed on unprepared ground. Fourth, ridge

If the corn is planted the ordinary distance apart,
three and two-thirds feet, and one stalk is grown in
every hill, and every stalk produce an ear weighing a
pound, the yield will be forty-six bushels per acre. Tf
two stalks are grown in every hill the yield will be
122 THE BOOK OF CORN

ninety-three bushels per acre, while if three stalks are
grown in every hill the yield will be one hundred and
thirty-nine bushels per acre.

However, a certain percentage of the stalks in the
field are barren, and a large percentage of the ears do
not weigh a pound, so that in order to make up the
non-uniform condition of the crop, it is the usual prac-
tice to plant from three to four stalks per hill. With
the ordinary seed it is almost impossible to secure a
high percentage of germination, so that in order to
make up for this loss in the stand an extra number of
kernels are planted.

Test Germinating Power—Seed corn that germi-
nates less than ninety-five per cent should not be used.
The general vitality of such seed must be low, and
poor plants and a small yield will result. The ordinary
planter does not drop an even number of kernels to the
hill. In such cases some hills undoubtedly have too
many kernels, while others do not have any. A poor
or uneven stand is the cause of greatest loss to
com growers.

In order to get an even stand, it is necessary to
use good seed and a planter which will drop an even
number of kernels to the hill. Some of the latest im-
proved planters have the plates so arranged that the
kernels are dropped one at a time from the seed box
to a small receptacle in the runner. This plate is run
by a drill attachment so that the kernels drop regularly
and uniformly into the runner. When the check lever
opens the receptacle the seed for one hill drops directly
into the seedbed. By such a machine an even stand can
be secured if the seed corn is of uniform size. This
arrangement also provides for an even check which
is necessary for proper cultivation. This even check
can be secured by setting a small stake in the hole made
by the wire stake at the end of the field. By sighting
PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 123

down this row of stakes before setting the wire stake,
a straight cross check can be secured.

CULTIVATION

The reasons for cultivation are: 1, to destroy
weeds ; 2, conserve soil moisture; and 3, aerate the soil.
Of these the most important is the conservation of soil
moisture. If the ground is not stirred it bakes, cracks
open and the evaporation of moisture goes on very
rapidly. By stirring the soil through frequent cultiva-
tion, thus keeping a loose mulch on the surface,
capilliarity is broken up and the moisture retained.
The moisture can be used by plants for growth which
would otherwise be lost in the atmosphere.

Conservation of Soil Moistuwre—The Wisconsin
experiment station has determined the amount of water -
necessary to pass through the corn plant in order to
mature the plant. This station states that there is not
enough moisture in the soils of the cornfields of the
United States to mature the largest possible crop. This
moisture, taken up by the corn roots, passes through
the plant, carrying dissolved plant food which the
plants abstract and use in their process of growth, and
is given off to the atmosphere through the stomates of
the leaves.

These pores of the corn leaves have a regulating
influence upon the amount of water given off to the
atmosphere. During dry, hot weather they open wide
as a bent spring or bow, and transpiration goes on very
rapidly. This tends to cool the temperature of the
plant as the perspiring of human beings tends to regu-
late the temperature of the body. So that the water
has not only the function of taking food into the plant,
but also the important matter of regulating the tem-
perature of the plant.
124 THE BOOK OF CORN

If from any reason this supply of water is cut off
the plant dies, or if the water is supplied in insufficient
quantities the plant suffers accordingly, so that it is
one object of cultivation to conserve the greatest possi-
ble amount of moisture in the soil for use by the plants
and to allow of the greatest possible development of the
root system of the plants.

Shallow Cultivation—In general, shallow or sur-
face cultivation frequently performed, conserves more
moisture than a smaller number of shallow cultiva-
tions. On the other hand, an equal number of deep
cultivations will likely conserve more moisture than
shallow cultivations. By a careful series of tests at
the Illinois experiment station this fact was conclu-
sively demonstrated. However, the shallow cultiva-
tions uniformly give the largest yields. This loss in
yield in the deep cultivations was undoubtedly not due
to less moisture, but to injury to the root system by the
cultivation. For instance, it was found that by pruning
the roots of the corn plants to different depths during
three years of experimentation that the yield was uni-
formly smaller the deeper the root pruning.

Root Pruning—The more roots cut off the smaller
the yield. In the cases of the plants, the roots of
which were pruned, it was found that after pruning.
the plants drooped, the leaves rolled up, giving every
indication of injury due to lack of sufficient soil mois-
ture. The plants were stunted and never recovered
their vitality, but matured earlier than the plants not
pruned, although otherwise grown under similar
conditions. See Fig 54.

Effect of Weeds on Crop—The point of second
importance in corn cultivation is the removal of the
weeds. If weeds of any kind are allowed to grow in
the cornfield, they use the same elements of fertility as
the corn plants, consequently they compete with the
P2}VAH[Nd sem w10d 94} Yop 94} 03 ATO Fo payseA [IOS
Pld 94} UE BIOD Jo quoMIdoJoAag yOOY—Ze Fi

126 THE BOOK OF CORN

corn plants for moisture, light and plant food. Owing
to the struggle for existence constantly going on
among the members of the weed families, they are usu-
ally particularly fitted to secure their food and to drive
out other plants. So that when the weeds grow among
the corn plants they usually have the advantage in the
ability to live.

In order to get rid of these noxious weeds a large
number of kinds of cultivators have been put on the
market. In the past the large shovel cultivator, calcu-
lated to stir the soil deeply and get rid of all weeds,
was the universal cultivator. To-day these implements
are not in general use, because it was found they
did infinite damage to the corn crop through root injury.
In their place has come the small shovel cultivator.
Instead of two large shovels there are three or four
small shovels attached to each beam. These stir the
soil and cut out the weeds, yet do not go deep enough
to injure the roots. Along with this kind of machine
have come many other types adapted to different
conditions of soil and climate.

Culture Implements—These are divided in general
into three classes: 1, the harrow; 2, the disk; 3, the
knife cultivator. An example of the harrow type is
the common weeder. The principle involved here is
teeth which scratch out the small weeds, but do not go
deep enough to injure the corn roots. In loose, sandy
soils this implement is very successful. Large areas can
be covered in a short time so that the field can be fre-
quently cultivated. However, it will not remove large
weeds or stir the heaviest clay soils.

The second type, or disk, cuts the weeds out with
a sharp rolling disk, but does not go deep enough to
injure the corn roots. Again, this implement is most
successful on the sandy, looser soils, where it can
easily move the surface layer of the soil. The first disk
PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 127

cultivators were so arranged as to throw a ridge along
the row of corn. This is a disadvantage and has been
eliminated in the latest types of the disk cultivators.

The third type, the knife, or gopher cultivators, as
they are sometimes called, scrape off the weeds from
the surface of the ground without cutting the corn
roots. The knives or blades do not work successfully
in all soils. The blade or knife does not easily pene-
trate the heavy clay soils, and consequently rubs over
many of the weeds without cutting them off.

Ideal Cultivator—The best cultivator is that one
which stirs the surface of the soil thoroughly to make
a loose mulch, which removes the weeds completely, but
which does not injure the roots of the corn plant. A
root cut off does not reunite, or does not grow out
again. The ability of the plant to avail itself of plant
food and moisture is reduced just so much. As the
greater part of the plant food available for use by the
plant is in the surface soil, a very great damage results
from cutting off the roots near the surface. Added to
this is the fact that any injury to the corn plant,
whether to the roots or stem, checks its growth and
must result in a decrease of yield.
CHAPTER IX

Silos—Foration, Construction and Filling

HE location of the silo should be given careful
os attention, for silage is heavy and it should
not be necessary to carry it very far. The
silos should be as near the manger as practi-
cable and convenient to the feeding trough. Many
silos are constructed within the barn where the
silage is to be fed, or just outside the barn but
connected with it by means of a passageway. They
are frequently built against the barn with the doors
opening inside the building. Having the silo wholly
within the barn is not only convenient, but in cold
climates where the silage is apt to freeze between feed-
ing periods the protection afforded by the building
surrounding the silo is very desirable. In some cases
where the silage is to be fed in several buildings it may
be well to construct the silo entirely distinct from any
of them. In many respects this is most desirable when
feeding dairy cows. For if the silo is inside of the
barn and any of the silage is dropped and not removed
at once, a disagreeable odor arises which taints the air,
and being taken in into the lungs of the cows injures
the quality of the milk. If it is necessary to have the
silo inside of the dairy barn, build a partition between
it and the cows in order to keep out all disagree-
able odors.

GENERAL CLASSES OF SILOS

There are three different kinds of silos—wooden,
stone and brick. The wooden silo is by far the cheap-
est and in most localities the one to build. Where
building stone is abundant and cheap, it may pay to
SILOS 129

put up a stone silo, as one of this kind is practically

indestructible.

Under certain conditions brick silos

may be the most satisfactory. The average dairyman
and stock farmer will, however, build a round wooden

Fig 33— Distribution of
.Hoops on Stave Silo

At least three kinds of
hoops have been used in
stave silos, a round, flat and
woven wire, All three, of
course, are iron, and are
held in place by lugs or
castings. These lugs of the
various hoops should _ be
distributed over the surface
of the silo, rather than rise
one above another in a
straight line. Proper distri-
bution is suggested in the
accompanying cut,

silo with a stone foundation laid
in cement. There is less waste
of space and silage in a round
silo, although many square and
rectangular ones are found very
satisfactory.

Building the Round Silo—
There are two methods of build-
ing round silos. Both have en-
thusiastic advocates and seem to
be giving satisfaction. The silo
built of staves kept together by
hoops, and with a stone founda-
tion and concrete bottom, has
many friends. The other kind
has the same sort of a founda-
tion and base, but the wall in
this is built by placing studding
eighteen inches apart and cover-
ing these on the inside with two
or three and on the outside with
two layers of half-inch boards,
between which are placed layers
of tar paper. Both kinds give
complete satisfaction in most in-
stances, and the farmer should
be governed largely by the dif-

ference in cost and his own personal preference.
Where drainage is good it is advisable to start
the silo several feet below the surface of the ground.
Put in a stone foundation laid in cement, making it
one and one-half to two feet thick. For the bottom use
130 THE BOOK OF CORN

concrete six or eight inches in thickness. Cover the
bottom and walls with two or three layers of cement
put on with a trowel, then go over the surface with a
cement wash. A little dry cement may be worked in
to give it a hard finish. The material required for a
concrete foundation is enough finely broken rock or
gravel to occupy the space, over which is poured a mix-
ture of sand four parts, cement one part, with enough
water to make a paste. The stone part of the silo
should at least go down below the frost line,

Stave Silo—If£ the silo is to be made of staves,
select the best and most available material possible,
white pine if located in the northern states, cypress in
the southern and Douglass fir if in the far west.
Almost any kind of pine may be used provided the
material is perfectly sound, well seasoned and free
from knots. The boards should be six inches wide,
although some prefer four-inch boards. Those two
inches in thickness are best, although one and one-half
inches will do for mild climates. If possible select
boards which are long enough when placed on end to
reach from the top of the foundation to the top of the
silo. If the boards are smooth on the inside and along
the edges so much the better. Rough boards can
be used.

Set up the staves on the foundation, holding them
in place by rudely constructed circles just the inside
size of the desired silo. These may be made of moder-
ately short pieces of fence board with the corners
sawed off, and nailed together so as to form a circle.
Use three of these, one at the top, one at the bottom
and one about the middle. Place the staves in position
around these circles, and hold them in place tempo-
rarily by driving nails through the outer edge of the
circle and into the stave. In no case must the nails be
allowed to go through the stave. Put on hoops which
SILOS I31

have been previously prepared and with lugs draw
together tightly. The staves when in position should
be flush with the inside of foundation. The hoops will
be either flat iron bands or iron rods. Iron rods when
used as hoops are usually about five-eighths inch in
diameter. The lugs make it possible to take up the
slack as the silage and silo shrink.

The number of hoops required will depend upon the
size of the silo. For one sixteen feet in diameter place
a hoop within a few inches of the base of the staves,
then let the next one be two feet above. The others
may be placed in position, increasing the space with
each additional hoop at least six inches until four feet
is reached, which should be the limit.

The doors should be provided from the bottom to
the top of the silo, and made to fit so as to prevent
entrance of air. It is best to cut these out after the
staves have been put in place. The edges should be
beveled and these bevels should be covered with strips
of tarred paper. Before sawing out the door, nail on
two cleats, a trifle shorter than the width of the door,
so that when the boards are cut out they will remain
in the form of a door. The roof for a circular silo
may be either conical or of the ordinary form. The
conical roof is more difficult to construct, and while it
looks better it is in reality of no great advantage.

The size of the silo will depend largely upon the
number of animals to be fed. It is not desirable to
have a silo less than twenty-four feet deep-and sixteen
feet in diameter. A silo of that capacity will hold
approximately eighty-seven tons. If the silo is thirty
feet deep and sixteen feet in diameter, it will hold one
hundred and nineteen tons; if thirty feet deep and
twenty-four feet in diameter it will hold two hundred
and sixty-nine tons. A cow consumes about forty
pounds of silage per day, and estimating that she is
132: THE BOOK OF CORN

to be fed two hundred days, she will consume four
tons. Consequently for twenty-five cows one hundred
tons must be provided. A good corn crop will yield

Fig 34—Construction of Studding Silo in Detail

A, portion under ground; B, cross-section showing studding; C, top of
silo, showing arrangement of rafters; D, section of wall, showing building
paper between layers of boards; E, wall ventilators; F, door; G, cross-section
of door and wall; H, cutting rafters.

about ten tons per acre. For one hundred tons of
silage, therefore, ten acres of corn must be raised.
Silo with Studding—The other kind of a wooden
SILOS 133

silo, that made with studding covered with boards and
tar paper, is easily constructed. A wheel or circular
sill must be provided to lay directly on top of the foun-

APPROXIMATE CAPACITY IN TONS OF CYLINDRICAL SILOS
FOR WELL-MATURED CORN SILAGE—KING

108.1] 122.0] 136.8] 152.4) 168.9] 186.2} 204.3) 243.2) 263.9) 285.4
113.7| 128.3] 143.9] 160.3} 177.6] 195.8) 214.9) 255.8] 277.6) 300.2
119.4] 134.8] 151.1] 168.4] 186.6] 205.7) 225.8} 268.7) 291.6) 315.3
31 | 109.8] 124.9] 141.1] 158.2) 176.2) 195.2] 215.3) 236.3] 281.8] 305.1} 330.0
32 | 115.1] 135.9] 147.8] 165.7] 184.6] 204.6] 225.5] 247.5] 294.6] 319.6] 345.7

Se INSIDE DIAMETER IN FEET
me
o
A £ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24 25 26
20 58.8] 67.0) 75.6) 84.7) 94.4) 104.6) 115.3] 126.6] 150.6) 163.4) 176.8
21 62.9) 71.6] 80.8] 90.6] 100.9] 111.8) 123.3) 135.3) 161.0) 174.7] 189.0
22 67.4] 76.5] 86.4) 96.8] 107.9) 119.6) 131.8] 144.7) 172.2) 186.8) 202.1
23 71.4] 81.6} 92.1] 103.3] 115.1] 127.5) 140.6) 154.3] 183.6) 199.3] 215.5
24 76.1] 86.6] 97.8) 109.8] 122.1] 135.3) 149.2) 163.7] 194.9] 211.5] 228.7
25 80.6] 89.6] 103.6] 116.1) 129.3) 143.3] 158.0) 173.4) 206.4] 223.9) 242.2
26 $5.5] 97.2) 109.8) 123.0) 137.1] 151.9] 167.5) 183.8) 218.8] 237.4] 256.7
27 9 7 102.6] 115.8] 129.8] 144.7] 160.3) 176.7) 194.0} 230.8] 250.5] 270.9
9
99.9

ow
o
S
am
S

NECESSARY DIAMETER OF SILOS FOR FEEDING DIFFERENT
NUMBERS OF COWS WHILE REMOVING 2 TO 3.2
INCHES SILAGE DAILY—KING

Silo 30 ft deep, no partition, mean| | Silo 24ft d’p,with partitions,

40 144 6,545 16.75 | 14x16 a4 7,347 20 18x18
50 180 8,182 18.75 | 16x18 180 | 9,184, 22 20x20
60 216 9,898 | 20.5 18x18 216 | 11,020) 24 22x22
70 252 11,454 22 20x20 252 | 12,857) 26 22x26
80 288 13,091 22.5 20x22 288 | 14,691 28 24x26
90 324 14,727 25 22x24 324 | 16,531 29.75) 26x28
100 360 16,364 26.5 24x24 360 | 18,367 31.25] 28x28

dation. This is usually constructed of the same kind
of material as the studding, say two by eights. It
is made by nailing a number of pieces together and
beveling and rounding the ends so that a complete
134 THE BOOK OF CORN

circle is formed. The studs are placed in an upright
position, toenailed to the sill and secured at the top by
means of a plate constructed similar to the sill.

The frame is now ready to be covered and lined.
The best results for the lining are secured by using
two or three layers of half-inch boards between which
layers of tar paper are placed. First nail a layer of the

Fig 35—Cheap Stave Silo
In Wisconsin

boards horizontally as close together as possible, then
put on a layer of good tar paper and cover this with
a second layer of boards. Put on another layer of
boards, etc, taking care to break joints with each pre-
vious layer. For covering the outside put on a layer of
half-inch boards, as before indicated, then a layer of
SILOS 35

tar paper, and complete the outside with a layer of
ordinary weather boarding or shiplap placed horizon-
tally. Put on a conical or ordinary roof of shingles.
Provide doors as nearly air tight as possible. The silo
is then ready for filling.

The ventilation of this kind of silo is very im-
portant. There must be a properly protected opening
through the roof from which the gaseous products of
fermentation may escape. The walls must also be
ventilated. On the outside near the bottom cut an
opening or bore auger holes in the exterior wall and
cover with wire netting. Do the same on the inside
near the top. Have at least half a dozen or so of
these ventilators in each silo, or better still one set
for each space between studs. Circulation of air will
be secured and the construction material will last better.

Brick silos should be constructed with two or three
walls and air spaces of one to four inches between the
walls. The total thickness of the wall should not be
less than two feet. The inner walls can be made of
broken brick and thus reduce the cost. The bricks
should be laid in cement, and the interior of the silo
should be covered with a coating or two of good
cement. Have the masons leave a door three feet high
at the bottom of the silo, arching it over at the top.
Build up two or three feet, then leave another door, and
so on. A brick silo sixteen feet in diameter and
twenty-four feet deep will require about twenty-one
thousand brick.

In building a stone silo, prepare the founda-
tion and bottom as for a wooden, then build up the
walls at least twenty-four inches thick. When the
building is completed, roof it over carefully and
give the interior a coating or two of cement so that
the surface will be as smooth and air tight as that of a
cistern. If the stone wall is properly constructed there
136 THE BOOK OF CORN

will be no necessity for protecting it on the outside.
If, however, this is considered necessary, place stud-
ding against the outside of the wall and cover with
weather boarding. The stone silo will cost seven or
eight dollars a cord—stone, cement, lime and labor.
It takes thirty-six cords of stone to make a silo sixteen
feet in diameter and thirty feet deep. A silo of this
size holds about one hundred and twenty tons,

Cement Lining—Of late years many wooden silos
have been lathed on the inside and given two or three
coatings of cement. This has worked well where the
laths are placed on a solid wall, such as is found in the
average wooden silo.’ When the work is carefully done
the resulting silo is in effect a cement silo, except that
the wooden parts are apt to decay and are not as dura-
ble as stone or brick. Some dairymen report good
results from the use of patent lathing nailed direct to
studding and properly cemented. The studding must
be close enough to each other so that the layers of
cement will not spring and crack. This is more liable
to occur in a square than in a round silo.

PUTTING CORN INTO THE SILO

Corn is the great silage crop in the United States.
A variety with heavy foliage and stalks of medium size
planted early in spring is most desirable. This, if
kept clean and well cultivated throughout the season,
will yield at the rate of ten to fifteen tons of green
forage per acre. When the plants are fairly well ma-
tured, say as the ears are beginning to glaze, and when
the indentations are well marked, is considered the
most desirable time for cutting. This is usually just
after what is termed the roasting ear stage. Consider-
able judgment will be required, even with this in mind.
With some varieties of corn and during some seasons
SILOS 437

maturity is not complete until after that period. The
farmer will soon learn to judge as to the best time for
cutting, remembering always that immature corn usu-
ally results in sour silage, while fairly well matured
fodder gives sweet, palatable feed. Where a large
amount of silage is to be handled by a comparatively
small force of men, it will be necessary to begin cut-

Fig 36—Silo Attached to Barn

ting rather early and continue until the crop is past the
most desirable stage.

According to some Pennsylvania experiments corn
rapidly increases in the total quantity of dry matter
as it approaches maturity. These particular tests show
that the total amount of digestible matter was much
THE BOOK OF CORN

greater when nearly mature than when cut earlier, and
that the digestibility decreased at a slower rate than in
the case of other forage crops. The total yield of
digestible material, for instance, was thirty to thirty-six
per cent greater when the crop was fairly well matured
than at silking time. When the corn begins to get too
dry, the silage may be greatly benefited by the addition
of water, either to the cut corn as it comes out of the
cutter, or to the material as it is deposited in the silo.
Some Michigan farmers have been well satisfied with
cutting their dry fodder direct from the shock, putting
it into the silo and thoroughly moistening it. They
claim that the material becomes succulent, and is a
much more desirable stock feed than when fed as dry
fodder. When corn has been frosted and allowed to
dry out it can be made into silage. Fair feed results,
although it is not so good as the green silage.

Placing corn in the silo usually increases the diges-
tibility of the crude fiber. On the other hand, there is
always some loss from fermentation and a slight de-
crease in the digestibility of other food elements. This
partially offsets the benefit. Silage, however, is better
than cured corn fodder, as field curing decreases the
digestibility of many substances, particularly of the
fiber. Numerous experiments show that the decrease
in digestibility is about the same in some elements in
field-cured fodder, but the digestibility of the fiber is
greatly increased in silage and decreased in fodder.

Loading and Hauling—The modern corn binder is
very satisfactory for cutting corn for the silo. Where
only a small area is to be handled, say ten acres, the
old-fashioned corn knife or some of the sled cutters
answer very well. If the cutting is done by hand, the
corn should be deposited in bunches so that it can be
loaded easily on a wagon.

A low wagon is very essential for transporting the
SILOS 139

green corn to the silage cutter. The one represented
in Fig 37 has been used by the Wisconsin experi-
ment station and by many practical farmers. The
running gears of an old wagon may be utilized. The
stringers are four by eight inches and eighteen or
twenty feet long. They can be connected to the front
axle and held in place by means of an elongated king-
bolt provided with a nut and washer. From the back
axle they are suspended by means of two three-fourths-
inch bolts with washers below and hooks above. The
wagon hounds are kept from tipping up by means of
a short piece of two-inch oak board extending from

Fig 37—Low Wagon for Handling Silage Corn

the kingbolt to the back standards. The floor is usually
made of inch oak boards.

Cutting for Silo—Corn is conveyed to the ma-
chine and there cut into one-inch and one and one-half-
inch lengths. Some feeders prefer one-half and three-
fourths-inch lengths, but these are liable to cause sore-
ness of the mouth in cattle, particularly if the material
is hard. The cut corn is elevated or blown into the silo.
Care must be taken to have it evenly distributed. Ifa
conical heap is allowed to form in the center, the
heavier portions, such as the butts and pieces of ears,
roll to the outside and the lighter portions remain in
the middle. This results in an uneven distribution of
the silage, which is very undesirable. Keep this heap
raked down, or by means of a flexible tube of some
140 THE BOOK OF CORN

kind attached to the end of the carrier, direct the mate-
rial to all parts of the silo. If this is carefully done,
and it is tramped down compactly, the results will be
most satisfactory. In many cases, in fact, in almost
all, it is desirable to fill about half full, allow to settle
for a day or two, then fill to the top, allow the silage to
settle for several more days, then refill. This may be
accomplished easily where two or more silos are being
filled on the same farm. Work one or two days on
one, then move to the other and work a day or two.
Do the greater part of the tramping around the edge.

Covering—The matter of covering the silage is
still in dispute. Some cover with hay or straw, others
with some kind of cloth, still others with boards or
straw, wet down well, while a few cut several loads of
very green corn very fine, put on top and sprinkle with
water. A mold soon develops and forms a dense mass
which completely excludes the air. In many places no
covering at all is used. The upper eight or ten inches
molds and seals the silo, and in this way prevents the
entrance of air.

Handling Stalks Uncut—In some neighborhoods
corn is put into the silo without cutting. Those who
practice this method claim that silage is sweeter and
much more palatable, especially for horses, than when
the stalk is cut. The ear, being left undisturbed in its
husk, retains its natural flavor and aroma. Air gets
into the interior of the stalk and ear when it is cut up
into small pieces and more or less decomposition re-
sults. This is not so apparent when the stalk is pre-
served whole. The objection to the system is that it is
more difficult to compact the whole corn so as to ex-
clude all the air. As a consequence there is considerable
more danger of loss. Another objection is the greater
difficulty in handling the stalks when putting them
into the silo and when they are to be taken out. This,
SILOS 141

however, is largely overcome by cutting the corn with
a binder and using a double harpoon fork for elevating
and dropping into the silo. -The green corn is loaded
on the low wagons in sections so that the fork can
handle it nicely. In taking the whole silage out for
feeding the same apparatus is used, merely reversing
the process.

Fig 38 shows how Mr Hodgson of Wisconsin
places the bundles. When the silo is square they are
placed at a, the dotted’ line representing the top of the
silo. In a round silo the bundles are laid round and
round as at b, and have this appearance when seen

Fig 38—Placing Bundles in Square and Round Silo

from above. Mr Hodgson’s round silo holds one
hundred and thirty tons. He has stored whole corn in
this manner for twelve years and is perfectly satisfied.
He claims that it is sweeter and that his animals eat it
more readily than when cut.

The cost of putting up silage will depend upon the
distance from the field, the implements used, etc. Asa
general rule and with ordinary appliances silage can be
put up for about forty cents per ton. Some farmers
have done this work for twenty to twenty-five cents per
ton and some have paid sixty to eighty cents.

The preserving of feed in the silo makes it possible
not only to secure succulent forage in winter, when
142 THE BOOK OF CORN

green crops are not available, but also provides green
fodder during drouths in summer and autumn. A
number of experiment stations have tested silage two
or three years old and find that where it kept well it
was just as good as when only six months old. Prac-
tical farmers have had the same experience and find it
much the cheapest method of supplying succulent feed

Fig 39—Filling the Silo

during that part of the year when pastures are short.
Tf not needed the first summer it can be held until the
next winter or even the next summer. Many are
coming to believe that soiling and the silo are more
economical than trying to provide pasturage for
farm animals,

Preserving Green Crops Without Silo—Various
attempts have been made to preserve green crops with-
out a silo. The plan is to stack them in the open air
SILOS 143

as compactly as possible. The outer layer will decom-
pose and form a coating which will exclude air from
the interior. The stack then in a sense becomes a silo.
Only a few attempts have been made with corn, but
with clover, cowpeas and soy beans numerous tests
have uniformly resulted in disappointment. It is an
exceedingly hazardous method of preserving the green
feed. There is too much danger of the decomposition
extending all the way through, or at least far into the
stack. Some Illinois farmers, having more corn than
they could put in their silos, tried this method. They
cut it very fine, stacked it in the open air, tramped down
slightly and covered with hay. More than half the
fodder rotted, but they claim that even this was not a
total loss, as cattle and sheep ate it readily after it
became thoroughly dry. They did not care, however,
to repeat the experiment.
CHAPTER X

Garbesting

awe XISTING agricultural conditions are beginning
42 to have an influence upon the method of har-

vesting corn in the middle and western states.

While the rich prairie soils contained an unlim-
ited amount of plant food little attention was given
to harvesting corn except to see that the largest imme-
diate returns from each individual crop were secured.
No thought, or at least very little, was given to
the matter of keeping up the fertility of the land
by returning to it any part of the grain grown upon
it from year to year. Where fodder was needed
for farm animals the corn was cut and preserved
in shocks until needed for feed. The general rule,
however, was to allow the corn to remain in the
field until thoroughly matured, then to husk the
ears from the standing stalks. The grain was either
fed or sold direct to the elevator. The stalks were
allowed to remain in the field until spring, when they
were broken, raked and burned.

By this method absolutely nothing was returned
except the ashes from the stalks, and these were so
poorly distributed as to be of little value. The pro-
ductive capacity of the soil began to decrease, until
to-day the chiefest problem confronting the corn belt
farmer is how to harvest and dispose of his corn crop
and at the same time retain the greatest amount of
valuable fertilizing elements—potash, phosphorus and
nitrogen. The nitrogen is obtained by growing leg-
umes, particularly clovers and cowpeas. How to
retain the potash and phosphorus is the great problem.
HARVESTING 145 -

Progressive farmers realize that one of the best ways
is to raise as much stock as possible and feed the grain
on the farm. If this is done a large part of these two
valuable mineral elements will be returned to the land
in the manure. So long as cattle and hogs bring good
prices it is not difficult to make a profit in this way,
but when they are cheap very careful management is
required. Because of this, it has come about that
more and more attention is being given to the methods
which will result in securing the entire corn plant in
the best possible
condition. The old
and somewhat
wasteful method of
husking from the
standing stalk,
then selling the
grain, still obtains,

Fig 40—Simple Corn Cutter but the saving and

One of the cheapest corn harvesters possible ‘.

5 een in accompanyin cut. It is simply a feeding of the fod-

sled with wide platform and sharp.cut edges at a, i

This sled is gaa between fe ° stand. der is a larger and

ing corn. The stalks are cut off by the cutters larger item each

ata, and cenit by two men who stand or sit 3

on the sled. hen the armful is gathered, the year. The silo

horse is stopped and the corn is taken to the :
finds a place in

sneer apd pleece am pealor Py prcing

wheels at the front and rear of the sled the draft s

is greatly reduced. every dairy sec-
tion, and is be-

coming better known in the strictly beef and mutton
growing parts of the country. However, the great

‘bulk of the fodder crop will for many years be cut and
cured in the field and afterwards fed in the dry state.

‘INFLUENCE OF MATURITY UPON YIELD OF DIGESTIBLE
SUBSTANCE

The stage of development of a plant at the time
it is harvested may materially affect its value as a feed,
146 THE BOOK OF CORN

in the quantity of digestible material produced and in
the palatableness of the fodder. Aside from these
considerations, the greater certainty and convenience
in curing the more mature plants, the mechanical loss
of the finer portions due to storms or to the handling
of the plants in harvesting when they are too mature,
affect in practice, to a considerable degree, the time
of harvesting each crop independently of the yield and
the palatability of the product. It is also true that in
handling large areas of any crop it is not convenient
or profitable to arrange for sufficient force of men and
machinery to harvest the entire crop in precisely the
stage that combines the maximum yield with the
highest degree of palatability. Hence the harvest
must usually begin at a stage when some sacrifice in
yield is made, and extend to the point where loss ia
palatability is sustained.

In the case of the corn plant, the impression has
long prevailed that after the roasting ear stage is
reached, nothing is actually added to the plant, that it
then contains all the nutrients it will ever contain;
that the non-nitrogenous compounds then consist
chiefly of “sugar,” which is to some extent at least
converted into indigestible compounds in the process
of ripening, and that by allowing it to ripen a loss of
digestible material occurs by reason of these changes.

WATER AND DRY MATTER AT DIFFERENT PERIODS*

Dry
Corn | Water | matter
Date of Stage of growth per per per

cutting acre acre acre
Tons | Tons | Tons
July 30] Fully tasseled .............. nea 9.0 8.2 0.8
Aug 9 Fully silked................. alas 11.3 1.5
Aug 21/ Kernels watery to full milk. 14.0 2.3
Sept 7] Kernels glazing.............. reco i 12.5 3.6
ODE a RID! sic sicie cinsncimieicaisjsuaisieiaseiaimiossiosnasnedscoaiaie # 10.2 4.0

*Henry, Feeds and Feeding; from New York (Geneva) station.
HARVESTING 147

That the position is wholly erroneous, and that the
plant continues to gain in dry substance until fully
mature, is clearly shown by the results of numerous
careful experiments.

Tt will be observed that the most rapid gain in
pounds of dry matter per acre occurred between ‘the
roasting ear and glazing stages, and that there was a
material gain from the glazing stage to the time when
the plant was ripe. Had the crop in this case been
harvested in the roasting ear stage, the yield of dry
matter would have been two and three-tenths tons per
acre, while four tons were secured when the plants
were fully ripe. In other words, the yield was practi-
cally doubled between the roasting ear and full
ripeness.

An elaborate study of this problem by Jordan at
the Maine experiment station confirms the results
already quoted and adds to our knowledge of the
changes that take place in the composition of the plant
during the later stages of growth. A summary of the
results is shown in the following table:

YIELD OF CORN AT DIFFERENT STAGES GROWTH

3 & & 2
g a 8 bs
ga 5 23 34,
Stage of development a8 8 g Es 5 se
oe

when harvested aa a® | dbs 5 A

20 bs 8%2 |] 23a

a 5 @55 | 689

A A Saa | Ago

| LBs LBS | LBS

Ears beginning to form.. . “ie 3064 wiser

A few roasting ears. a 2146 | 165.0

All roasting ears..... 9 | 121.3

Some ears glazing... aor 620 77.5

All ears glazed... 2... cece cece vencccccvone 358 39.8
Total increase......... ceecececeeeeees 3974 einai

In this case the yield of dry matter per acre was
more than doubled in thirty-seven days, or between
the silking stage and the fully glazed stage. It will
148 THE BOOK OF CORN

be interesting to see what the character of gain was.
The table below furnishes this information.

DIFFERENT CLASSES OF COMPOUNDS PER ACRE AT
DIFFERENT STAGES

; ge .
Stage of development 3 2 a a 3
a ° s2 oo 8 2
when harvested 4 & Zs é & é
LBs | LBs igs | Las | LBs | Las

i-]
oO
2
>]
LBS
Ears beginning to form 286 | 458) 812 eects
A few roasting ears.... «-| 339 | 612 je 2892 | 1064 | 108] 154
1
1291
1309
497

All roasting ears....... -.| 376 10 3621 | 1248 | 297 | 182
Some ears glazing............ 372 | 639 4177 | 1407 | 357} 200
Allears glazed............... 416 | 650 4457 | 1161 | 1083 | 200
Gain after first cutting...... 130 191 3029 | 802 | 1083 129

Gain after second cutting...| 77 38 95 | 15665 97 | 975 bE

“Two facts are clearly shown. First, that the latter
growth of dry matter in the corn plant is made up chiefly of
non-nitrogenous compounds; second, a large percentage of
these compounds consist of sugars and starch, substances that
are the best of their class for the purposes of animal
nutrition.”

Not only is the yield increased by allowing the
plant to mature, but contrary to general opinion the
mature material is actually more digestible, as is shown
by the following summary of American digestion
experiments compiled by Jordan:

DIGESTED FROM I00 PARTS OF ORGANIC MATTER

Corn
fodder,| Silage
average
Cut before glazing, 13 experiments................... 65.7 67.4
Cut after glazing, 10 experiments..............0.0.. 10.7 13.6

Applying these figures for corn fodder to the
yields shown by New York experiments in the preced-
ing table, it is found that an acre yielded of dry
HARVESTING 140

digestible matter when in roasting ear stage one and
five-tenths tons, and when fully ripe two and eight-
tenths tons. Again when the field-cured fodder is

Fig 41—Corn Ready to Cut for Fodder

allowed to remain in the shock until required for feed-
ing, as is the custom throughout much of the corn belt
of America, it has been found that the more mature
plants keep much better than those harvested green,
150 THE BOOK OF CORN

and the season is usually sufficiently advanced by the
time the corn is reasonably mature to escape the warm
wet weather that is so destructive to feed of this class.

In the light of these investigations and the expe-
rience of the most successful farmers, it is considered
that when the outer husks and the leaves below the ear
have turned yellow but have not become dry; when
the stalk and leaves above the ear begin to show the
golden tinge, corn will as nearly approximate the
maximum yield without sacrificing palatability, and
present a condition when the material may be put up
in large shocks without danger of molding. At this
stage the kernels are fully glazed and practically
mature.

CUTTING CORN FOR FODDER

Just how to cut and care for corn desired for fod-
der is a great problem. When shall it be cut? How
long shall it remain in the field? Shall it be stacked,
stored in the barn, or shredded and baled? The opinion
prevails that corn cut on the green order, provided it
can be cured perfectly, is more palatable and conse-
quently more profitable. Under certain conditions this
may be true. When fodder of very high palatability is
needed for young growing stock or for animals being
fed to the limit, it will undoubtedly pay to cut the
fodder rather early,.say about the roasting ear stage,
and when the leaves at the bottom of plant have just
begun to turn. At this stage the fodder contains a
large amount of water and has a high protein content,
but is deficient in starch, sugar, gum and the like. It
is also comparatively light in weight at this time, and
the output per acre is thirty to fifty per cent smaller
than if allowed to more completely mature. The bulk
of the corn crop should not be cut until considerably
later in the season, when the kernels have begun to
HARVESTING Ist

harden, and the warm sun of autumn has developed
these starches, sugars and gums in larger quantities.

DATE OF MAXIMUM HIGHT, WEIGHT AND FOOD CONTENT

Tests at the Illinois experiment station, averaging
the results for a series of years, indicate that so far as
hight is concerned, the maximum is attained during
the latter part of August, but the greatest weight does
not occur ordinarily until the middle of September or
a little later, depending upon the season. At this time
also it is interesting to note that the water content of
the plant is much smaller than a few weeks earlier.
The protein content has not increased much up to this
time, but the starch has almost doubled during the last
four weeks and the sugar increases considerably. Of
course, fiber increases also, but not in so great a pro-
portion as the starches and sugars. The middle of
August the corn examined contained about 81 per cent
of water, a little over I per cent of ash, 134 per cent of
protein, 5 I-3 per cent of fiber, 10% per cent of starch
and % per cent of sugars, gums, etc. About one
month later, when the crop had attained its greatest
weight, it had the following composition: Water 6734
per cent, ash I 2-3 per cent, protein 2 2-3 per cent, fiber
634 per cent, starch 20 I-3 per cent, sugars, gums, etc,
I per cent. This shows a rapid increase during the
last four weeks. Early in October the change was
still more marked, analysis showing the following
composition: Water 56 per cent, ash 134 per cent, pro-
tein 334 per cent, fiber 9 per cent, starch 28 per cent,
sugars, gums, etc, I I-3 per cent. In 1889 the crop
reached the greatest hight the first week in August.
It reached its greatest weight of dry matter the third
week in September, the increase during the month
being nineteen per cent of its total weight of dry mat-
152 THE BOOK OF CORN

ter. In 1890 the maximum hight was attained the
third week in July, and the maximum weight the
second week in September. During September there
was a gain of fifteen per cent in total dry matter. In
1891 the greatest hight was reached August 1, at
which time forty-six per cent of the total dry matter
produced had been developed. By the second week of
September the maximum weight was attained, or fifty-
four per cent during the last weeks of growth.

Do Not Harvest Too Early—These tests go to
show the great loss, other things being equal, in har-
vesting corn too early. Then there is the additional
danger of the immature plant not curing properly
unless the weather is very dry. The juices contain
such a small percentage of starches and sugars that
undesirable ferments are likely to gain a foothcld,
causing a low quality of forage. When the starches
and sugars are more fully developed later in the season
a much sweeter and more wholesome product is se-
cured under favorable conditions. The late Professor
G. E. Morrow, in summarizing this work, stated that
observations show that the percentage of dry matter
in the corn plant, both stalk and ear, increases up to
the time of maturing, but it has not been shown that
the digestibility decreases as maturity approaches. It
seems clear that considerable loss in total food value
of the corn crop is often sustained by cutting it at too
early a stage, whether designed for silage or cut for
dry fodder. The percentage of water in the young
corn plant is surprisingly large, while the quantity of
dry matter and food value is much less than that found
as the plant approaches maturity. On the other hand,
it frequently happens that considerable loss is sus-
tained by allowing the crop to remain in the field until
fully matured. This loss comes from storms, destruc-
tion from animals, birds, etc.

Fig 42—Corn B:nder at Work in Field
154 THE BOOK OF CORN

BEST TIME TO CUT CORN FOR FODDER

Extensive experiments to determine the best time
for cutting corn have been conducted at the Pennsyl-
vania station, at one time and another, and the results
are remarkably uniform, all pointing to the advisability
of allowing the corn to become quite well matured
before cutting and shocking. In 1891 Professor Hunt
made three cuttings. The first was September 1 and 2,
when the leaves and husks were green and the kernels
mostly in the roasting ear stage. The second cutting
was made September 25, when a few of the lower
leaves were dead, but the husks were still green. The
kernels on about three-fourths of the ears were dented.
On some ears they were quite hard and on others still
unglazed. The third cutting was made October 7 and
8, when two-thirds of the leaves were dead and the
kernels mostly hard. Fodder from these cuttings was
carefully analyzed. The fodder was then fed to milch
cows. The combined results of this investigation show
that the most and best food for making butter was
secured when the fodder was cut September 25. The
yield of fodder was greatest when the corn was cut
after being well ripened. Fodder allowed to remain in
the field ten to fifteen weeks after cutting lost twenty
per cent in value.

Taking into consideration all the Pennsylvania
experiments along this line, Professor H. B. Armsby
points out that corn should be allowed to mature pretty
fully before cutting. In every experiment the amount
of dry matter increased very rapidly after growth had
apparently ceased. This increase takes place in the grain
and consists of the storing up of starchy material and
fat. Part of this comes from the a'r and part of it from
the leaves and stalks. Where early harvesting is desir-
able less loss occurs by planting some of the large, rank
HARVESTING 155

varieties of corn. Thick seeding gave a larger yield of
feed than thin and the fodder was in better condition.

Practically these same conclusions were arrived at
in Maine. There it was found that mature corn con-
tains much the larger proportion of the more valuable
carbohydrates—the sugars and starches. The starch
especially increased, in some cases as much as fourteen
per cent. The large-growing varieties from the west
should, according to the Maine station, be harvested
before they are quite mature, but flint corn should be
allowed to stand until well ripened.

Cutting and Shocking—After the important mat-
ter of time of cutting has been decided, the next step is
cutting and shocking the corn. Other things being
equal, a large shock should be planned for, especially
in the west, where the fodder is seldom housed. A
shock sixteen hills square is the favorite in most sec-
tions, although in some localities where the corn is very
heavy a twelve-hill shock is the favorite. In the east
and north shocks are seldom more than eight hills
square. The climate also has something to do with
the size of the shock. In the humid regions small
shocks are not desirable. Care must be taken in putting
them up. It seems most desirable to start the shock,
cutting about one-fourth of the fodder, allowing it to
dry out thoroughly, then putting on another fourth,
and continuing until the shock is completed, allowing
at least one day to elapse between each cutting. If,
however, rain comes during the cutting, much more of
the fodder will be injured. Great care must be exer-
cised in standing corn about the shock, so that the
shock will not twist or blow down. This can be ac-
complished by care in starting. Set the armfuls or
bundles down firmly and press the tops together.
Place the butts well out from the base, and when the
156 THE BOOK OF CORN

shock is completed tie at the top lightly with a stalk
of green corn or a cord.

The corn binder is coming into use rapidly,
some big farmers operating as many as ten at one time.
They are so constructed that corn can be handled even
though it be badly blown down. It operates best in
corn of medium size. The cost of twine is largely off-
set by the smaller amount of labor required for shock-
ing and hauling. Where the crop is on the green order
there is more danger of it molding under the band
when placed in the shock than if cut by hand. If it
is not practicable to have a corn binder, many of the
numerous drag cutters in the form of a sled with cut-
ting knives on each side answer very well and save
much hard work. They are simple and can be con-
structed at home with the aid of a blacksmith. The
old-fashioned method of cutting with a hand knife still
obtains in many places.

The corn binder (Fig 42) is cutting corn sixteen
feet high and doing good work. Where the stalks
stand up well and the field is free from weeds the
binder will cut and handle corn of almost any size.
Corn of medium hight it will take care of even when
badly down, provided the stalks do not lean in the
direction the machine is being driven. Two strong
horses find no difficulty in drawing the binder all day.

Storing the Fodder—The common practice in the
corn belt is to let the fodder remain in the field until
wanted. This results in a loss of about twenty per cent,
depending upon the weather, size of the shock, etc.
Where large shocks have been made this loss, of
course, is reduced to the minimum. Stacking corn
fodder after it has been thoroughly dried is common
where small quantities are to be taken care of. This

also is true in the older states, where the fodder is
stored in the barn.
HARVESTING 157
Use of Shredder—tIn the big corn growing sec-
tions the fodder shredder and husker is becoming more

Fig 43—Filling Silo with Blower

This is the very latest in silo filling machinery. A powerful fan drives the
cut cornstalks through the long blowpipe into the silo. It isas much superior
to the old style of elevator as the wind stacker of the modern thresher is to
the old bell ‘stacker. By using a flexible spout at the upper end, the cut corn
can be directed to any part of the silo, There are no belts and pulleys to get out
of order. It is for sale by all the leading manufacturers of silo machinery.

and more popular. The first objection to this machine
was that there was difficulty in keeping the shredded
158 THE BOOK OF CORN

fodder. The tendency to mold seems much greater
than in hays and other kinds of rough feed. It has
been determined, however, that this difficulty can be
remedied by thorough curing. For instance, an exam-
ination of a lot of hay and a lot of fodder would indi-
cate that they contain about the same amount of mois-
ture. Analysis will show, however, that the fodder
contains fifteen to twenty per cent more. There was
some loss of shredded fodder when the machines were
first placed on the market, Of late there has been but
little complaint. Another drawback is the cost of oper-
ating the shredders. In many localities this is so high
as to be almost prohibitive, but with improved machin-
ery and a better acquaintance with the shredded fodder
this difficulty will gradually disappear. The common
practice in most localities is to charge one dollar to
one dollar and a half an hour, or one dollar to two dol-
lars per acre. The husked corn is run into wagons and
taken to market, while the fodder is run into a barn or
a baling press.

Extensive experiments by practical feeders and
experiment stations indicate that unhusked fodder is
the most palatable. There is an aroma about the ear
taken direct from the husk by the animal that is lost if
it is removed and stored in a crib. Not only does the
animal like the feed better, but a larger amount is
consumed and gains are more rapid. Where large-
eared varieties are grown it may be necessary to break
the ears before giving to cattle, but this should be done
just before feeding. This is much more widely recog-
nized by dairymen and by feeders than ten years ago.

HUSKING STANDING CORN

By far the most serious task in raising corn is
the matter of husking it in the field. Up to date no
practical machine adapted to this purpose has ap-
aUYORW Suyysnpy ws0D 389327 OUL—Pr By

160 THE BOOK OF CORN

peared. Many have been tried but they usually fall
short in some important particular. None of them has
become popular, and a fortune awaits the man who
perfects a thoroughly practical corn husker, which
will be as successful relatively as the modern husker
is for corn fodder.

When corn is to be husked direct from the stand-
ing stalk it should be allowed to mature quite thor-
oughly, particularly if it is of a variety with large ears
and large cobs containing a high percentage of moist-
ure. This must be determined by examination. Some
seasons husking begins the latter part of September in
northern latitudes, while in others it is not safe to
begin husking until the middle or end of October.
The time will also depend largely upon the variety.
Early maturing kinds have small ears and small cobs
and they can be husked much earlier than late matur-
ing and large ear varieties. Corn when first placed in
the crib contains thirteen to thirty-five or forty per cent
of moisture.

A common practice in the great corn states is
to start through the field marking a “down” row.
Husk two rows to the left of the wagon and the one
row that is under it. Go around a good-sized “land”
in this manner. The next time through the field and
every succeeding time thereafter have the team straddle
the last husked row next the corn that has not been
husked. This will prevent the necessity of picking up
a down row each time and will enable the husker to
do his best work. The ordinary wagon box will hold
from twenty-five to thirty bushels. Where the corn
is exceptionally good a skillful khusker will be able
to more than fill one wagon box in half a day. The
capacity of a box may be increased by putting on addi-
tional sideboards which any farmer can make himself.
On the right side of the wagon box it is desirable to
HARVESTING 161

place one or two extra boards to act as bump boards.
The husker need not then use so much care in throw-
ing in his corn, which will enable him to do more work.
A good husker so gauges the distance from the row
to the wagon box that it is not necessary for him to
look where he throws the ear. If seed corn is to be
selected at this time place a box or barrel in one end
of the wagon and into it throw all the ears from strong
vigorous stalks, provided they come near the desired
type. When unloading throw out all soft, partially
rotted or smutted ears and feed at once to cattle. It
is much better to look after this carefully than to run
the risk of a bad ear spoiling a lot of corn in its imme-
diate vicinity.

As soon as the husking is started the work should
be pushed as rapidly as possible, for the corn ought
to be out of the field by Thanksgiving time. Compar-
atively good weather frequently prevails up to Christ-
mas, but there are always some stormy days which
make it difficult to get the corn out and very fre-
quently result in loss. If corn is in the field until
Christmas there is very little likelihood of getting it,
out until spring opens. This is very bad farming, as
great loss is sure to follow. Get-all other farm work
out of the way before husking begins, then devote all
the time to this work. Other things can wait, but
this cannot. When the husks are loose, the corn dry
and ears large, one man can easily husk fifty to fifty-
five bushels a day. Some men can accomplish much
more and many much less. Husking thirty-five to
forty-five acres during one autumn is enough for one
man, and he must not have too many chores to do in
order to get through to good advantage. An attempt
to husk more will usually extend the work into cold,
snowy weather,
162 THE BOOK OF CORN

The illustration (Fig 44) shows a corn husking
machine invented by J. L. Locke of Nebraska and
patented September 11, 1901. It has been given fair
trial and the inventor is much pleased with its work.
Just what its future will be, time and further testing
will determine. The husker is comparatively simple
and is operated by one man. By means of two large
spiral coils working on either side of an elevator which
projects beyond the wagon tongue, the corn is gath-
ered from the ground or from the stack and elevated
into the wagon. The illustration shows one of these

Fig 45—Rail Corn Cribs

In McLean county, Illinois

coils uncovered. The ears are conveyed to husker
rolls in the front part of the wagon bed, where the
husks are removed and by means of a blower trans-
ferred through a blowpipe to a burlap bag in the rear,
large enough for holding the husks from one load of
ears. The ears are deposited in the wagon bed. The
machinery is comparatively light and can be handled
easily by one team. The kusker will fit any wagon
box from thirty-two to thirty-six inches deep and
weighs about seven hundred pounds. After another
HARVESTING 163

season’s testing, the machine will be put on the market
provided it continues to give satisfaction. The in-
ventor has been working on it for about fifteen years.

THE CRIBS TO USE

Suitable cribs are important where corn is to be
held for feeding or for higher prices. The rather
careless methods in vogue in many of the western
states are to be discouraged. For instance, in many
localities rail pens are used, especially for the surplus
corn. These will fairly well answer the purpose pro-
vided they have good bottoms, are built well off the
ground and are carefully covered as soon as filled. As
a general rule they are left uncovered until some con-
venient season and very frequently heavy rains fall. In
any event, the top layers are badly bleached and some-
times more seriously damaged, while occasionally the
cribs “take water,” resulting in rotten and moldy ears.
Of course, most farmers have permanent covered cribs
which are perfectly safe. These are somewhat more
expensive than the temporary rail cribs, but when the
corn is once in them there is little or no danger of its
spoiling. The loss from rats and mice can be pre-
vented to a certain extent by building cribs well off
the ground, say eighteen to twenty inches, placing
inverted tin pans on top of the pillars, or bands of
flaring tin about them near the top.

The most satisfactory storage place for unshelled
corn is the double crib with a covered passageway
between. This is made of pine lumber. The frame
is made of the usual sills, two by eight joists, two by
four studding, two by four rafters, one by four boards
for siding and the roof shingled or covered with iron
roofing. The boards used for siding must be at least
two inches apart so as to permit free circulation of air.
164 THE BOOK OF CORN

The corn is kept in these cribs until ready for use or
for sale. If sold it may be hauled to the elevator in
the ear, or, what is much better, is shelled at home
where the cobs can be used as firewood and the grain
more easily taken to market.

SHRINKAGE OF EAR CORN

The time to sell depends somewhat upon the
amount of shrinkage from the time the corn is husked
until it is sent to the elevator. This matter of shrink-
age is not well understood, and varies greatly with the
season, the character of the crop, the character of the
crib in which it is stored, etc. A number of tests have
been made by farmers and by experiment stations.
At the Michigan experiment station in 1896 corn was
husked October 3 to 5. By the middle of February the
shrinkage amounted to thirty per cent. This was, of
course, an extreme case. In another test at the same
station corn was husked October 21 and shrank eleven
per cent by January 31, while well-cured corn in Van
Buren county, Michigan, shrank only three per cent
from the time of husking until January 7. At the Iowa
experiment station corn was placed in a crib set on
scales and the decrease noted from month to month;
this test was continued for three years. The first year
the shrinkage was twenty per cent, the second year a
shrinkage of only nine per cent was noted, and the
third year fifteen and eight-tenths per cent. The aver-
age about fifteen per cent. At the Illinois experiment
station one thousand bushels of corn lost eleven and
one-half per cent from the time it was cut until it was
thoroughly air dried. This is the result of a three
years’ test. A Tippecanoe county (Ohio) farmer placed
nineteen thousand seven hundred and one pounds of
white corn in a crib December 15, 1894. By August
16, 1895, it lost fifteen and one-half per cent.
HARVESTING 165.

In Christian county, Illinois, Messrs Ricks, Pro-
vine & Maxon placed sixteen thousand one hundred
and fifty-five bushels of corn in an ordinary covered
crib during the autumn of 1895. The corn was sold
the following July, the shrinkage amounting to seven
and three-fourths per cent. The corn was in fair crib-
bing condition when husked, but the winter and spring
following were unusually dry.

In the fall of 1897 seven thousand one hundred and
six bushels were cribbed, and sold in July, 1900, and
the shrinkage was three hundred and fifty bushels, or
slightly over four and nine-tenths per cent. In 1900

———

Fig 46—Excellent Rat=-Proof Corn Cr

twelve thousand two hundred and twenty-eight bushels
were cribbed, and the shrinkage by the next fall
amounted to four hundred and fifty-three bushels, or
slightly over three and seven-tenths per cent. Mr
Maxon states that the corn in 1899 was very poor, in
fact the poorest ever raised on that tract, but in 1900
the crop was of excellent quality, although the ears
were not large. He believes that his neighbors con-
sider his corn shrinkage very small. This may be due
to his manner of cribbing it and to the quality of the
corn. He has a double crib two hundred and fifty feet
long which holds twenty thousand bushels. The corn
is kept quite dry.
166 THE BOOK OF CORN

In 1881 Dr Manley Miles made some tests in
Michigan and found that from husking time until the
succeeding spring the shrinkage amounted to a little
over fifteen per cent. In Kentucky a number of farm-
ers pay particular attention to shrinkage and they find
it ranges from seven to eighteen per cent. A number
of tests have also been made by experiment stations to
determine the amount of shrinkage after the corn has
been shelled. In most of the tests shelled corn shrank
seven and one-half per cent during five months.

THE LATEST IN CORN HARVESTING MACHINERY

is the corn harvester and shocker. It consists of a
corn binder in which the binding apparatus is replaced
with a platform and windlass. The corn is cut but not
bound. It collects on the platform until a shock of the
desired size is secured. The machine is then stopped,
the shock tied by hand, the windlass ropes adjusted
and the shock deposited on the ground in an upright
position. The shocks are necessarily small. This is
a very satisfactory method of cutting corn where the
corn is to be husked as soon as dry and the fodder put
into larger shocks. If to be fed unhusked it is more
economical to use the binder as the work can be done
more rapidly.
CHAPTER XI

Culture Outside the Corn Belt

M@eaySSENTIAL variation from northern and west-
i. ern custom over probably four-fifths of the

corn planting area of the south is twofold: In

mode of planting and in method of harvesting.
The one naturally follows more or less upon the heels
of the other, although events have recently proved that
the practice of harvesting may be made, to a great
extent, independent of both the system pursued in
planting and of intercultural methods.

SOUTHERN METHODS AND PRACTICES

In plan is noted the first important divergence:
wide rows and a reduction of stand, generally to one
stalk per hill. This method obtains largely in all up-
1and planting from the Virginia and Tennessee lines
southward, and a departure therefrom is a distinct
exception. Even in these states there are portions
where the southern method is exclusively followed,
particularly in the Freestone districts; and, per contra,
farther south there are regions, especially in western
North Carolina, northwest Georgia and north Ala-
bama, where the northern system has always been
practiced.

Spacing, both as to row and hill, greatly varies.
The thinner and poorer the soil the wider the rows are
stretched, until a maximum of six feet (rarely six and
one-half or seven) is attained in the sandy pine barrens
or on the red-galled uplands of the middle south.
Three feet apart in the row is generally the distance
168 THE BOOK OF CORN

fixed for the hills, though this, too, sometimes varies.
The range covered will be found about as follows: Six
by three, maximum; five by three to four and one-half
by three, average; four by four, occasionally ; four by
three (extending in rare instances to four by two and
one-half), minimum. Without the precaution of care-
fully gauging the capacity of each separate land area
and fixing his distances for planting te correspond, the
southern corn grower is liable to invite serious disaster.

There must be noted, in explanation of the orig-
inal cause for this deviation from accepted method, two
things: First, that the cornstalk at the south (by rea-
son of the difference in selected varieties and also from
climatic and morphological causes) is much larger and
more robust than that at the north on the same grade of
soil or in proportion to yield of grain; and second, that
at the critical period of pollination there is always a
want of soil moisture to be feared, since the rainfall at
the south is more variable. Consequently, land that at
the north would sustain and profitably fruit say seven
thousand two hundred and eighty stalks to-the acre,
would at the south be taxed to the utmost to success-
fully develop half that number. Yet the gross weight
of the stover from both acres would be, perhaps, prac-
tically the same, although the southern plat, fertility
being equal, would yield a lower return in grain, an
unavoidable inequality which nature has somehow seen
fit to impose.

For bottom land of course much greater crowd-
ing than that scheduled for upland is permissible, and
invariably utilized—soil conditions more nearly paral-
leling those of the great corn areas of the west. The
rows are seldom or never contracted to less than four
feet, but the hills vary from one and one-half to two
feet, and will sometimes, at the latter distance, contain
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN : BELT

two stalks. Occasionally rich upland admits of the
same treatment as that practiced with bottoms.
Regarding methods, there is one distinctive feature
of difference to be marked in certain sections where
planting in the water furrow is followed. Ordinarily,
the land is broken, and with the careful cultivator har-
rowed or fined, and the rows, whatever. the distance,
are run out with a shovel plow, on the level, fertilizer
distributed, and mixed with a scooter furrow, and the
corn planted therein, either with a dropper or by hand.
But in the peculiar
practice referred to
the land is generally
broken by bedding

to the center—to
every other row in
three feet cotton
land, or to the old
Fig 47—Wagon Box Attachment furrow in corn
For ease in unloading corn, the device here 4
illustrated may be readily made and attached land. This leaves

to rear end of wagon box so that shoveling

169°

may begin at once upon reaching the crib.
Make a sloping floor, a, a few feet long, with
crosspieces on the lower side at 8 and c. This
floor is as wide as the outside of the wagon box.
Then pnt on short sides nailed securely to this
piping: floor, and extending forward a few
inches past the sides of the box and on the out-
side of it. Take out the end gate and gate rods
and put on this attachment, securing it in place
with four bolts. Thelowercrosspiece, c, should
extend out a little beyond the wagon bed on
each side and come down against it, the slop-
ing floor resting on the bottom of the bed an
inch or two from the back end. The attach.
ment can also be fastened with stout hooks and
staples,

level, to insure sufficient moisture for the roots.

a deep water fur-
row in the new
middle. In this
water furrow the
corn is planted and
the soil gradually
worked back du-
ring cultivation,
leaving the surface
again practically
The

plan is sometimes reversed on very flat, poorly drained
land, and the corn planted on the bed thus formed.
The Dunton system, originated by a progressive
farmer, H. J. Dunton of Smyrna, Georgia, has met with
varying favor and success in different localities. The
170 THE BOOK OF CORN

originator has followed it for years and practically
illustrates its efficiency. The system consists in first
determining the capacity of the land as to spacing,
which may be found for a given locality, let us say,
five by three feet, one stalk to the hill. The hills, by
Dunton’s method, are then located double that distance
apart, or six feet in the row, but two stalks are left in
the hill, instead of one. The claim is advanced that a
maximum yield is thereby rendered more certain, on
the theory that the root system of a hill, on reaching
out laterally for plant food in all directions, soon inter-
laces with that of its neighbor, where the hills are
spaced a short distance, as three feet apart ; and, as the
fertilizer* is distributed in a continuous stream down
the row, the foraging capillaries would by earing time
have exhausted the available supply. Were the hills
spaced six feet apart, the roots, having to travel twice
as far, would not have drained the entire reservoir of
plant food at this critical period, and the plant would
therefore have a surplus upon which to draw when
most needed. Two stalks are left in each hill to equal-
ize the total yield by giving the plat the maximum
number it can profitably sustain under the calculated
spacing of five by three, which at five by six would evi-
dently be reduced by one-half with only one stalk to
the hill.

The theory seems plausible enough, and is stren-
uously upheld by those who practice it; but it must be
admitted that the results of careful tests at the Georgia
experiment station do not justify it, and tend to con-
firm the original (and general) theory that the more
nearly the individual plants are equidistant from ad-
jacent plants, the better the result.

*Commercial fertilizer, of course; the theory would not obtain
where the land was improved and the soil was uniformly fertile in
every portion, but only where the crop depended on an annually re-
ceived supply. sae :

“as
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT I7I

The double row or alternating method of spac-
ing has occasionally been successfully employed at the
south, the hills being spaced on either side of the
manured furrow, three or four feet apart from each
other, on the same side of the row, and so alternating
as to reduce the diagonal line between them to half that
distance. The rows vary in width from six to seven
feet from center to center. “A row of cowpeas always
occupies the middles. This method of spacing has
never particularly commended itself.

The Cowpea in Corn Land—The cowpea is, at the
south, the inseparable companion of the corn plant, and
altogether the most valuable legume for restorative
purposes known to the agriculturist of any land. It
is planted either in the middles between the corn rows
and cultivated with the crop; dropped alternately with
_ the corn between the hills, or sown broadcast on laying
by. It thus serves the double purpose of furnishing its
quota of valuable food material at harvest time, either
in peas or vines, and of economically improving the
soil—physically, by the organic matter which its struc-
ture supplies, and chemically, by the enormous store of
nitrogen fixed by its root system.

But the most important function or servitude of
the cowpea consists in the part it plays in the now well
recognized triennial rotation system, by means of which
southern agriculture is gradually being elevated to a
higher and more remunerative plane. Under this sys-
tem corn is made to follow cotton, small grain (oats or
wheat) to succeed corn, and after the grain is har-
vested in June the area is broadcast with cowpeas,
which are cut in September and converted into either
hay or silage, the stubble only remaining to accom-
plish the work of renovation. This, however, it does
so effectually that thereby an amount of organic matter
and potential nitrogen is supplied, acquired after ninety
172 THE BOOK OF CORN

days’ growth from the seed, greater in quantity and
value than that contributed by a two-year-old clover
crop at the north. It is therefore not surprising that
the cowpea should be regarded as the sheet anchor of
the southern farmer. Indeed it is due in great measure
to the impression that the northern plan of harvesting
corn would largely interfere with the accompanying
cowpea crop that the system has been so slow in com-
mending itself to the southern planter.

HARVESTING IN THE SOUTH

The Old Way—Supposedly necessitated by the
differing climatic conditions of the sections, it was gen-
erally deemed impossible, until definitely proved other-
wise, to harvest the southern corn crop in the northern
manner: First, because it was thought that their ear-
lier maturity forced the harvesting of the blades (tech-
nically “fodder” at the south) if utilized at all, as an
additional and separate operation to the subsequent
“shocking” process, since the hotter stuns were pre-
sumed to parch them prematurely. No one for a
moment entertained the idea that the entire stalk could
be cut and cured soon enough to preserve the nutritive
value of the blades without ruinous loss from the
shrinkage of the grain in the ear. Secondly, if the
blades were stripped separately and the naked stalk
and ear left, there was no temptation in the stalk itself,
valueless before the advent of the shredder, on account
of its size and coarseness, to induce its preservation.
Thirdly, because the southern stalks were presumed
to be too large and succulent to respond without injur-
ious fermentation to the curing process. Hence
originated the three following primary differences in
practice under the old system.
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 173

1. In saving fodder, details consist in stripping,
by hand, the entire stalk of its blades on their maturity ;
that is, at as late a date as possible consistent with the

. prevention of the firing or parching of the blades them-
selves, in order to utilize their function as foliage to
the last moment, and prevent subsequent shrinking of
the grain on the ear. Fodder pulling is effected, ac-
cording to latitude and season, from the first of August
to the middle or even the last of September. When the
operator’s hands are full of blades and he can hold no
more the quantity is termed a “hand,” and is bound
rapidly with a twist and hung on a broken stalk to cure.
On gathering a day or so later, from three to four
hands, usually four, form a “bundle,” which is also
bound with a few twisted blades. The bundle weighs
from one and three-fourths to two pounds, and forms
the staple “roughage” of southern draft stock. There
is nothing, indeed, more palatable or wholesome and
little that is more nutritious. Its necessary cost is its
chief objection.

2. Stripping the lower stalk to the ear, or to the
first ear, if more than one, and leaving the blades on the
upper stalk intact to complete the development of the
grain, is another practice. Of course, much material
is thereby lost, and as has been recently proved, with-
out adequate return unless the ear is at the time
abnormally immature.

3. Stripping the lower stalk as before but cutting
off the upper stalk and shocking the tips, until cured,
for rough cattle feed, was practiced largely. This is
more logical and rational.

In handling, the ear left in the field pendent,
in situ, from the stalk, until fully mature, under
improvident management or inferior market facilities,
is frequently “‘slip-shucked” and carted to barn or crib.
More thrifty husbandry pulls shuck and all. In either
174 THE BOOK OF CORN

case the corn is generally stored in the shuck, contrary,
of course, to the northern and western custom, and
husked as needed for daily consumption, or, as in ante-
bellum days, in the periodical and picturesque “corn
shuckings” of song and story. These, however, are
almost traditionary. The times have changed and
more practical, if less romantic conditions prevail.

What forms under the new practice the great bulk
of the conserved stover, was, and under old methods
still is, lost, except for the casual benefit yielded to the
soil by its gradually decomposing organic matter. Left
standing in the field it was (at best) in preparation
for the ensuing crop, threshed down and turned under
on breaking the land. More commonly, however, haste
and improvidence prevail, and the stalks are wind-
rowed or piled, and burned incontinently, only their
mineral content of plant food availing a return, and
even that irregularly distributed or concentrated in the
ash pile. Surely there can exist no vestige of regret
that at length the southern public has awakened from
its lethargy and is now keenly alive to the fact that
there is a saving alternative.

The New Way—Light out of darkness is due to
the advent of the corn shredder. Its mission has just
begun, but the beginning is good and its future prog-
ress will be sweeping, complete, triumphant. It is im-
possible, whatever the connection, to ignore the value
of the shredder, the part it bears and the work it is
doing, and has to do, as a factor in the progress and
advancement of southern agriculture.

While the silo has accomplished much, the shredder
is destined to effect even more. Its importance cannot
be overestimated, for it is revolutionizing quietly, but
effectually, an enormous industry in a dozen common-
wealths. What it means in one state, alone, of the
twelve, and for one season, let the following statement
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 175

of Director R. J. Redding, of the Georgia experiment
station, attest: After showing (in bulletin 39) the
average proportion of shredded corn hay to the bushel
of grain to be ninety pounds, and of naked stalks about
forty-two pounds, or twenty-eight hundred pounds of
corn hay (of which thirteen hundred pounds is supplied
by the stalks) to every thirty-one bushels of grain, the
average yield per acre of the particular crop tested,
Director Redding says:

“This 1300 pounds represents the food loss for every 31
bushels of shelled corn. The corn crop of Georgia, for con-
venience, may be stated at 31,000,000 bushels, sometimes less,
often more. Then, at 1300 pounds of corn hay, heretofore
not saved, for every 31 bushels of corn, the total loss in the
state would be 1300X1,000,000=1,300,000,000 (thirteen hundred
millions of pounds), or 650,000 tons of corn hay. This is a
very good food and worth at least $10 a ton, or a total of
$6,500,000. This is about enough to pay for all the commer-
cial fertilizers used in Georgia in one year. This may be con-
sidered a remarkable statement, and it will no doubt surprise
many a farmer who has not thought about it and who has,

perhaps, imagined that he has been very saving and eco-
nomical.”

Elsewhere he states that this saving would be
equivalent to a rise in price of over six dollars per bale
for the entire cotton crop of the state, or would furnish
each head of draft stock and every milch cow in Geor-
gia more than six pounds of good provender per day
for the entire year. All this for one state, only; when
extended to include the entire south, the aggregate be-
comes, indeed, enormous. Fortunately the lesson these
figures carry is now being earnestly and enthusiastically
taught—aptly and thankfully received. Reawakened
hope has induced renewed energy and effort, and the
result will soon be made apparent by the visibly in-
creased thrift and prosperity of the entire section.

Many workers are contributing diligently, intelli-
gently and successfully to the mission of the shredder,
and each deserves his meed of praise, not only for what
176 THE BOOK OF CORN

he is doing, but for what he has done. Yet to Director
Redding, if to anyone, should be given the chief
credit for the initial steps leading to the present
active metamorphosis in corn culture at the south. The
Georgia experiment station first practically established
the value of the shredder and exploited its principal
product, corn hay, by proving incontestably that the
anticipated and dreaded shrinkage of grain upon the
ear was a mere phantom of the imagination, amounting
at most, to some two bushels per acre in a yield of
thirty-odd, with a consequent loss of one dollar, offset
by a gain of more than six dollars in the stalks alone,
exclusive of the saving resulting from the substitution
of the new for the old way in the manipulation of the
blades and shocks—certainly some four dollars addi-
tional per acre. The Georgia station and its director
must also be credited with the chief part in exploiting
the “triennial rotation system,” and impressing its im-
portance upon the public.

The large size of the stalk in southern varieties of
corn necessitates a difference of procedure from the
northern method in one detail—shocking. It forces
the employment of the “grasshopper,” a light wooden
frame, some five feet high, like a capital A, with one or
two more cross-slats. From the apex of the A extends
an eight-foot scantling diagonally to the ground. This
simple apparatus, moved about the field by the
shockers, materially assists the process. of bunching
and binding, the workmen mounting it to arrange and
tie the stalks,

One Acre Vielded 255 Bushels—In considering
southern methods of growing corn it is interesting to
note briefly the record of Z. J. Drake of Marlborough
County, South Carolina, who produced the grand prize
crop in the American Agriculturist contest conducted
in 1889. From a single acre Mr Drake grew two hun-
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 177

dred and fifty-five bushels shelled corn, or two hun-
dred and thirty-nine bushels crib cured corn.

Late in February one thousand bushels stable
manure and five hundred pounds each of manipulated
guano, cottonseed meal and kainit were broadcasted on
the acre and then plowed under. Following the plow
six hundred bushels whole cottonseed were strewn in
the furrows. A subsoil plow was run through a depth
of twelve inches. The land was well harrowed and the
rows planted alternately March 2, three and six feet
apart. An improved strain of the common Gourd
variety of southern white dent corn was planted,.five
or six kernels being dropped to each foot of the row.
It was planted in the rows five inches deep but covered
only one inch. At the first hoeing the plants were
thinned to one stalk every five or six inches, the miss-
ing spots replanted. On April 20 the six-foot spaces
were plowed and a mixture composed of two hundred
pounds each guano, kainit, cottonseed meal, acid phos-
phate and bone was applied and hoed in. On May
15 the three-foot spaces were plowed, three hundred
pounds nitrate soda sown and worked in. On May 25
two hundred pounds guano were applied in the wide
spaces. Another application of five hundred pounds
guano, cottonseed meal and kainit was put on June 8,
and one hundred pounds nitrate soda June 11. The
crop was harvested November 25, before several repu-
table witnesses. It yielded seventeen thousand four
hundred and seven pounds of corn in the ear, of which
one hundred and forty pounds was soft corn. Several
tests showed that one hundred pounds ear corn yielded
eighty-two pounds shelled corn, which made the yield
two hundred and fifty-four bushels forty-nine pounds
of shelled corn at fifty-six pounds to the bushel, which,
kiln-dried, to contain only ten per cent water, would
contain two hundred and thirty-nine bushels.
178 THE BOOK OF CORN

CULTURE IN NEW ENGLAND AND THE EAST GENERALLY

New England offers varied conditions for the
growth of the corn crop. In the most northern por-
tions of Vermont, New Hampshire, and central Maine,
there are but ninety to one hundred days free from
frost, so that only the earliest maturing kinds of flint
corn can be successfully grown. In the southern por-
tion with one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five
days free from frost, there is no trouble in maturing
all of the flint varieties and many of the dent sorts.
Owing to the great expense formerly attached to grow-
ing corn by the old hand methods, this crop fell some-
what into disrepute and the drift of agricultural opin-
ion from 1865 to 1875, or later, was that this crop
could not be grown with profit, either because of the
cheaply produced and transported western product,
or because of the demand of our markets for supplies
in producing which the west could not compete. There-
fore, it was considered a stroke of good policy to grow
the other products and buy the corn needed for home
consumption. Since 1875, this opinion has been mate-
rially modified until it is now generally conceded that
corn is one of the most profitable crops farmers can
produce.

Returning Favor for Field Corn—Silage methods
had made the fodder part of the crop so valuable as
to pay the cost of cultivation, while at the west it had
little value. The rough and rugged character of most
of New England farm land precludes the economical
use of the methods and machinery employed in the
corn belt. Small farms, small fields, short rows, a thin
soil often filled with loose and fast stones makes it im-
practicable to use two-horse cultivators and planters.
The old time method of planting by hand and covering
TILA t93deyD 29g | *JaSsu} 0} Suruurdaq ysnf{
JUL] gq UIOD & Jo JDSWdoOTaANq JOOY—Rr JI4

180 THE BOOK OF CORN

with a hoe, as well as of hoeing the corn and plowing
it, has gone by, and in its place have come the hand
and one-horse planter, the weeder and one-horse cul-
tivator.

The heavy crops, some .wo hundred bushels ears
per acre, are generally grown upon the inverted sod of
mowing fields. Good corn, although not so many
bushels per acre, is produced upon old, wornout pas-
ture land. This land is best and most economically
prepared by the cut and cover system of plowing any
time during the summer. If time will be valuable the
following spring, harrow down the furrows in October
and crossplow in a dressing of good manure. If the
manure cannot be afforded, then simply crossplow and
in the spring use half a ton per acre of superphosphite,
sowing about six hundred pounds, to be harrowed in,
and put the balance in drill. With this outlay and good
cultivation, from one hundred and thirty to one hun-
dred and forty bushels ears and about.two and one-half
tons fodder per acre can be secured. If manured in the
fall, harrow down well the following spring and a
little phosphate in the drill will give about the same
result. :

Early Growth Best in the East—The corn plant
secures its growth during the first portion of the
season; the latter portion of the season being utilized
in maturing the crop. The seed bed should be so pre-
pared as to secure the maximum fertility, moisture and
temperature in conjunction, hence shallow plowing is
usually followed as leaving the most fertile portions
near the surface where the rains penetrate and where
the sun exerts the greatest power. The depth of plow-
ing wil] vary with the soil and the season, but an aver-
age depth of about five inches is usually followed for
spring plowing
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 181

The best soil for corn is a strong, sandy loam or
an alluvial soil, but it can be grown successfully on any
soil where water does not stand between its particles
within eight or ten inches of the surface.

Most New England soils, especially those of clayey
formation, can be handled better in the fall than
in the spring. It gives the air and frost a longer time
to work on the particles; in other words, there is a
longer time for unavailable plant food to be changed
into the available form. Gravelly soils and those that
leach easily by rains, perhaps can better be plowed in
the spring. They dry off readily and planting is never
materially delayed. When the soil is dry in spring the
disk and spring-tooth harrows should be used, but do
not hurry. It will take another freeze to remedy the
evil done by plowing or harrowing a wet soil. Soil
that has been plowed in the fall is usually compacted
and hardened by spring. In this case replowing is
advisable.

PLANTING AND CULTIVATING

The harrowing should be thorough and should
follow the plowing, precede the application of manure
and fertilizer and again follow the application of. the
fertilizer elements. On sod ground, a disk or cutaway
harrow does by far the best work.

Corn is called a gross feeder and responds quickly
to heavy feeding if the elements are presented in solu-
ble form. Best results are obtained by broadcasting
the fertilizer or manure after plowing and harrowing in
thoroughly, but probably the majority of farmers still
follow the practice of drawing out the manure and
spreading it before plowing. On lands which are sub-
ject to washing, the manure should be incorporated
with the soil as quickly as possible after being put on.
The amount used per acre varies greatly with character
182 THB BOOK OF CORN

of the soil and the quantity available. Five cords of
good yard manure per acre are sufficient, or six hun-
dred to eight hundred pounds fertilizer. The quantity
used, however, is governed by individual circum-
stances. For bringing up thin and wornout soils, cow-
peas or clovers may be used with advantage. These
precede the corn crop. The cowpeas are plowed under
in the fall and the clovers in the spring and chemical
fertilizer is used with them.

In planting, both the checkrow and drill systems
are followed, the latter giving slightly the best yield on
soils not too weedy. This method is also used largely
where the crop is grown for fodder or for the silo.
The checkrow system allows of cultivation both ways,
and is almost invariably followed where the crop is
grown for the grain. The rows vary in width from
three to three and one-half and occasionally four fect,
depending somewhat upon the variety and strength of
the soil, the greater distance being used on thin soils
and in large-growing kinds. Where corn is planted in
drills the rows are commonly three and one-half feet
and the kernels dropped from six inches to one foot in
the row, although for fodder purposes it is planted
thicker, yet great caution should be used that when in
full growth it is not so thick as to shut out the free cir-
culation of the air and the penetration of sunlight to the
great mass of the stalks and leaves. Horse corn drills
are much used and recommended because they dis-
tribute fertilizer in the row at the same time of drop-
uing the seed. This gives the corn a quick start and
pushes it along during the early part of the season.
Early planting is of great advantage, but the exact
time of planting can only be governed by the neighbor-
hood and the season. The middle of May in most
seasons for southern New England is about right.

The object of cultivation is threefold, viz, for till-
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 183

age, to conserve moisture and to kill weeds. Many
farmers, here as well as elsewhere, lose sight of the
first two objects and cultivate merely to keep down the
weeds. Soon after the corn is planted, and before it
comes up, the fine steel-tooth weeder, a smoothing or
straight-tooth spike harrow, is run over the field to
break up the crust which may have formed and to kill
the young weeds. This operation is repeated at inter-
vals of a week until the corn is six to eight inches high,
when the one-horse cultivator is commonly employed.
If used frequently and before the weeds have taken
strong foothold, the weeder is the cheapest and most
thorough implement for cultivation in use at the pres-
ent day.

The hoe is seldom used by progressive farmers,
except occasionally in small portions of the field which
are very weedy. The one-horse cultivator, and, on
some large farms, the two-horse spreading cultivator, is
run through the corn both ways from two to four times
until the corn reaches nearly to the horse’s back. At
the last cultivation, side wings are often put on the
cultivator and a slight hilling given to cover up any
weeds between the rows which may have escaped the
cultivator.

Some farmers make a practice of seeding grass in
standing corn and are quite successful in obtaining a
good stand. The last cultivation is level and then tim-
othy and redtop are sown by hand or with a seed sower.
The seed is raked in either by hand with a broad rake
or by the use of a fine-tooth cultivator. The corn is cut
low and the stubble rolled in the spring so as to give no
interference to the mowing machine. Crimson clover
is also usually sown before the last cultivation to plow
under the next year as a green manure. The depth to
which the cultivator is run should vary with the season
and the soil. A good rule is to cultivate deeply in a
184 THH BOOK OF CORN

wet season in order to dry out the land as much as pos-
sible. In a drouth, cultivate shallow to secure a fine
surface mulch.

HARVESTING AND CURING

The advent of the corn harvester, which cuts and
binds the corn into small bundles at one operation, is
working a revolution in the methods of harvesting
corn. The harvester can be worked successfully on
most rolling fields not too steep for mowers, reapers or
other harvesting machinery. If the corn is to be put in
the silo, the bundles are loaded onto wagons and drawn
to the cutter. If the corn is to be cured and husked,
the bundles are carried together and set up in large
shocks or “stooks,” as commonly known in New Eng-
land, being tied at the top with a stout twine or braid
of straw. Where the harvester is not employed, har-
vesting is commonly done by two methods. Upon this
subject, Professor Levi Stockbridge, ex-president of
the Massachusetts agricultural college and an eminent
authority, says:

“Harvest by cutting the fodder with the ears upon it, and
secure the whole from injury by placing it in compact stooks.
It will cure sound and hard in average seasons if it is har-
vested with the stalk, when it is getting out of the milk, and
the outer end of the kernel is beginning to glaze. As all the
ears of a field will not be in the same condition at any given
time, harvest when an average shows a surface too hard to be
easily indented with the thumb nail; but at the same time
regard must be had to the condition of the stalk and leaf, and
the season.

“Whether ripe or green, it should be secured in the stook
before frost. The grain will not perfect itself after the leaves
and stalks have been frozen; and the fodder is nearly worth-
less. When the leaves and stalks have changed their dark ~
green to a straw color, the lower leaves and the tops of some
of the upper ones will have begun to shrivel, the whole crop is
in a condition to harvest with the greatest profit. The precise
method pursued in harvesting will be determined somewhat by
the after-use which is to be made of the land, and the charac-
ter of the help employed. If the field is to be sown to winter
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 185

grain, and before the husking of corn and the removal of the
stooks, the following method will be the easiest and quickest:
Determine by the rows of corn the line on which the first row
of stooks shall be placed, and then cut four rows of corn and
lay them in one row of, bundles of a size which a man can
handle without extreme effort; then on either side of the row
of bundles cut four more rows ‘of corn in the same manner, but
lay them on the ground with the butts of the stalks toward
the row first laid down.

“Rye straw is the best material for binding these bundles,
which should be done just as near the ears as possible; and,
while the workman has the bundle in his hands, he should turn
it over endwise, without lifting it, so that its tip lies where
he can reach it and set it into the stook without any carrying.
Proceed in this manner, putting twelve rows of corn and three
rows of bundles into one row of stooks, until the field is fin-
ished. This method will leave wide spaces between the stooks
for plowing and sowing; and the strip on which the corn
stands can be plowed afterward, which is preferable, if the
crop is early. In cases where the corn land is not wanted
for sowing, another method may be adopted, which avoids
much hard labor, and secures the crop with greater dispatch,
as follows:

“Select the corn row on which the first row of stooks is
to be placed, and bend over two hills of corn at the ears, and
tie the tops together by turning them over each other in a
half-knot; then cut two or four rows on each side of this,
and without Jaying them on the ground, stand them, handful
by handful, in a bracing position, evenly about the two hills
which have been tied together. Proceed in this manner until
the whole field is completed. In heavy corn it is sufficient to
put five rows into one row of stooks. A two- legged ‘wooden
horse’ is sometimes used to support the corn as it is cut; but
in some respects it is not as good as the tied corn hills. In
both these methods of harvesting, the stooks should be no
larger than is necessary to enable them to stand firmly; should
be so arranged as to permit a free passage of wind through
them from the ears to the ground: and should have their tops
turned over, and be securely bound so low as to strengthen and
support them.

“The grain will usually be ready for the bin when the
leaves are dry, and the stalks dry for half the distance between
the ears and ground. If the ‘stub’ stalks are quite dry, or con-
tain visible juice, they will do no harm in the stack or mow, if
the upper stalks and leaves are well dried. The method of
husking must be governed somewhat by the weather, the floor-
room in the barn for doing the work, and whether it is desired
to save the husks separate from the rest of the fodder. The
main thing in the process is to utilize time, and save expense,
by handling the stalks as little as possible. This will be ac-
18H THE BOOK OF CORN

complished by picking the ears from the stalks in the fields, to
be husked afterward, and then to cart the stalks directly to
the storage room. Husking in the fields, with average hands,
is objectionable, and more or less of the fodder will be wasted.”

Old Methods Displaced—The old method called
“top stalking,” which was practiced by our forefathers
and the Indians, is but little followed to-day. Theo-
retically it consists of cutting off the sterile stalks at
the ground and the fertile ones smoothly at the junc-
tion of the ear, when the stalks and leaves are quite
green, and the grain just commencing to harden; but
practically it is the cutting off of the top stalks, with
one clean sweep at each hill, near the top of the highest
ears. The remainder of the stalks, with the ears, are
then allowed to stand in the field until they become dry,
sear and dead. Then the ears are husked on the hill,
or picked and stored in some building convenient to the
corn crib, and husked as opportunity offers.

The fodder remaining in the field after taking off
the corn is sometimes cut at the ground, and taken to
the barn for feeding the stock; but generally the stock
are turned into the field in the bleak days of November
and December, to pick off some of the dry leaves and
husks, and to trample down the remainder preparatory
to plowing it into the soil. This method is too wasteful
for the practical farmer. More nutriment is contained
below the ear than above it, and practically all of this
is waste so far as its feeding value is concerned. The
hot sun dries instead of ripens the ears and neither the
quality nor the yield of corn is as good as where it is
allowed to ripen naturally.

CORN GROWING UNDER IRRIGATION

Aside from irrigation itself, the general features
of corn culture under irrigation do not differ materially
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 187

from those required for the best results in a humid
climate. For nearly all of the irrigated region, fall
plowing is preferred, not only because it gives a better
opportunity for weathering and disintegration during
the winter, but also because the soil particles have:an
opportunity to settle together and pack sufficiently for
quick capillary attraction and to prevent too free cir-
culation of the air to deprive it of moisture. The
spring plowing is too loose and open for best results,
giving it an opportunity to dry out too fast, and leav-
ing insufficient moisture for germinating the seed. The
deep plowing is also desirable to afford a reservoir to
hold the winter and spring precipitation, and increase
the depth to which roots may readily penetrate for food
and moisture.

The same early surface cultivation in the spring
is as desirable as in other methods of corn growing to
destroy the weeds just as soon as they have started,
and to establish a soil mulch to prevent the loss of
moisture by evaporation. The same rules govern as to
the time of planting, that is, when the season is ad-
vanced sufficiently to warm up the soil enough to start
the seed promptly after it is put into the ground. For
irrigation, the land needs some additional preparation.
The field should be graded to an even slope in order
that the water may pass freely over it. Knolls and
ridges must be leveled down, holes and depressions
filled up and dead furrows eliminated. The frequent
cultivation with a harrow or a weeder from the time
of planting until the corn is too large for this method
of tillage is essential also to kill the weeds, to renew the
soil mulch and to keep the land in a proper condition
of tilth.

Irrigation—Irrigation should be deferred until
the corn shows the need of it. This is usually deter-
mined by its very dark color, or by its wilting slightly
188 THE BOOK OF CORN.

during the middle of the day, showing that the evap-
oration more than balances the supply of water reach-
ing the roots by contact or capillarity. The delay of
the first irrigation serves a good purpose in causing the
roots to extend downward to seek moisture and so
start the growth in the right direction to prepare the
plant for any lack of moisture that may occur. Early
irrigation tends to make the plant shallow instead ot
deep-rooted, the direction of the roots being parallel
with the surface or at a slight angle to it. Any after-
extension caused by a short supply of water in this case
is not nearly as effective as when the roots are already
pointed downward, directly toward the moist soil.

Flooding and Furrow—Corn may be irrigated
either by the furrow or by the flooding method. By the
former the water is confined to furrows running near
the rows or midway between them, and passes through
until the soil is made wet by capillarity. By the latter
method the water is distributed over the field from
head ditches and laterals the same as for small grain
crops. Farmers are divided in opinion as to which of
these methods is better. Though a large majority of
them follow the former, there are many points favor-
able to the latter. By flooding the work is more
quickly done and less labor is required to prepare for it.
The soil takes up more water and is more thoroughly
and evenly saturated, and because of the extra mois-
ture taken, in many localities one irrigation is saved
during the season. Those who have followed the
flooding method claim that no harm comes from it, if.
the irrigation is followed by cultivation as soon as the
ground is dry enough to be worked to prevent baking,
and this precaution is necessary, too, even in the fur-
row method.

Soils differ so much in their texture and tendency :
to puddle and bake that neither method can be recom-
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT 189

mended as best .n all cases. Soils of a very fine texture
that puddle easily will, no doubt, give better results
from the furrow method, while those of medium tex-
ture that are little inclined to puddle or bake may just
as well be flooded and thus save the extra labor and
expense in preparation and applying the water. If it
should be necessary to irrigate while the corn is yet
quite small, the furrow method should be followed,
because any puddling or packing close around the
plant at this time will check its growth and. perhaps,
prevent its reaching full development. The last culti-
vation before flooding should be made in the direction
that the water is expected to flow over the land, so that
the lines left by the implement may assist in its passage.

When the furrow method is adopted, the inter-
tillage is just the same as that for flooding until the
crop is ready to be irrigated, then furrows are run,
usually half way between the rows, by a single shovel
plow sufficiently deep to permit the small stream of
water to flow through without flooding the rows. By
this method the moisture reaches the corn from the
furrow through capillarity and is not apt to cause pud-
dling or baking. It is presumed that the stream will
be confined to the furrow, though on pieces of land
that have not been carefully leveled and given head
ditches at proper intervals, the furrows are likely to
run over and flood large areas, and the portion of the
field adjoining the head ditch is much more thoroughly
saturated than that farthest away. When confined to
the furrows much water is wasted unless provision is
made to carry it on to another crop. The hilling sys-
tem of cultivation must accompany the furrow method
of irrigation, and this exposes more surface for evap-
oration, the ridges formed drying out rapidly.

The time required for thorough saturation varies
greatly, depending upon the condition and texture of
1g0 THE BOOK OF CORN

the soil. Ina slightly sandy loam, the work is accom-
plished in a brief period, but more and more time is
required as the soil grows finer in texture or more
clayey in composition. The first irrigation is some-
times performed by running small furrows near the
corn rows. In such cases the soil is not all made wet
and less water is required.

Frequency of Application—The frequency of irri-
gation depends principally upon the capacity of the soil
and subsoil for holding water, the depth to which roots
may penetrate, and the attention given to keeping up
soil mulch and freeing the land of weeds. The method
of preparing the soil for planting, that is, the depth of
plowing and thoroughness in pulverizing, and the quan-
tity of water applied at each irrigation, will also affect
the frequency. A sandy loam with a gravelly subsoil
is very much less retentive of water and will, hence, re-
quire more frequent irrigation than a slightly clay loam
with a medium clay subsoil. The frequency is also
affected by the number of windy days and the regu-
larity of the sunshine. The more cloudy days and the
less wind, the more slow the evaporation and the less
frequent the irrigation.

As the corn advances in growth and shades the
ground more and more, the evaporation is retarded
and there is a longer interval between the times of
applying the water. While enough moisture should
be kept in the ground for rapid growth, there is no time
that an abundant supply of water is more needed or
will have better effect than during the period covering
the time from the appearance of the silk and tassel until
the ears are formed, filled, and fully grown

Time to Apply—If the soil contains a medium
amount of moisture at the time of planting, and it is
carefully conserved, there will be no need of irrigating
until the corn is well started. It is better to irrigate
CULTURE OUTSIDE CORN BELT Ig!

’ before planting than too soon after the corn is up. The
usual plan of having the ground alternately wet and
dry gives the right conditions for rapid growth, since
the excess of water passing off from the surface by
evaporation brings the soluble food constituents near
to the surface where they are within reach of the
plant roots.

The soil should contain enough moisture at plant-
ing to germinate the seed and to give the plants a good
start. Delay the first irrigation until need of it is defi-
nitely shown, so the roots will take the right direction
and penetrate the soil to some distance. After irriga-
tion is begun keep the crop moderately supplied until
the silks and tassels appear, when it should have an
abundance until the ears are filled, after which irriga-
tion may cease.

Amount to Apply—The soil should be given all
the water it will hold at each irrigation, but there is
no standard, the amount depending upon the texture
and other conditions. It will vary from a few inches
to a foot. From one to two acre feet are required to
mature a crop and it should be applied at intervals of
from fifteen to twenty-five days, depending upon the
location and the character and preparation of the soil.
CHAPTER XII

Herding

avqT is not possible within the limits of a single
I chapter to present a treatise on animal nutrition.

No attempt is made to discuss the many interest-

ing and important scientific principles which
form the basis of the rational feeding of animals, be-
yond those problems which are intimately related to
the proper and profitable utilization of the corn plant.
In no case is it possible or indeed advisable to attempt
to set down fixed rules or definite directions for the
guidance of the feeder. Local and varying conditions
with reference to the abundance, convenience and
cheapness of certain classes of foodstuffs; the class,
quality and value of the animal product sought to be
produced; the convenience to market, etc, are impor-
tant and usually determining factors to which it would
be impossible to make a general adjustment of any set
of fixed rules.

Corn is the great American stock food. No other
plant compares with it in its wide and general distri-
bution, in the ease, certainty and cheapness with which
it may be produced; in the yield of valuable food ma-
terial per acre; and in the close relation it bears to
the development of the live stock interests of the
country. Every state in the Union, excepting Ari-
zona, Idaho and Nevada, is reported as growing corn
commercially. Where corn is grown extensively, there
the live stock interests are extensively developed and
prosperous. A corn center is synonymous with a live
stock center, and the geographical distribution of corn
production is in a general way an index to the dis-
FEEDING 193

tribution of live stock. Eleven prominent corn states,
producing something over seventy-five per cent of all
the corn of the United States, produce practically
sixty per cent of the horses, mules, cattle, hogs,
milch cows and sheep of the country. From these
states are drawn the chief supplies of well-finished
beeves and hogs, and well-developed horses and mules.
They are the feed yards of the nation. It is a signifi-
cant fact also that in this territory are concentrated
the. great‘ herds of blooded horses, cattle, hogs and
sheep. A country pre-eminently adapted to corn
growing is at once pre-eminently adapted to the pro-
duction of a high class of live stock. Even the stock-
men and dairymen on the high priced lands of the
east find it profitable, indeed necessary, to make corn
the basis of the rations for their stock.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CORN

In accompanying tables in Appendix will be found
the average chemical composition of the grain, mill
products, etc, of the different types of corn.

A more detailed study of the chemical composi-
tion of the corn kernel has been made by the New
Jersey experiment station. One hundred grams of
corn kernels were separated as nearly as possible into
skin, germ, and starchy and hard portion, and the
different parts analyzed, with the result shown below:

~ERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF DRY CORN KERNEL

Propor- Nitrogen
tion of | Ash | Protein | Fiber free Fat

parts extract
Original kernel. 1.7 12.6 2.0 79.4 4.3
BIC isis-ccciieisssarestoieceiersoteie : 1.3 6.6 16.4 4.1 1.6
Germ vice. sce c ee case eee: 10.2 11.1 21.7 2.9 34,7 29.6
Starchyand hard parts] 84.3 7 12.2 6 85.0 1.5

194 THE BOOK OF CORN

These results are of particular interest in con-
nection with a study of the by-products of corn, such
as the gluten feeds, germ meal, hominy chop, corn

Fig 49—Characteristics of Kernel of Corn

a. The husk, or skin, which covers the whole kernel; it consists of twu
distinct layers, the outer and inner, which when removed constitute the bran
and contain practically all of the crude fiber of the whole grain.

b. A layer of gluten cells, which lies immediately underneath the husk; it
is yellowin color, and cannot be readily separated fioar the remainder of the
kernel. This partis the richest of any in gluten. e .

c. The germ, which is readily distinguished by its position and form; it
also contains gluten, though it is particularly rich in oiland mineral constituents.

The large portion, which is composed chiefly of starch; the dark color
indicates the yellow, flinty part, in which the starch holding cells are more
closely compacted.

bran, etc, resulting from the manufacture of starch,
hominy, glucose, etc, from corn. These corn feeds
FEEDING 19s

are now offered on the markets in such quantities as
to be of considerable commercial importance and to
be worthy of the careful study of the feeder.

The cut, Fig 49, which we are permitted to
use through the courtesy of the New Jersey experi-
ment station, will help the student to a clearer under-
standing of. the particular parts of the corn kernel
referred to in the tables above, and what parts enter
chiefly into the composition of the different corn by-
products now on the market.

It will be observed that the starchy portion con-
stitutes more than four-fifths of the entire kernel, that
the germ, which is only about one-tenth of the kernel,
contains practically two-thirds of the fat and almost
two-thirds of the ash of the entire kernel. The crude
fiber is largely in the skin.

Most of the so-called corn feeds are what is left
after the starch has been removed more or less com-
pletely from the grain. This is accomplished by
mechanical means, and leaves the residue uninjured
by the process, which in brief is as follows:

The grain is ground into meal, usually in warm
running water or after it has been thoroughly soaked,
and the various parts of the kernel named in the table
are separated in water by gravity. The skin or hulls,
forming the bran, float on the. surface; the germs sink
to the bottom, while the starch and hard portions of
the kemel, carrying in addition to the starch a consid-
erable portion of gluten cells, are held in suspension
in the water. This water, carrying the starch and
gluten in suspension, is then conducted slowly through
long troughs, where the starch, being the heavier,
settles to the bottom, and the ‘gluten is carried on, to
be recovered by evaporating the water.

The composition, therefore, of the by-product
will depend upon the particular part of the kernel
196 THE BOOK OF CORN

from which it is made. When derived largely from
the hulls, as in the case of bran, the content of crude
fiber will be relatively high, and the content of protein
and fat will be relatively low. If made from the
germs, as in the case of the germ meals, it will run rela-
tively high in fat and ash and moderately high in
protein. The gluten as separated from the starch,
when unmixed with other materials, is distinguished
by its high protein content.

As found in the market, the principal brands are “sugar
corn” or “starch” feed, made up mostly of hulls and germs;
gluten meal, which comes from the flinty portion of the kernel;
and gluten feed, which is now a mixture of hulls and the
gluten part. When unmixed with other parts of the kernel, thr
hulls are also known as corn bran, and the germ portion from
which the oil has been pressed is called, when ground, germ
oil meal. The corn bran contains the least protein and the
gluten meal the most, while the gluten feed and germ oil
meal occupy a position between these. It should be remarked
that the commercial names for gluten products are not always
a safe guide in their purchase.*

All foods of this class, including such other by-
products as wheat bran, wheat middlings, linseed
meal, cottonseed meal, etc, should invariably be pur-
chased on the basis of a guaranteed content of pro-
tein, fat, nitrogen free extract and fiber, just as com-
mercial fertilizers are now purchased on a guaranteed
content of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid.

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS

While the tables to which reference is made,
showing the amounts of the different classes of nutri-
ents contained in the different varieties of corn, and
the different parts of the plant, cannot fail to be inter-
esting and instructive to the student of animal nutri-
tion, at the same time it should be borne in mind that
only a part of any vegetable food is digested by the

*Jordan—The Feeding of Animals,

Fig 50—A California Silo Made with Studding
198 THE BOOK OF CORN
animal, the undigested portion being voided in the
form of dung, as so much worthless or waste material.
In general the grains and concentrated feeds are
more completely digested than the coarse fodders. A
larger proportion of the corn grain is digested than
of the corn stover. A larger proportion of wheat than
of the straw. It is
worthy of remark in
passing that the corn
grain is one of the
most concentrated and
is the most completely
digested of any of the
grain feeds. Then,
too, the digestibility
of any foodstuff may

Pig 51—Rack for Fodder
In feeding unshredded corn fodder, care

in handling may be secured through the
use of the simple device here illustrated.
This rack is easy to fill and will retain the
stalks, allowing the cattle to eat off the
leaves and other eatable portions. The rack
is to be built against a fence so that the
filling can be done from the outside. ‘The
manger a is only high enough to retain the
fodder. Make the frame of 2x4’s. The
rack 4 should be made, of four-inch fencing
lumber and slats about four inches apart.
The outside rack c should be set out far
enough so the cattle can reach down easily
tc pick up the chaff. The bottom e may
be floored and this surrounded by a six-

be affected within cer-
tain narrow limits by
its palatability, by the
quantity consumed by

‘the animal, the stage

of growth or develop-
ment at which it was
harvested, and _ its
combination with
other foodstuffs.

inch board to guard against waste.

Contrary to the
general impression, the digestibility of a feed does
not appear to be affected either favorably or
unfavorably, at least to any appreciable degree under
ordinary circumstances, by cooking, soaking, grind-
ing, or the method of preserving or drying, so ‘long.
as it is not subjected to mechanical loss of the finer
parts in drying and handling or to molding or fer-
menting in the process of preserving.

The amount of digestible nutrients, therefore, is
FEEDING T99

a far safer measure of the feeding value of any sub-
stance than the chemical composition. For aside from
its palatableness the value of a food depends first upon
the amount of digestible material supplied, and second,
upon the proportion of protein, carbohydrates and fat
in this digestible material. To present this informa-
tion concerning the products of the corn plant in a
form convenient for reference, a table has been ar-
ranged, which may be found in the Appendix.

TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF CORN

The two most important ways in which the effi-
ciency and value of the corn plant may be increased
are: First, by supplementing the corn and stover with
such foodstuffs are are relatively rich in protein, so as
to furnish the animal a more nearly balanced ration
than these materials alone supply. Second, by care-
fully saving and properly feeding the great crop of
corn stover (the plant after the ears are removed)
which now for the most part is allowed to go to waste
in the great corn belt of the central west.

Corn Is a Carbonaceous Food—Notwithstanding
the fact that corn is the best single stock food known
and that thousands of animals are successfully win-
tered or fattened each year on an exclusive ration
of corn and corn stover or some similar roughage, it
is true that they are by no means a perfectly balanced
or complete food. As has already been shown by the
tables of composition and digestible nutrients, corn
contains a very large quantity of carbonaceous matter
in proportion to the protein compounds. It does not
give a proper balance between the carbohydrates
(which include starch, the sugars, fat, and digestible
fiber) and the protein.

In other words, practical experience and scientific
experiments have proved beyond doubt that by com-
200 THE BOOK OF CORN

bining corn with some feed that will increase the pro-
portion of protein, a more efficient ration will be the
result; more rapid gains will be made by the animals
to which it is fed; more rapid and healthful growth
will be made on young animals; a larger flow of milk
will be obtained from the dairy cow, and the steer will
carry a smoother finish and a finer coat to market ; and,
under ordinary circumstances, or if the material for
-balancing the corn be selected judiciously and with a
due regard to the cost as compared with the increased
efficiency obtained, an increased profit will be returned.

PARTIAL LIST OF FOODS RICH IN PROTEIN

Percentage digestible nutrients

Carbohy- Fat

Protein drates

Corn (for comparison) .........-.-+
Corn stover (for comparison)......

Cottonseed meal........ .....
Linseed meal—old process.
Linseed meal—new process
Glucose meal.
Grano gluten
Gluten meal
Sugar meal..
Wheat middlings.
Wheat bran........
Dark feeding flour.... ee
Buckwheat middlings..............
Oat feed or SHOTtS.....-...0eee ee eeee
Malt sprouts—dried...............45
Brewers’ grain—dried..............-
Sov Dean Brain... .ccecccccccerscceece
Horse hean..
Cowpea vrain.... cee
Field peas—grain.... «0... ...eseeeene
Alfalfa hay........scceeeeeceeeee ones
Cowpea hay........ maneienalere'siere
Crimson clover hay..........0--ee0e
Red clover hay..........csee0 ceeeee
BCIMMAD NG sree os cesaayercidesteuewanmewenes
Buttermilk. .......-ccccceeee seve eens

pt et et

ws 4
Mer Bom pcm oom toa me
RPONN MDM NRE AIDOPOVANORADON A

fe ak ee ak be BD BD fat et et BO ek et ek ry oo
seaSSrarnNSaonN hh arS Seesaw

DODNWDSODWRAIRUSN WN bb wb

peRSRSIFSSSASSSSSASSRSSaSS
SOROARDH Wilken wWi ON Wow AN

FOODSTUFFS FOR BALANCING CORN

All stock feeds may be divided into two general
classes—one in which the fat-producing and heat-

Fig 52—Leaming Corn Variety

le sho’ i
ig. See

This strain of Leamin
The soe
in,

hio to Illinois.

1 Leaming from O

gina
e been bred out by continued selection and bree

ied the ori

‘istics of enlarged butt hav

of the Illinois seed corn breeders’ association.

y Mr J. H. Coolidge,
was secured from Mr E, E, Chester,.who carri

that the undesirable character

Chapter I.

his was grown b
202 THE BOOK OF CORN

forming ingredients, such as starch, the sugars, etc,
designated as carbohydrates, and the fats, largely pre-
dominate; and the other class containing a relatively
large amount of mtfscle-making material, commonly
known as protein. This protein is required for
good growth in young animals, and for breeding stock
and animals in milk, and is very valuable even in the
final fattening period. The line between these two
classes of foods cannot be sharply drawn in all cases,
some feeds being so nearly between the two as to be
as appropriately placed in one class as the other.

As has already been pointed out, corn is the most
important representative of the carbonaceous group,
and we are here chiefly concerned in discovering the
materials which may be used to supply the protein in
which the corn is deficient.

The foregoing table contains some of the more
important foods of this class, together with the digesti-
ble nutrients supplied by them.

Among those who have essayed to give advice
on this subject are two classes of extremists. One
unduly exalts the value of the nitrogenous group of
nutrients and, by inference at least, insists that the
ration must have a more or less definite proportion
of protein in order to be adapted to a given purpose,
even regardless of convenience or cost. The other,
realizing the unsoundness of this extreme position, is
unwilling to concede that any financial benefit will
accrue from attempting to balance the ration to better
meet the requirements of the class of animals to which
it is to be fed.

It is not difficult to discover the absurdity of the
position of the first class, when corn is worth, delivered
to the railroad, from twenty to twenty-five cents per
bushel, equivalent to seven to nine dollars per ton, and
corn stover may be had in abundance for the labor of

‘
FEEDING 203

cutting it, and the extra labor involved in husking the
corn from the shock, amounting all told to not over
one dollar and fifty cents per ton; again, when cotton-
seed meal or linseed meal costs from twenty to thirty
dollars per ton. It is clear that it would be necessary
for the balancing of the ration to exert a profound in-
fluence upon its efficiency in order to meet the in-
creased cost involved. A study of the experimental
results with balanced and unbalanced ration for differ-
ent classes of stock which follows in this chapter, while
showing a decided and uniform advantage in favor of
the balanced ration, yet fails to show sufficient differ-
ence for most purposes to justify the expense in the
particular case noted above. Clearly there is no law
of nature or nations requiring the feeder to balance his
rations beyond the point of profit.

On the other hand, if, as it will be clearly shown
from the experimental data submitted, there is in
nearly every situation an opportunity to so combine
material at hand or material that may be gotten at a
reasonable cost as to practically balance the ration and
in so doing to increase the profits correspondingly, the
conservatism and prejudice of the other class of ex-
tremists must at once yield.

In general, the best ration is made of such a com-
bination of foodstuffs as will give the proper propor-
tion of protein and carbohydrates for the particular
class of animals or the special purpose for which it is
to be used. At the same time careful attention must be
given to the cost of the material to be used, the pala-
tability of the ration and the convenience with which
it may be obtained and fed. In short, the controlling
factor in making up every ration should be its cost
in proportion to its productiveness ; but as has already
been stated, the taste and appetite of the animal should
be catered to, and heed should be given to the adapta-
204 THE BOOK OF CORN

bility of the ration to the special use to which it is to
be put. A vast majority of the feeders of America find
it necessary and profitable to use the product of the
corn plant as the basis of all rations for all classes
of stock.

It is clear that when feed is to be purchased, it
should as far as practicable be selected with reference
to supplementing, balancing or adding to the value of
the material already on hand, rather than to purchase
more of the same class. For example, it would not
be good business policy to purchase timothy, kafir
corn, sorghum, millet, or any of the straws, to feed with
corn and stover, since such a combination adds nothing
to the ration above the sum of digestible nutrients con-
tained in the two feeds. Whereas if clover, alfalfa,
cowpeas, bran, middlings, gluten meal, cottonseed meal
or linseed meal be selected to combine with the corn
products, the feeding value of the resulting ration
would be directly increased. As practical illustrations
of the value of combining such materials with corn
products the following results of careful experiments
are cited:

Dairy Cows—Jordan* reports the results of an
experiment in which the yield cf milk from cows when
fed on six pounds of corn daily end all the timothy hay
they would eat, was compared with the quantity of milk
obtained from the same cows when fed on a balanced
ration consisting of two pounds of corn meal, two
pounds of cottonseed meal and two pounds of gluten
meal, together with all the timothy hay they would eat.
Both rations supplied practically the same quantity of
digestible nutrients, but the proportion of protein was
nearly twice as much in the mixed grain ration as in
the corn meal ration. The results showed that during
the time the cows were fed the balanced ration they

*Maine state college annual report, 1893, Page 81.
EEEDING 205

produced from one-fifth to nearly one-third more milk
than when they were fed on the unbalanced ration, and
that the yield of milk solids was from thirty to forty
per cent greater.

Growing Steers—Waters* reports the results of
several years’ work with yearling steers, in which a
gain from corn and timothy hay is compared with that
from several other rations, in which the corn was at
least partially balanced with cowpea hay, clover hay,
etc. The following tables present a summary of the
results:

COMPARISON OF BALANCED AND UNBALANCED RATIONS

First trial, 1899-00, 104 days, four steers in each lot, four
pounds corn per day per head.

Corn and Corn and
timothy hay | cowpea hay

Corn eaten, Ibs............... 1a Eee 1,568 1,568
Hay eaten, lbs.. analealesase nas is 6,536 7,157
Total gain, lIbs..... scavenge sal a 260 624
Average daily gain, lbs. ‘ 1.54
Grain per 1b gain, Ibs..... 6.00 2.51

In this trial the substitution of cowpea hay for the timothy
more than doubled the gain.

Second trial, 1900-01, 80 days, four steers in each lot, six.
pounds shelled corn per day per head.

}Corn and] Corn and Corn and
timothy clover Sort ee sorghum
hay hay hay
Corn eaten, lbs.........-.- 1,926 1,926 1,926 1,926
Hay eaten, lbs............ 1,543 5,719 » | 3,941 4,727
Total gain, Ibs............ 318 640 119 166
Average daily gain, Ibs.. 1.00 2.00 37 +52
Grain per Ib gain, lbs.... 6.06 3.01 16.10 11.60

The results of the two experiments are in full
accord. Note the difference in the amount of gain

*Missouri experiment station—Board of agriculture bulletins, .
September and October, rgor.
206 THE BOOK OF CORN

and in the number of pounds of corn required per
pound of gain of the steers that were fed a balanced
ration, in comparison with those which were fed an
unbalanced ration of corn with either timothy hay,

BALANCED AND UNBALANCED RATIONS FOR FATTEN-
ING STEERS*

First trial, 1899-00, 119 days, four two-year-old steers in each
lot, full fed on shelled corn.

Corn and | Corn and
timothy | cowpea
hay hay

Corn eaten, bushels........ ccc cece eee cece eee eens 166 188
Roughness eaten, 1DS...........c eens cece cece ce eeee 3,813 3,662
Total gain, lbs.........- es 802 1,257
Average daily gain per steer, lb 1.69 2.64
Pounds grain per lb of gain... oO 11 51 8.31
Gain per bushel of corn, Ibs.... wiaielesals 4.87 6.74

Second trial, 1900-01, 105 days, four two-year-old steers in
each lot, full fed on shelled corn.

Corn and | Corn and | Corn and
timothy clover cowpea

hay hay hay
Corn eaten, bushels........ bse ene Ae 157.5 176.2 175.3
Roughness eaten, Ibs.. 4,768 4,783
TOtal Gains 1S... ovesccavnwes vader wawne 1,135 1,134
Average daily gain per steer, lbs.... 1.97 2.84 2.84
Pounds grain per lbof gain ......... 11.19 8.69 8.65
Gain per bushel of corn, lbs.......... 5.00 6.44 ~ 6.47 —

millet or sorghum. The corn when fed with either
clover or cowpeas was more than twice as efficient’
as when combined with any of the other materials
named.

Fattening Steers—Corn is conceded by all authori-
ties to be the best single grain ration for fattening ani-
mals, especially when its low cost is considered. At

*Missouri experiment station—Board of i i
September and October, 1901. Serreeleire: Gelleeas,
Hnossi fy Seiquinjod ‘ouregoyw ‘1 £q payqryxe
pue poy ‘spunod oor aad Of6$ 10} Plog ‘MOYSs YOo}s WV] Sings} O61 ay} ye si9a}s pAojaraFy Jo Jo] avd oztid ysay oy} Jo weg

Ysydmoosy ued ns0D Sury wYAM—Es Fi

208 THE BOOK OF CORN

the same time the combination of corn with such food-
stuffs as will increase the proportion of protein in a
ration will result in a more rapid gain, as is clearly
shown in the foregoing table of experiments recordec
by Professor Waters of Missouri agricultural college.

EFFICIENCY OF MIXED RATIONS

These results are worthy of the most careful con-
sideration. Taken in connection with those reported
for yearlings, they indicate that the combination of
clover or cowpeas with corn exerts a profound influ-
ence upon the efficiency of the ration as compared with
corn and timothy hay. It will be noted that with the
unbalanced ration of corn and timothy, each bushel
of corn produced in one trial 4.87 pounds of gain, and
five pounds in the other, or an average of 4.93 pounds
for the two trials. When, however, the clover or cow-
pea hay was substituted for the timothy, each bushel
of corn produced from 6.44 to 6.74 pounds of gain, or
an average of 6.58 pounds, an increase of 1.65 pounds
of beef from each bushel of corn fed. With steers
selling at five cents a pound, this mcans that the feeder
is getting eight and one-fourth cents a bushel more
for his corn by balancing his ration with some such
cheap material as clover or cowpeas. With corn at
twenty-five or thirty cents a bushel, this is equivalent
to an increase of twenty-five to thirty-three per cent in
the returns from his feeding operations.

Not only is this true, but the steers will command
a higher price on the market by reason of having
gotten fatter, of finishing up smoother, and carrying
more bloom. In the case of young cattle, the advan-
tage is not all expressed in increased gain in weight,
since the animal when wintered on a balanced ration
is in condition to make better growth on grass or to.
FEEDING 209

go into the feed lot and make rapid and econom-
ical gains.

Hogs—Plumb* reports the results of a feeding
trial with pigs, in which corn meal was compared with
equal parts corn meal and wheat middlings, with the
following results:

CORN MEAL AND WHEAT MIDDLINGS FOR HOGS

Average | Grain per
daily gain,| 100 1bs
Ibs gain, lbs

Corn “MSA re ciccdasicnewersiere ca esmdiole erties weaisdelaisii deste 1.55 432
Corn meal and wheat middlings........... ..... 1.68 406

Cottrellf reports the results of a number of ex-
periments in which soy bean meal was used to balance,
the corn. A summary of these trials is presented.

BALANCED AND UNBALANCED RATIONS FOR HOGS

3 Average Grain
a S is
ee ms gain |/per 100 lbs
per day gain
First. trial—
Kafir corn meal—wet...........++.. 5 1.85 471
Kafir corn meal four-fifths, soy
bean meal one-fifth—wet......... 5 2.12 409
Second trial—
Kafir corn meal—wet........----.+0+ 3 1.21 559
Kafir corn meal four-fifths, soy
bean meal one-fifth—wet......... 3 1.73 408
Third trial—
Kafir corn meal—soaked 48 hours.. 5 66 542
Kafir corn meal two-thirds, soy
bean meal one-third — soaked
4B OUTS... . cee cece tent ee nner 5 1.15 374
Corn meal—soaked 48 hours......-- 5 4° 484
Corn meal two-thirds, soy bean
meal one-third—soaked 48 hours.. 5 1.08 369
Fourth trial—
sae corn ment eee et 10 83 749
afir corn meal four-fifths, soy
a ee meal ie neo Miarelaie totes 10 1.55 468
ifth trial—50 days—
Kafir corn meal—dry....-.+----6 200+ 10 88 653
Kafir corn meal four-fifths, soy
bean meal one-fifth—dry......--- 10 1.73 435

*Indiana experiment station, bulletin 71.
}Kansas experiment station, bulletin 95.
210 THE BOOK OF CORN

From the above it is seen that in every case the
soy bean meal had the effect of increasing the rate
of gain and of cheapening the cost of production.
Averaging all the work at the Kansas station, it was
found that the six lots of hogs having soy bean meal
as a part of the ration required 411 pounds of grain
for 100 pounds of gain, while the nineteen lots not fed
soy beans but given either kafir corn or corn, required
564 pounds of grain for 100 pounds of gain.

Corn as a Feed for Horses—So much has been
said against the feeding of work horses on an exclu-
sive grain ration of corn that much unreasonable preju-
dice has been aroused against its use for all classes of
horses. This is especially true of the horse owners of
the eastern states and of Europe. While it is not con-
tended that corn alone should be fed for any great
length of time to horses at work or young growing
animals, at the same time it is fundamentally true that
all things considered it is the most efficient and best
single grain for idle horses and for those performing
any class of work, and that it must form the basis of
the ration for this class of stock as it does for all others,
if due consideration is to be given to the economy of
production. Perhaps the most elaborate experiments
on record, in point of number of horses involved and
the length of time over which the observations have
extended, are those recently reported by M Lavalard
of France. His investigations were begun for the
Paris omnibus company, with the view of establishing
a rational basis for the feeding of the large number of
horses controlled by them under the different condi-
tions of work, and have already extended over a
period of twenty-five years, and later involved saddle
horses and light draft horses traveling at a rapid gait;
horses hauling light loads, and heavy draft horses haul-
ing heavy loads at a slow pace. Altogether the obser-
FEEDING 2it

vations have included some sixteen thousand horses
belonging to the omnibus company, about seventeen
thousand army horses, and one thousand horses used
for heavy freighting. In summing up his conclusions
on the use of corn, the following should have the effect
of dispelling whatever prejudice may exist against the
use of this feed for all classes of horses.*

“Our first experiments were made with Indian corn. They
were undertaken with all kinds of horses and gave most satis-
factory results. The Campagnie generale des voitures and the
Campagnie generale des omnibus began about 1870 to feed
Indian corn, and the results were so satisfactory that since
that time the first named company has almost entirely ceased
to feed oats. The latter company has continued to feed both
oats and corn, effecting a saving of from one million to one
and one-half million francs a year. In view of these facts, the
opponents of corn have been forced to admit that it is a suita-
ble feed for draft horses. They have insisted, however, that
since it does not contain the so-called stimulating principle
‘avenine’ it should not be used for saddle horses and others
where speed is required. Examples of the successful use of
corn were cited in the author’s earlier publications. The
horses of the French expedition in Mexico were fed exclu-
sively on corn. Our recent experiments on cavalry and artil-
lery horses have shown that Indian corn may generally replace
oats without in any way causing the horses to deteriorate.
The horses fed the corn ration were used the same number of
hours in the military drill and in the maneuvers, and were
ridden at the same gait as those fed exclusively on oats, and it
was practically impossible to perceive the least difference
between the two classes. The army officers, prejudiced as
they naturally were, were forced to admit that all the horses
showed the same energy and vigor. A careful record showed
that the sickness and mortality were the same with horses on
the two rations. i

“Corn and oats are quite similar in composition, In ex-
periments made at the laboratory of the Campagnie generale
des omnibus in co-operation with Muntz, the author found
very high coefficients of digestibility for corn, as shown by the
following results: Protein 86.1, fat 93.9, sugar and starch 100,
crude fiber 82.8, saccharifiable fiber 86.9, undetermined sub-
stances 85.2 per cent. These coefficients show that the nutritive
ingredients of corn are much more assimilable than has been
generally believed in Europe. As regards physical character.

*Experiment station record, Volume XII, Page 14.
212 THE BOOK OF CORN

oats contain on an average 70 to 75 per cent of kernel and 25 to
30 per cent of indigestible hull, which resembles straw in com-
position. The skin or hull of maize amounts to practically
nothing. These facts show why horses thrive better and are
more apt to maintain their weight on corn than on oats. Our
recent experiments have demonstrated that corn can replace
oats in the ration of both cavalry and artillery horses, and if
substituted weight for weight it increases the nutritive value
of the ration. This is the same deduction which was drawn
from experiments, now more than twenty-five years old, made
for the two great cab companies of Paris.”

Shepperd* compared a ration consisting of equal
parts corn and oats with oats alone for mules at hard
work, with the result that the animals on corn and
oats made an average daily gain of seven-tenths of a
pound, while those on oats alone lost six-tenths of a
pound. He estimates that 77.5 pounds of corn is worth
100 pounds of oats for horses at work.

Corn as a Food for Poultry—Fér the fattening of
all classes of fowls, corn is conceded to be unsurpassed,
but the almost universal advice of poultrymen to elim-
inate this material entirely from the ration of laying
fowls is perhaps based first upon the notion that the
egg contains a large proportion of protein, and there-
fore only foodstuffs rich in this group of substances
can be used to advantage, and second, doubtless to
the unfavorable results obtained in practice from the
exclusive use of corn for this purpose.

Some recent experiments by Brooks and Thomp-
sonf with several different breeds, in which complete
laying records were kept for the two years covered
by the experiment, clearly indicate that this prejudice
against corn, when properly combined with other food-
stuffs, is unfounded, and that by adding a reasonable
amount of corn to the ration a large increase in egg
production at a decreased cost will result.

In one trial wheat, oats, bran, middlings, animal

*North Dakota experiment station, bulletin 5.
TMassachusetts experiment station reports, ieoa-oe:
FEEDING . : 213

meal, corn and corn ‘meal were fed to one lot of nine-
teen pullets, and to another lot of similar pullets the
same ration was given, except that the middlings and
gluten feed in the morning mash were replaced by
corn meal, and the substitution of shelled corn was
made for about half of the wheat and oats in the even-
ing feed. The experiments were conducted ‘in both
winter and summer. The results show that the hens
haying the larger amount of corn instead of so much
high-priced material, like wheat, middlings, oats, glu-
ten feed, etc, produced from one-fourth to one-third
more eggs at materially less expense for food; that the
eggs from the corn-fed fowls were of milder flavor
and had a yolk of deeper yellow color; that the fowls
thus fed gained in weight despite the increased num-
ber of eggs produced ; that on slaughter at the close of
the experiment the fowls fed corn dressed more and
were pronounced by an experienced market judge to
be superior to those fed on the higher-priced ration.

In another experiment where the corn displaced
the wheat and oats entirely as a night feed, but the
ration in other respects was the same as in the previous
trial, the results were even more strikingly favorable
to the use of corn.

It is not to be concluded from these investigations
that an exclusive ration of corn would prove satisfac-
tory for this purpose, but that in the case of laying
fowls, as with all other stock, corn, judiciously used,
is the most economical and profitable foodstuff avail-
able. For the greatest profit in any feeding operation,
it must form the basis of the ration.

THE MORE COMPLETE UTILIZATION OF CORN STOVER*

The second most important way in which the
value of the corn crop may be increased to the farmer

*The corn plant after the ear is removed.
214 THE BOOK OF CORN

is in the more complete utilization of the corn stover,
It is estimated that between eighty and ninety million
tons of stover are produced on the eighty million acres
or more planted to corn in the United States each year.
The magnitude of this annual crop of roughness will
be more fully appreciated when we consider that the
annual hay crop of the United States is between sixty

Fig 54—Effects of Root Pruning

No 1, not pruned; 2, pruned four inches deep; runed six inches deep.
eee mae See Chapter VIL” P -

and seventy million tons, and is estimated to have a
money value on the farm of something like five hun-
dred millions of dollars.

Stover is carefully harvested and fed in the more
densely populated states of the east. In the great corn
belt of the middle west, where more than half the corn
FEEDING 218

of the nation is produced, there is a prodigious and
profligate waste of this valuable material. In this
section valuable land is used for the production of
timothy hay upon every farm, to be used for roughness,
and acres of corn stover are allowed to go almost
entirely to waste.

Comparison of Nutrients in Ear and Stover—
According to the investigations of Armsby* and
others, the digestible nutrients of the entire corn plant
are distributed between the ear and stover about as
follows :

DISTRIBUTION OF DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN CORN

Carbohy- Per

Protein drates Fat Total cent

Tn total crops, lbs 327 4,774 147 4,248 100
Jn the ears, lbs..... 3 224 2,301 125 2,670 63
In the stover, lbs 83 1,473 22 1,57 37

This table indicates that approximately 63 per cent, or
rrictically two-thirds of the digestible material of the entire
crop, is lodged in the ear, and about 37 per cent, or a little
iicsre than one-third, is found in the stover.

The corn grower perhaps does not realize when
he harvests and utilizes only the ears that he willfully
wastes more than one-third of the crop that he has
been at the pains of growing.

CORN STOVER COMPARED WITH TIMOTHY HAYT

Whole Timothy
stover Water free substance hay for

*Pennsylvania state college report, 1887.
+Lindsey United States Year Book, 1896.
216 THE BOOK OF CORN

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN ONE TON OF STOVER AND ONE
TON OF TIMOTHY*

Corn stover,| Timothy
lbs

hay, lbs
353.7 296.1
13.6 33.1
53.1 55.4
544.6 553.6

£64.6 938.2

It is safe to discount these figures for the coarse,
rank-growing stover of the corn belt, for experience
teaches that this material is not so palatable and prob-
ably not so digestible as the smaller and finer stover
produced in the north and east.

Coarse Stover Valuable—At the same time, the
results of all experiments and of experience abundantly
prove that even this coarse stover has a feeding value
that will fully justify the labor, pains and expense
of harvesting and feeding it. The waste of this food
that occurs in many sections from merely topping the
stalk, leaving the blades below the ear and the husks
to waste, is not from any point of view justifiable or
economical, much less the more common practice in
the corn belt of allowing most of the corn to stand in
the field until harvested, and allowing all of the stover
to waste except the little that the stock may‘ eat in
gleaning the stalk fields late in the season.

The Feeding Value of Corn Stover—The results
of experiments by the Missouri experiment station
extending over six years, with yearling and two-year-
old steers, both with and without grain, will enable us
to form a fair estimate of the feeding value of this
material as compared with timothy hay, which is ac-
cepted as the commercial standard, at least, of all
rough fodders. In all of these trials, large coarse

*Stover computed on basis of twenty per cent moisture,
FEEDING 217
.stover from corn yielding sixty to seventy bushels of
grain an acre was used. It was allowed to stand in
the open field in what is commonly known as sixteen-
hill-square shocks until required for feeding, and was
fed whole. The timothy was harvested when the seed
was in the dough state, and the hay was either pre-
served in the mow or in large ricks. Undoubtedly
the smaller stover of the north or the finer material
grown especially for fodder would show a higher pala-
tability and feeding value, but it is this coarse stover
which is mainly wasted, and the results of these ex-
periments are therefore directly applicable to the ordi-
nary conditions of the middle west.

TESTS WITH STOVER AND TIMOTHY

Comparison of the feeding value of stover and timothy—
Yearling steers—No grain—Results computed on the basis of
1000 pounds live weight—Three years’ work.

Total
Food D A
eaten eer samchet eee in
daily per Seu a eaten weicht,
steer, Nbs Tense: daily 1 .
First trial—
Timothy hay.......... . 16.5 23.0 14.1 29.0
Whole corn stover..... 25.5 35.0 19.5 —2.0a
Second trial—
Timothy hay............ 22.3 18.6 18.7: 21.7
Whole corn stover..... 22.9 44.7 17.5 —11.84
Third trial—
‘Timothy hay........... 21.7 12.0 17.8 30.8
i Whole corn stover..... 28.9 42.0 22.6 13.8
verage—
Timothy en 20.2 17.9 16.9. 30.7
Whole corn stover..... 25.8 40.6 19.9 00.0

@— denotes loss in weight.

From these results it appears that when corn
stover alone was fed, the animals neither gained nor
lost in weight, averaging the three years’ work, while
those having all the timothy hay they would eat made
a slight gain. More dry matter was uniformly con-
218 THE BOOK OF CORN :
sumed daily by the steers on stover, and a considerably
larger proportion of the material fed was refused than
in the case of the timothy. Taking all these facts into
consideration, it is safe to estimate that, ton for ton,
stover has approximately half the feeding value of
timothy hay when each is used as an exclusive ration.
That it is not good business policy, however, to winter
cattle in this way in the ordinary season will be ac-
cepted without argument.

Increasing the Value of Stover—That it is easy
‘to so increase the value of stover by combining it with
some such material as clover, cowpea hay or alfalfa,
that it will even exceed timothy when the timothy is
fed alone or in combination with corn, will be perfectly
clear from the results of further trials at the Missouri
experiment station :

FEEDING STOVER WITH GLOVER HAY

Combination of stover and_clover compared with timothy
—Yearling steers—No grain—Results computed on the basis
of 1000 pounds live weight.

Equal parts

Timothy whole corn

hay stover and

clover hay
Food eaten daily per head...............- 21.7 25.2
Per cent refused............esceeeeeceeees 12.0 28.0
Dry matter eaten daily, lbs........-.-.... 17.8 21.6
Gain in weight per steer................... 30.8 58.4

In this case a ton of stover and a ton of clover hay
when fed together fully equaled two tons of timothy.

Other trials in which a small amount of shelled
corn was added to the ration fully confirm these results,
as shown on Pages 215 and 216.

A Substitute for Timothy—Thus it appears in
‘every case, whether fed without grain, with a small
allowance of grain, or on full feed; whether with year-
lings or aged cattle, a combination of corn stover and
FEEDING 219

clover hay proved superior to timothy hay. In other
words, the farmer is able by this means to make the
stover serve every purpose, in cattle feeding, at least,
for which timothy is now used. Under these circum-
stances it is fair to say that timothy and stover have
at least equal feeding values. It is quite probable that
where such hays as clover, alfalfa and cowpeas are

FURTHER EXPERIMENTS WITH STOVER AND HAY

1899, yearling steers, 104 days, four steers in each lot, four
pounds corn per head per day.

Corn, clover
Corn and a
h

timothy hay| gory” sore

Corn eaten, Ibs.......... tis ajaheoierds cieyosmieierein se 1,568 1,568

Roughness eaten, 1bS............0ecceeeeee 6,536 3,593

63,631

Total gain, Ibs...........-.-.. ee eee sae ses 260 356
Average gain per day per head.... . -64 88
Grain per pound gain............. ees eee 6.00 4.40

a Clover hay. b Corn stover.

1900, yearling steers, 80 days, four steers in each lot, six pounds
corn per head per day.

Corn, clover
Corn and hay ‘and

timothy hay | oor’ stover

Corn eaten, lbs....... pe mera nceestscwaveccas 1,926 1,926
Roughness ‘eaten, LDS scdia cares stcessinotnioen 4,543 3,619
3 3
Total gain, IbDS....-...--.es.00 ie tpslaistane seis wieiete Sl
i i Dictehinleinre de fa 1.00 1.35
Average daily gain, lbs ae ts

Grain per pound gain

a Clover hay. 6 Corn stover.

not available, a small quantity of cottonseed meal, lin-
seed meal, gluten meal or bran may serve the same
purpose and accomplish the same result, viz, of en-
abling the feeder to use his stover to the best possible
advantage, and as a complete substitute for timothy.
It is needless to say that the accomplishment of this
220 THE BOOK OF CORN

result would be attended by an immense increase in
the net returns from the corn crop. The annual stover
crop would then represent a valuation to the farmers
of something more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
No farmer would willfully permit the waste of his tim-

FATTENING STEERS
Comparison of timothy with equal parts stover and clover hay
for steers on full feed.

1899, two-year-old steers, 119 days, four steers in each lot, full
feed of shelled corn.

Corn, clover
Corn and u
* hay and
‘timothy hay | orn stover
Corn eaten, bushels. ........6-e. cence eens 166 185
Roughness eaten, 1DS.......--.---+ seen eee 3,813 ai,626
61,889
Total gain, Ibs....-.-..++ ae 802 917
Average daily gain, lbs 1.69 1.94
Grain per 1b gain, lbs .. ae 11.51 11.29
Gain per bushel Of COTN........... eee wees 4.87 4.96

a Clover hay. b Corn stover.

1900, two-year-old steers, 105 days, four steers in each lot, full
feed of corn.

Corn,clover
hay and
corn stover -

Corn and: |
timothy hay

Corn eaten, bushels........... Je ceeneceneeee 157 176

Roughuess eaten, lbs... 2,540 a2,475

.b 868 :
Total gain, Ibs......... 789 110
Average daily gain, lbs 1.97 2.85 -
Grain per Ib gain, lbs. 11.19 8.30
Gain per bushel of cor

5.00 6.74

a Clover hay. 6&4 Corn stover.

othy crop after it had been grown and required only
to be harvested to be available as a feed. There is in
the light of the results of the foregoing experiments
quite as little justification for the waste of his stover.
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*podeys sadoid ‘€1£ £3ynq 100d ‘papunos moypeys. Aaaa ‘z1f £33nq wnipaui ‘11 Sadeys radoad ‘papunos Aydoap ‘orf on

24M 43UN0D enoog Jo sai pus sy3ng—Se B14

zie me org

222 THE BOOK OF CORN

. SILOING VS FIELD CURING

The practice of preserving the green corn plant in
the silo has grown rapidly in favor, especially with
the dairy farmer. It commends itself upon the ground
that a large quantity of material may be stored in a
comparatively small space. Green and succulent food
is thereby provided for the winter months. The green
plant is more palatable, the coarser parts of the stalk
being much more completely consumed when made
into silage. The harvesting is done during the pleas-
ant weather in the early fall, and the drudgery of
handling dry stover in winter is obviated. It is cheaper
on the whole than to be at the expense of husking and
grinding the ears and cutting or shredding the stover.
It does not appear to affect the digestibility of the
material favorably or unfavorably.

Silage and Field-Cured Corn Fodder—Experi-
ments have been made at the Vermont and Wisconsin
stations, in which two rows of corn across the field
were cut and placed in shocks, while the next two were
run through the feed cutter and placed in the silo. By
thus alternating until the silo was filled, equal quan-
tities of material cut at the same time and from the
same field were obtained. The field-cured fodder was
later run through the feed cutter and fed in compari-
son with the silage to dairy cows, with equal quan-
tities of hay and grain.*

The results at the Vermont station were as fol-
lows: The 14,262 pounds green fodder corn when
dried, fed with a uniform daily allowance of hay and
grain, produced 7688 pounds of milk. The 14,262
pounds of green fodder corn converted into silage, and
fed with the same daily ration of hay and grain, pro-
duced 8525 pounds of milk.

At the Wisconsin station the results were: From

°Henry’s Feeds and Feeding.
FEEDING 223
29,800 pounds of green fodder were obtained 24,440
pounds of silage, which, fed with 1648 pounds of hay
and 2884 pounds of grain, produced 7496 pounds of
milk, containing 340.4 pounds of fat. From 29,800
pounds of green fodder were obtained 7330 pounds of
field-cured fodder corn, which, fed with 1567 pounds
of hay and 2743 pounds of grain, produced 7119
pounds of milk, containing 318.2 pounds of fat.

At the Vermont station the silage ration produced
837 pounds, or II per cent, more milk than was ob-
tained from the dry fodder ration. At the Wisconsin
station the silage ration yielded 377 pounds more milk
and 22 pounds more fat, a difference in favor of silage
of 5 per cent in milk and 6 per cent in fat.

Losses in the Siloing and Field Curing—Whether
the changes which occur in the silo be due to the ac-
tivity of certain ferments, as has been held for a long
time, or whether the results of recent investigations,
indicating that these changes are mainly due to res-
piratory processes which continue as long as the plant
cells live, be accepted, the more important fact to the
feeder remains unaltered, that these changes are ac-
companied by a material loss of organic matter, and
that such loss is largely proportionate to the amount of
oxygen or air admitted to the mass. That the more
perfectly the mass be compacted, and the more nearly
air-tight the silo, the less the loss. The necessary, or
at least unavoidable, loss under practical conditions
seems to be approximately fifteen per cent of dry mat-
ter—that is, the feeder takes out of the silo between
one-seventh and one-sixth less dry matter than he puts
in. It is moreover true that the loss falls most heavily
on the sugars, which are more or less completely con-
verted into acids. To some extent changes occur in
the nitrogenous compound which affect adversely their
feeding value.
224 THE BOOK OF CORN

Attention has been sharply drawn to these losses
in preserving silage, with the result that many have
been deterred from adopting this system. Careful in-
quiries in a number of states into the losses accom-
panying the field curing process amply justify the,
conclusion that under the most favorable conditions
they are quite as large as in the siloing system, and
under ordinary circumstances are considerably larger.
The loss in feeding the dry fodder, the uneaten portion
of the stalk, must be added to the unavoidable loss in
field curing. In the experiments already quoted with
coarse stover, this loss amounted to approximately
forty per cent of the total weight of fresh substance
fed, while in the same experiment less than eight per
cent of the silage was refused. While this portion of
the plant is not perhaps as digestible, and certainly not
as palatable as the portion eaten, yet experiments by
Jordan and Patterson show that a considerable amount
of digestible matter is contained in the lower half of
the stalk which is available to the animals if they can
be induced by any practical means to consume it. In
overcoming this loss, or in inducing the animals to
eat practically all of the plant, lies perhaps the greatest
single benefit to be derived from siloing.

Finally, the advantage of silage over field-cured
material to the dairyman has been proved by an abun-
dance of practical experience. Experiments made at
the Missouri station clearly indicate that for wintering
stock cattle of all classes it possesses decided advan-
tages over the field-curing system. For cattle on full
feed the iestimony is conflicting, and there is yet some
doubt as to whether it is feasible under ordinary cir-
cumstances to feed steers that are carrying considera-
ble flesh very much silage. For sheep its value is
already well recognized.

Silage vs Roots—Many feeders concede the ne-
FEEDING 225

cessity for some succulent food during the winter
months, who, however, insist that some one of the root
crops is more satisfactory than silage, basing their
opinion upon the beliet that a larger yield of dry diges-
tible matter may be produced with roots than with
corn, and that the roots have a materially higher feed-
ing value. It will not be contended that an acre of
roots can be grown, harvested and fed as cheaply as
an equal area of corn. On the contrary, the results of
careful experiments and the most reliable estimates
from experienced and successful growers indicate that
an acre of roots will cost under the most favorable
circumstances fully three times as much as an acre
of corn.

From an experiment extending over three years
at the Pennsylvania station by Professor Waters, it
was found that the yield of digestible matter in man-
gels or sugar beets was on the average about half that
of corn. In other words, it required approximately
two acres of beets to be equivalent in this respect to
one acre of corn. Attention is invited to the following
table showing the comparative yields of corn and roots
at a number of the stations: ,

DRY MATTER PER ACRE, ROOTS AND GREEN FODDER CORN

Ruta-
bagas

Sugar

beets | Corn

Mangels| Turnips

Maine. station—
Green substance, Ibs| 31,695 15,375 28,500 17,645. 39,645

Dry matter, lbs...... 3,415 1,613 2,559 2,590 5,580
Pennsylvania stat’n—|

Green substance, Ibs} ...... 16,177 11,436 18,591

Dry matter, lbs......] ...-++ 2,382 2,010 5,522
Ohio station—

Green substance, lbs} ...... 31,500 ecisinndie’ if. Seieaieueas> |) [einmietste

Dry matter, Ibs...... aie asieie 3,000 | ..... ef tess 6,000

Ontario station a—
Green substance, lbs} 42,780 55,320 46,120 32,663 41,172
Dry matter, lbs...... 4,877 5,034 4,382 4,737 8,135,

a Henry’s Feeds and Feeding,
226 THE BOOK OF CORN

In view of the fact, therefore, that beets are fully
threefold more expensive to grow and yield only about
half as much digestible matter, it would be necessary
for them to possess approximately six times the feed-
ing value of corn silage in order to establish even a
parity between the two classes of foods.

Careful experiments, however, in Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Vermont show beyond question that there is
little or no difference between the feeding value of the
dry matter of the two feeds, and the small difference
was found to be uniformly in favor of the silage. From
every point of view, therefore, the great disadvantaze
of root crops in competition with corn is perfectly
apparent.

Soiling—No plant now known to us equals corn in
its adaptability to the soiling system. Varieties may be
selected which will yield a continuous crop of succu-
lent food, mature enough to have a high feeding value,
from the middle of June until the severe frosts of
autumn. The practice of relying upon corn almost
exclusively from the time the earliest variety can be
brought to a reasonable state of maturity until the
close of the season, is well founded and fully justified
by the results of scientific research. Corn has the ad-
vantage of yielding a larger quantity of digestible mat-
ter per acre at less cost than any other crop suited to
soiling, and furthermore it may be harvested, handled
and fed more conveniently than any of the other crops
used, and has a higher feeding value.

The problem with those who follow this system is
to find some plant to cover the period of early spring
before corn can be brought to maturity. In the solu-
tion of this problem it has been found that corn silage
kept over from the preceding season will answer this
purpose more fully and more satisfactorily than any
ctop that can be grown at that season of the year.
FEEDING 229

Thus the corn plant lends itself to the farmer who by
reason of limited@area and high-priced land is forced
to produce the largest possible quantity per acre, quite
as well as to the farmer on the broad, fertile prairies
of the west, where the greatest possible number of
acres must be managed by one man.
é&

CHAPTER XIII

Marketing
0 HE wisest distribution of an annual crop of

com, exceeding two billion bushels, is no less

important to farmers as a whole and to the

maize grower in particular than is its economic
production. Fortunately for all, our splendid corn
crop never “goes a begging.” There is always an
outlet for every bushel. The amount carried over
from one crop year to another is never burdensome,
except in the mind of the bearish operator, whose
wish is father to the thought when he says the surplus
is too large.

As shown on other pages, the states growing
more corn than needed for home use are located prin-
cipally in the Ohio valley and the Mississippi basin.
Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana
and Ohio are popularly known as the seven great sur-
plus corn states, because they grow enough for their
enormous home consumption and also have liberal
quantities to ship outside their borders. In recent years
Texas has also greatly increased the corn area, but the
product goes principally toward maintaining her exten-
sive live stock interests.

The splendid home demand in these states, as well
as in every state where corn is grown, is one of the
most satisfactory features in crop distribution. Corn
grown at home and converted into beef, pork, mutton
and dairy products is a commonplace, yet none the less
a valuable example of the merit of changing over raw
material into finished product, adding directly to the
gain of the farmer and to the wealth of the country.
MARKETING 229

THE HOME MARKET THE BEST MARKET

Roundly speaking, ninety per cent of the corn crop
of the United States is wanted for domestic consump-
tion. In the states given over so extensively to corr,
at lowest cost of production, it is but natural that feed-
ing operations on the farm are most largely carried
on, and the bulk of the crop never leaves the counties
where grown. This, therefore, disposes of most of the
product each year to what may be truly characterized a
home market of the best sort. The comparatively
small, yet important proportion of the maize crop not
‘fed at home, finds ready outlet through the usual mar-
ket channels. A considerable amount is used in the
domestic mechanic arts, and foreign countries are
always interested buyers of any surplus beyond home
requirements.

In the grain trade, corn is the leading cereal in bulk
and second only to wheat in speculative interest. Corn
forms an important item in rail, lake and canal trans-
portation, and also in the cargo of vessels engaged in
the ocean-carrying trade. The approved methods of
handling corn, producer to consumer, are’ not neces-
sarily perfect, but are the best yet evolved in the econ-
omy of distribution. Fortunately for the corn grower
who desires to market this product in the form of
grain, middlemen’s tolls are reduced to a minimum
compared with those exacted in the handling of perish-
able, and therefore more hazardous products.

METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION IN VOGUE

To many farmers in the corn belt, long engaged
in growing this crop for market, methods of marketing
are an old story. To others, including the vast num-
ber of farmers and dairymen in the older middle and
eastern states, who depend to some extent upon west-
230 THE BOOK OF CORN

ern feedstuffs, a brief outline of methods in vogue will
be read with interest and profit.

The first step in the flow of corn from farm to
ultimate consumption is to the great distributing cen-
ters of the west, known as primary points. These
include Chicago, Kansas City, St Louis and others of
less importance. The second stage begins at these dis-
tributing centers in the grading, temporary warehous-
ing, storing and reshipment via rail, river and lake.
The destination is eastern or southern distributing cen-
ters of secondary consideration, and tide water rest-
ing places for loading into ocean vessels for for-
eign countries.

Transportation—Rates of freight from country
loading station to primary market or to the seaboard,
rates of commission for handling, storage charges, etc,
together with the current price of the various grades
every business day in the year, are easily available to
the farmer and the country dealer. All such may be
relatively as well posted on market conditions as the
big operator on the Chicago board of trade or on the
New York and foreign produce exchanges. Theoreti-
cally, the farmer with a single carload of corn enjoys
as good an opportunity to secure full market value for
his product as the operator on a large scale, but this
does not always follow. In spite of legislative effort
to equalize freight rates, and the work of the Interstate
Commerce Commission, transportation companies too
frequently make it possible for the large shipper to
enjoy rebates, giving him enormous advantage over
others, including the farmer with a single carload.

THE LINE ELEVATOR SYSTEMS,

covering a large part of the corn belt, now handle an
important part of the corn as originally sold by pro-
MARKETING 231

ducers. Some one of these may own or control a
score, or fifty, or a hundred country elevators at as
many shipping stations, each operated by an agent of
the company, which in turn works in harmony with the
railroad system covering the same territory. The
prices paid farmers for corn are very largely governed
by current quotations in the big distributing centers,
freight rates duly considered. In many instances,
farmers feel they do not secure all the market will
stand, through lack of competitive bidding, and gladly
welcome the advent of outside buyers. This is what
has brought so rapidly to the front in the past few
years the “farmers’ elevators,” described on an-
other page.

The country buyer, no matter whether represent-
ing a line elevator or an independent concern, must be
a good judge of grade and quality in the city markets.
After temporary storage, and possibly cleaning at
country point, the corn is shipped to a great distribut-
ing center, such as Chicago, where the car is inspected
by the state grain inspection department and graded
according to the classifications of that presumably im-
partial body.

PUBLIC GRAIN WAREHOUSES

In order to handle the grain crops quickly and
economically, enormous storage facilities are necessary,
both at centers of accumulation in the grain growing
states, at various transfer points on the Great Lakes
and at tide water. Mention has been made elsewhere
of the country elevator systems, also allusion to ware-
houses at the seaboard. In accompanying cut (Fig
58), a typical modern grain warehouse is shown. An
idea of its bulk and magnitude is afforded by compar-
ing its hight with that of the trains of cars which are
pushed directly into and through it for loading and
unloading. This elevator, located in Chicago, has a
232 THE BOOK OF CORN

capacity or one million bushels grain, and, like dozens
of its fellows, is equipped with all modern arrange
ments in the way of tracks, elevators, bins, etc.

Under the rules of the Chicago board of trade,
and this is substantially true of other leading grain
exchanges, licenses are each year granted various
warehouse systems, declaring them “regular” houses
for the storage of grain and flaxseed. These are under
the supervision of the state grain inspection depart-
ment, and all grain and seeds handled therein are
represented by negotiable warehouse certificates, which
enter largely into the grain traffic. The total capacity
of the regular warehouses in Chicago is twenty-seven
million two hundred and fifty thousand bushels.. In
addition to these are a considerable number of what are
technically known as “irregular” warehouses, the pro-
prietors for various reasons not caring to operate them
under the rules of the board of trade. These outside
houses have a total capacity of thirty million four hun-
‘dred and seventy thousand bushels, and there is here
suggested an aggregate capacity for the storage of fifty-
seven million seven hundred and twenty thousand
bushels grain in Chicago.

Under the rules of the Chicago board of trade
the established storage rate of grain and flaxseed
received in bulk is three-fourths of a cent per bushel
for the first ten days, and one-fiftieth of a cent per
bushel per day for each additional day thereafter.

Inspection rules relating to corn vary somewhat
in different states. As a fair index of trade require-
ments, herewith are printed the rules governing
inspection of grain in Chicago, according to the speci-
fications of the state board railroad and warehouse
commissioners.

No 1 yellow corn shall be yellow, sound, dry,
plump and well cleaned.
MARKETING 223

No 2 yellow corn shall be three-fourths yellow,
dry, reasonably clean, but not plump enough for No 1.

No 3 yellow corn shall be three-fourths yellow,
reasonably dry and reasonably clean, but not suffi-
ciently sound for No 2.

No 2 white corn shall be seven-eighths white, dry,
reasonably clean, but not plump enough for No 1.

No 3 white corn shall be seven-eighths white,
reasonably dry and reasonably clean, but not suffi-
ciently sound for No 2.

No 2 corn shall be mixed corn, dry, reasonably
clean, but not good enough for No 1.

No 3 corn shall be mixed corn, reasonably dry
and reasonably clean, but not sufficiently sound for
No 2. ,

THE SALE OF CORN BY SAMPLE ON ’CHANGE

Unless previous distribution has been arranged
for, the car is generally consigned to a commission
merchant, who takes a portion of the official sample
furnished by the inspection department, with the then
known grade, the sample representing a fair average
of the contents of the car. The inspection department
temporarily reserves its own portion of the sample in
case of controversy. Very often the commission mer-
chant also takes an independent average sample of the
car for purposes of comparison. These samples, with
grade and car number attached (with hundreds of
their fellows) are offered on ‘change, and are sold on
their merits the same as any other commodity in mer-
cantile life, whether it be cotton goods, raw wool, pine
shingles, or iron ore.

_ The buyers represent many interests; those en-
gaged in the shipping business want to make up a
cargo of corn for Buffalo or New Orleans, or for ex-
port account; a distiller or a glucose house wants a
234 THE BOOK OF CORN

round lot for manufacturing purposes; a miller wants
a car for grinding. Oftentimes the buying is for ac-
count of city elevator concerns, which accumulate large
quantities, using same for speculative purposes, and
ultimately for shipment to the seaboard and foreign
countries.

The price, however, in any instance is governed
very largely by the speculative market. This in turn
is dominated by influences emanating not only from
the Chicago corn pit, but from the seaboard markets,
and from conditions in western Europe which, after
all, very largely determine what shall be paid for the
surplus grain crops of the entire world. Trading is on
a spot cash basis, and the transaction may be made
much quicker than the time required to describe it.
After deducting freights, commission charges, etc, a
check in payment is immediately sent the country ship-
per, and the transaction is complete so far as he is
concerned. ;

Rates of commission for selling corn on the prod-
uce exchanges are fairly uniform; on the Chicago board
of trade one-half cent per bushel is the established
rate. Other charges include storage, if any, inspec-
tion, etc.

THE SPECULATIVE TRADE IN GRAIN

The produce exchanges, or the boards of trade,
terms generally used synonymously, serve as clearing
houses for transactions in farm produce as here indi-
cated. The line of demarcation between the so-called
“purely speculative” and “strictly legitimate” transac-
tions is so fine at times that it is scarcely discernible.
Suffice it here to say that influences affecting grain
prices are often and largely speculative in a world-wide
sense,

Influences Affecting Prices—To be thoroughly
successful, the farmer who grows corn for market
MARKETING 235

must keep posted on general conditions. It is not suf-
ficient to know that there is a crop shortage in his own
state, or, on the other hand, one more than abundant.
The probabilities of the domestic consumptive demand.
should be familiar; to the one handling grain, some-
thing of reserves carried over from a preceding crop;
conditions abroad, as to probable requirements for
feed purposes; crop outlook, etc. The export demand
and the foreign markets, while not so important in
corn as in wheat, are always influential in shaping home
prices, except in seasons of crop shortage (such as.
Ig01-2), when this is less pronounced.

Selling “Short” in Speculative Market—The spec-
ulative end of the corn market is made up very largely
of “short sales,” by bearish operators. These believe
they can sell the contract grade at the then existing
market price, even though they do not possess it, with a
view of subsequently, say within sixty or ninety days,
buying it in lower, on these time contracts, and keep
the difference as profit. Short selling has been de-
cried for many years, and the subject of frequent hot
contests, not only in trade channels, but in state and
national legislatures. Much may be said on both sides
of this great question.

While ® nowise standing sponsor for the spec-
ulators, it is proper here to state the attitude of so
responsible an organization as the Chicago board of
trade. This can best be epitomized in a brief para-
graph from the report of a special committee, several
years ago appointed by the board of directors of the
Chicago board of trade to investigate a proposition to
change the method of doing business to a system popu-
larly termed spot cash, eliminating entirely buying and
selling “futures.”

“By the form of contract under which members of the’
board of trade buy and sell property for future delivery, either
236 THE BOOK OF CORN

party can compel its literal fulfillment by the original parties
thereto, and neither party can (without the consent of the
other) escape his obligation under and upon such contract, to
deliver or receive the actual property described in its provi-
sions. The fact that a large proportion of the contracts
entered into are closed at the market price, instead of by
actual delivery of property, argues no more against them than
that the present bank clearing-house system does fot require
the passing of the currency by each bank upon each individual
check that is drawn in due course of general business.”

Nearly all the corn received at Chicago in a given
year is handled on the board of trade. The receipts of
corn during the calendar year 1901 were 84,136,637
bushels, and in 1900, the heaviest on record, 134,663,-
456 bushels. In 1902 the movement was smaller,
amounting to 50,622,907 bushels. During the past
forty years, which practically covers the. period
of speculative trading in corn, Chicago received
in round numbers 2,500,000,000 bushels. Other lead-
ing primary markets include Kansas City and St Louis,
with a considerable quantity also received from first
hands each season at Cincinnati, Toledo, Detroit,
Milwaukee, Omaha and Minneapolis.

Fig 56 affords a good idea of the substantial
character of the English grain warehouses. This ware-
house is close to the Alexandra docks at Liverpool
and is one of the largest in the United Kingdom. It
has five delivery subways, each of which can handle
eighty tons of grain an hour. It contains two hun-
dred and fifty bins, hexagonal in shape, each seventy-
five feet deep, thirty-five feet wide, with a capacity
of two hundred and twenty tons, a total for the ware-
house of two million bushels. Grain is transported
in ocean vessels, both in hags and in bulk. The ware-
house fronts the Mersey, the unloading being done
direct from vessel with machinery of the most perfect
character.

Fig 56—Grain Warehouse at Liverpool

- Brick construction
238 THE BOOK OF CORN

THE NON-FARM CONSUMPTION OF CORN

In the United States this is important, affording
considerable aid to market prices. he chief consum-
ers under this head are the distilleries, starch manu-
facturers and glucose works. A business of much mag-
nitude is done in milling corn for table purposes, with
such resultant products as corn meal, corn flour,
blended flour (a mixture of wheat flour and corn flour)
and breakfast cereals. Enormous quantities of coarse
corn meal and mixed feeds, including such by-products
as gluten meal, are used in the cities and in dairy sec-
tions west and east. No figures are available showing
the proportion of the crop utilized under this head.
Further details regarding these products may be found
in the chapter on New Uses of Corn.

Glucose, the sugar of corn, results from the trans-
formation of the starch in the corn by chemical process.
Another by-product of corn is dextrin, largely used in
the manufacture of mucilages and sizes. Corn oil is
one of the most important by-products in the manufac-
ture of glucose, is used to some extent in making soap,
but largely for mixing with other oils, owing to its
emulsifying properties. Starch is a very important by-
product of corn, turned out not only by starch factories
but also by glucose manufacturers, meeting extensive
sale for laundry purposes, as a size, and for use in
cotton mills.

Increasing Importance of Corn Oil—Corn oil pos-
sesses a fine flavor, and is often mixed with olive oil
and sometimes is used in Norway for mixing with cod
liver oil. Naturally, when bottled and labeled, there
is no reference to the fact that any portion of the mix-
ture in either case is corn oil. The wholesale price of

- the last-named is about thirty to forty cents per gallon.
Corn oil is used to some extent as a substitute for lin-
MARKETING 27)

seed oil in painting, owing to its lower price. It dries
more slowly than linseed oil. Manufacturers are en-
deavoring to increase the supply of corn oil, for
use in the mechanic arts, by the aid of a naphtha and
steam process long followed in France in extracting
vegetable oils. Some progress has been made in the
use of corn oil in producing a substitute for rubber by
a process of vulcanization. Vulcanized corn oil may be
mixed with pure rubber in various proportions, the
resultant being softer and less elastic than pure rubber,
but also equally acid proof. It enters into the manu-
facture of rubber boots, bicycle tires, etc, greatly re-
ducing the cost of the finished product. It is not as
good as rubber.

Considerable quantities of corn oil are now ex-
ported, chiefly to Belgium, Holland, and the United
Kingdom, in about the order named. In the fiscal year
1902 exports of corn oil from the United States were
4,266,398 gallons, at an average value of forty-one and
one-half cents; of this 2,933,650 gallons went to Bel-
gium. In 1901 exports were 4,808,545 gallons, having
an average value of thirty-eight cents; of this amount
3,005,000 gallons went to Belgium. Total exports
in 1900 were 4,383,926 gallons, in 1899 2,360,623 gal-
lons and in 1898 2,646,560 gallons.

FOREIGN OUTLET FOR AMERICAN CORN

Our foreign trade in corn has assumed important
proportions and is in a most healthy condition. Never
firmer established than now, exports following a good
crop easily approximate 200,000,000 bushels in a year.
When prices are unusually high in seasons following
a domestic crop shortage, as was the case in 1902, 1894
and 1891, exports are materially reduced.

Up to the present, the foreign use of corn is con-
240 THE BOOK OF CORN

fined very largely to rations for meat animals and work
horses. In recent years valuable aid has been given
our foreign trade through the education of Europe toa
wider use of corn. The work of the American Maize
Propaganda in the late nineties and at the Paris exposi-
tion in 1900 was along this line. Possibilities are great,
especially on the continent, where rye is now so largely
used as an article of food. Efforts are being made
from time to time to induce some of the governments to
utilize corn meal as an army ration.

The largest buyers of American corn are England,
Germany, Holland and Denmark, in about the order
named. Canada is a heavy buyer. The West Indies
are taking increasing quantities, and this splendid
cereal finds an outlet in various other parts of the
world, including South America, Africa, Mexico and,
in a small way, Asia and the Pacific Islands. Argen-
tine corn is something of a competitor in the old world
markets, which include Europe, South Africa, ete.
Argentine exports of corn are ten to sixty million
bushels annually. See Appendix, later pages, for de-
tailed official figures showing foreign movement of
com. The United States produces more than eighty
per cent of the world’s corn crop. The next largest
producers are Austria-Hungary and Argentina.

Floating elevators are largely used in transfer-
ring grain from vessels to warehouses, both on this
side of the Atlantic and in Europe. That illustrated
in Fig 57, with various modifications, is largely used
-in Liverpool in unloading grain from vessels. It
contains a lifting apparatus operated on the usual
principles, and does the work rapidly. A large part
of the American grain destined for foreign markets
is sold “c i f” (cost, insurance and freight), the
marine insurance and ocean freight being included in
the cost.

Fig 57—Ploating Grain Elevator
Used to some extent at English seaports

242 THE BOOK OF CORN

MERITS OF THE COUNTRY ELEVATOR SYSTEM

Farmers’ elevators and co-operative societies for
the economical handling of corn in producing sections
are increasing in number. This is particularly true in
territory west of the Mississippi river. Where inde-
pendent or “line” elevators lack in competitive bidding,
or refuse to pay prices satisfactory to producers, city
markets considered, the farmers’ elevators find a true
place. These are usually organized on the co-opera-
tive plan, farmers adjacent to a given shipping point
choosing their own officers and manager, subscribing
for the stock, erecting a new warehouse and elevator,
or buying and refitting an old one.

Attitude of Railway Companies—As a rule these
are quite willing to grant switching facilities, in their

logical effort to develop the production of any given |

commodity which will mean more business. The char-
ter being secured, and the clevator built and equipped,
the farmers’ company buys grain from producer and

onerator as any other business concern. ‘The grain .

dealers’ associations operating in various western
States, and largely made up of line elevators, or those
with important terminal connections, generally oppose
the farmers’ elevators. In some of these co-operative

institutions each shareholder is limited to one vote, no ,

matter how many shares he may hold.

At times, when other dealers promise to pay more
for grain than this elevator, farmers will be allowed to
sell to the opposition elevator. Proper restrictions are
observed, however, to prevent grain combinations from
breaking up the farmers’ organizations through tempo-
rarily paying a stiff advance, perhaps more than mar-
ket conditions warrant. Growers patronizing farm-
ers’ elevators claim they get the benefit of the premium
arising from the superior grade of their local product;
MARKETING 243

that they secure the full value of the grain, freights
and other charges considered, at a time when the bulk
of it leaves the farm. Another advantage is the possi-
bility of storing grain for a time in this farmers’ ele-
vator at a minimum charge, with a view of selling later
at a possibly higher market price.

Fig 58—Typical Modern Grain Warehouse

CO-OPERATIVE STORING AND SELLING

Co-operative societies have in numerous instances
made a great success in handling corn and other
cereals. Often these societies are formed with a view
of also buying and handling farm machinery, building
material, fertilizers, seeds, etc. As a case in point, a
highly successful farmers’ co-operative society was
244 THE BOOK OF CORN

organized in Iowa with a capital not to exceed $25,000,
shares $10 each, no member being permitted to own
more than ten shares. From a business of $220,000 in
1895, transactions of this society increased in five years
to $625,000. The plan is to pay farmers just as much
for their product as possible, and sell them needed sup-
plies as cheaply as possible.

The officers include a business manager who can- |
not assume indebtedness exceeding two-thirds of the -

shares of stock actually paid up. Money can be bor-
rowed on a two-thirds vote of the officers and directors,

but the amount must not exceed $5000. Selling mem- '

bers always receive one-fourth cent per bushel more
for grain than non-selling members. If a member de-

sires to sell corn to an elevator competing with the |

society’s plant, he must pay the society one-fourth cent
for each bushel sold to the competitor. For example,
the farmers’ elevator is paying thirty-one cents for
corn, and the competing elevator offers thirty-three
cents; the members sell to it, and after paying the
society one-fourth cent are still one and three-fourths
cents ahead. This feature alone has prevented com-
peting elevators from coming in and paying high
prices for a considerable time until the farmers’
elevator is forced out of business. The one-fourth
‘cent meets all the running expenses.
CHAPTER XIV

: Gorn Pesta and Bisrases
S° far as the writer has been able to find out

by careful examination of records and obser-

vation, two hundred and nineteen species of

insects have been recognized and recorded as
in some way being injurious to some part of the
corn plant. For the sake of convenience, these have
been arranged according to their attacks upon the
various parts of the plant. For instance, eighteen
are known to infest the seed; twenty-eight have been
discovered upon the root and underground parts
of the stalk; seventy-seven have been recorded
as injuring the stalk above ground; one hundred
and nineteen attack the leaf; nineteen are known
to injure in some way the tassel and silk; forty-
three work upon the ear in the field; two have been
found upon stacked fodder; and twenty-five others in
corn in store or in manufactured products. Many of
the species recorded in this list are of minor impor-
tance, and only the primary ones, found more or less
injurious to the corn plant every year, are here con-
sidered.

Perhaps the most serious injury to corn occurs
when insects attack the seed and the root. This usu-
ally happens early in the season, but fortunately for
farmers, much of this damage can be prevented by
precautionary and preventive measures at the proper
time. The following practical hints, as a brief intro-
duction to this chapter, will assist the average person
in recognizing the insects responsible for injury to
corn either in the field, in store or in the manufactured

products,
246 THE BOOK OF CORN

1—Many farmers attribute the failure of corn
to come up promptly to poor seed, if it does not appear
in due time under favorable conditions. A careful
examination of the seed itself should be made for
evidences of injury by wireworms, seed corn maggots,
etc, all of which do much damage frequently to seed
after it is planted.

2—At times young plants make a very unequal
start. Some hills will appear early and grow rapidly,

Fig 59—Forms of Wireworms

(Adapted from drawings by Forbes)

while others are dwarfed and make no perceptible
growth. In such cases the roots should be searched
for the presence of the corn root louse. Very often
this insect attacks the sprouting plant before the leaf
shows above the ground. The presence of numer-
ous large brown ants in the corn land often burrow-
ing in the hills is also evidence that plant lice are at
work at the roots. At other times the corn may be
retarded in large patches, the leaves turning yellow at
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 247

first and a little later taking on a reddish tinge. In
such cases a careful digging up of the hill will prob-
ably reveal the presence of root lice. If none are
found the difficulty may be attributed to a fungous
disease known as the root blight of corn which has no
connection with insect injury.

3—Sometimes all the stalks in the hill are colored
and wither when a foot or less in hight. This condi-
tion usually follows injury by wireworms and white
grubs.

4—When the corn falls over easily with a slight
wind storm and does not rise up again in due season,
one should be suspicious of the presence of the corn
root worm, as well as injury by white grubs.

5—Where the corn remains green too long, ma-
tures slowly, with many sterile stalks, and contains
imperfect nubbins and ears, in all probability the com-
mon corn root worm will be found in abundance
among the roots, if careful examination is made late
in August or early September. In such cases large
numbers of green beetles about the size of the com-
mon ladybug may be seen at work upon the silks and
tassels and even upon the pollen collected at the base
of leaves. They are also found upon the blossoms of
ragweeds and other flowering plants in the field.
These are the adults of the corn root worm, and such
fields should not be replanted to corn the follow-
ing year. :

6—Frequently young plants will have the ter-
minal leaves dwarfed and curled so that the growing
tips are shriveled. Occasionallv the foliage is de-
formed and of tnequal growth, especially the unfold-
ing of the leaves from the roll at the terminal. These
are more or less injured, giving the ragged appear-
ance. Damage of this kind usually occurs when the
corn is about two feet high and is the work of the first
248 THE BOOK OF CORN

generation of the corn worm, while later, the second
generation is found in the ends of the ears doing seri-
ous harm late in the summer and early fall.

7—Sometimes a series of shot holes are found
extending across a well-developed leaf. The holes are
usually elongated and arranged side by side quite
regularly, and are usually the work of one of the corn
bill bugs.

8—Sometimes the leaves of young corn are irreg-
ularly eaten away, many of them having a gnawed
appearance at a time when the stalk is less than a foot
high. In such instances usually fine particles and
small lumps of earth at the base of the plant will be
found closely webbed together in a mass usually about
the size of an ordinary walnut. Such condition is the
result of the work of the root’ web worm.

Q—The work of the ordinary cutworm is well
known to most farmers. The young corn is usually
cut above and below the surface of the ground and
examination usually reveals the culprit hidden in the
ground not far away.

1o—If the stalk has a small hole with brown,
moist powder exuding from it, it is sufficient evidence
that the cornstalk borer is at work within. These
creatures do great damage to young corn in the spring,
especially on low ground.

11—When an ear is found with the end eaten and
burrows leading into it from the tip toward the base,
the destructive corn worm can usually be found. Its
burrows are usually filled with excrement, discoloring
and injuring the ears to a considerable extent, while
they are in the soft .stage.

12—Injury hy grasshoppers is not tncommon,
and often the entire leaf is eaten. leaving only the
midrib, while others are gnawed and filled with irreg-
ular holes, giving them a very ragged appearance.
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 249

13—If the corn in the granary loses materially in
weight and is filled with small holes, the indications are
that it has been injured by the grain moth, or weevil.
Very often the presence of these pests can be ascer-
tained by the sawdust-like siftings which accumulate
in the lower part of the bin or crib where they are
abundant.

14—In corn meal and other manufactured prod-
ucts, the Indian meal moth can be ascertained by the
presence of the young worms and the matting together
of the meal with small particles of silk spun by the
larvae or worms. A large number of moths flying
about the pantry, mill, granary or other places where
com products are stored, is usually sufficient evidence
that the products are infested and should be looked
after without further delay.

THE SEED IN THE GROUND

Wireworms—The most important of all insects
that injure seed corn in the ground are wireworms.
If the seed fails to start or there is a sudden withering
of the corn plant when a foot or two high, especially
if the field was in grass one or two years before, there
is reason to warrant a suspicion of injury by wire-
worms. In fact, these hard, smooth, shining, yellow-
ish-brown, cylindrical, six-legged worms are much
more destructive to seed corn under ground than all
other insects taken.together. They sometimes begin
their injuries to the seed immediately after planting.
They bury their heads in ‘it at first, after eating
entirely through the kernel, occasionally devouring it
completely. If they attack the growing plant they are
likely to eat the smaller roots, or to penetrate or bore
through the larger ones, dwarfing or killing the corn.
Later when the young plant is several inches high, they
frequently kill it outright by boring their cylindrical
250 THE BOOK OF CORN

channels directly through the underground part of the
stalk. They are common in corn on ground which has
been in grass for. several years. Usually they are
much more likely to do serious damage the second
year after the breaking up of the sod. They should be
looked after on such lands whenever the seed fails to
grow, or when the sudden withering of the plant sug-
gests injury to it underground. Under such circum-

Fig 60—Parent of Wireworm
(After Forbes)

stances practically all the wireworms in the field will
be found in the hills. It is not unusual to find ten or a
dozen in each hill.

The corn wireworms have a strong family resem-
biance and are not likely to be confused with other
insects. They vary in length when full grown from
half an inch to an inch and a quarter, but agree in their
hard, crust-like surface, nearly destitute of hairs ; their
brownish color, varying from yellowish to reddish;
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 251

their slender bodies, distinctly segmented and of about
equal diameter throughout their length. They live
mostly in grass lands, feeding largely on the roots.
Their numbers in such places are rarely sufficient to
produce any notable effect upon the sod. It is only
when concentrated in the comparatively scanty vege-
tation of a field of young corn in spring, or occasion-
ally in young wheat or other small grain, that they do
any very great harm. The commonest form of attack
on the corn, as seen by the farmer, is the burrowing
of the worm into the kernel. Frequently attacks in the
field have been so severe, particularly the first and
second years after the sod has been broken, as to
require planting a second or third time.

These pests agree fairly well in their life history.
They change to the dormant pupae in the earth in July
or sometime in August. Some three or four weeks
later they transform to the brown or reddish beetles
known as “click beetles” or “jumping jacks.” They
are easily distinguished by their peculiar habit of
springing into the air with a sudden click when placed
upon their backs. A large part of these fully devel-
oped beetles remain under ground until spring. Some
of them come out of the ground in the fall and pass
the winter in sheltered places; the remainder emerge
in spring, laying their eggs mostly in grass lands. Of
their subsequent life history little is definitely known.

No class of insects has had prescribed for it a
longer list of artificial remedies than the wireworms,
yet none of them is of practical value. Their injuries
continue practically unchecked. Even poisons of the
most deadly sort applied to corn previous to planting,
on food lures distributed through the ground, for the
purpose of drawing off the attention of these insects
from corn, have proved almost entirely valueless,
both in the experience of Professor Forbes and in.
252 THE BOOK OF CORN

the most elaborate trials made by Professors Com-
stock and Slingerland. Late fall plowing, breaking
open the pupal chambers, will probably diminish the
number of these beetles during the following year.
Professor Forbes has suggested a systematic rota-
tion intended to interpose between grass and corn a
crop not vulnerable to the wireworms. Otherwise
we are substantially without a hint of any means
of diminishing the ravages of these insects other than
the time-honored resource of the corn farmer, namely,
late planting of his corn the second year after sod,
and late replanting if the first planting is destroyed.
In the latter case it is well to plant between the
rows, allowing the first corn to stand as long as is
consistent with a proper cultivation of the field.
All the wireworms being at the time concentrated
on the old hills, if these be destroyed, when the field
is planted the second time, the wireworms still active
in the earth are forced to attack the freshly planted
kernels as their only food resource.

Even a clean fallow for an entire season will not
starve out the worms and neither buckwheat, mustard,
nor rape crops, frequently recommended to clear the
earth of wireworms, will accomplish the desired result.
Salt applied at the rate of sixteen hundred pounds per
acre, a heavy dressing, neither drives the wireworms
deeper into the soil nor causes them to migrate to any
appreciable distance. Kainit used as a fertilizer in
very large quantities has little effect if any on the
worms. The same may be said of muriate of potash,
lime and chloride of lime. Gas lime is capable of
destroying the worms but has to be applied in such
large quantities as to be impracticable on large areas.
The most promising method for relief is crop rotation,
in which clover follows grass and is itself followed by
corn. According to this plan pastures and meadows
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 253

of grass might lie unchanged for several years, being
plowed when broken up in late summer or early fall
and sown to clover in the spring, either with oats or
on winter wheat or rye sown the fall before. The
clover should be allowed to stand a second year, and
might be followed with corn, with positive assurance
that the wireworms originally in the sod would by that
time have entirely disappeared.

Seed Corn Maggots—Two somewhat common
injuries to seed corn in the ground are due to small
white maggots without legs, one apparently headless,
with much the form and general appearance of a very
small blowfly larva, and the other with a smooth, con-
spicuous head of a shining jet black color. The first is
called the seed corn maggot and infests corn only, so
faras is known. The second is the black-headed grass
maggot, injuring corn only when it follows grass.
Both these maggots penetrate the kernel, feeding on
the mealy inner part, leaving the outer shell. The
former transforms during the summer to a small two-
winged fly similar in form to the house fly. The latter
becomes a slender small black gnat, somewhat resem-
bling the mosquito. The fly is not likely to be noticed,
but the gnat of the grass maggot is often seen in large
numbers near the ground in early spring. The seed
corn maggot penetrates the grain commonly after
it sprouts but before it appears above ground, killing
the germ or the growing shoot and finally hollow-
ing out the interior so as to leave only the harder
outer part of the kernel. Unsprouted kernels softened
by lying in the earth are also frequently penetrated
in a way to destroy the germ, as shown in the illustra-
tion (Fig 61). The adult is a small two-winged fly,
about a fifth of an inch long, and not unlike a house
fly in general appearance. There is evidence that only
a single brood a year occurs.
254 THE BOOK OF CORN

When the spring is cool and wet after corn plant-
ing, so that the softened seed lies long in the ground
without sprouting, it is especially liable to certain
kinds of injury, and it is under these conditions that
the black-headed maggot seems most likely to affect it.
Rotting grain is undoubtedly preferred. It has occa-
sionally been seen to infest kernels that had begun to
grow. It lives normally in old sod, feeding chiefly on
decaying vegetation there, and will be found in notice-
able numbers in corn fields only where the field was in
grass the preceding year. These maggots penetratc
and hollow out the kernel, often leaving nothing more

Fig 61—Seed Corn Injured by Seed Corn Maggot
(After Forbes)

than an empty hull. Several of them may infest a
single grain. They are slender, footless white mag-
gots, except that the head is jet black, about one-third
of an ineh long when full grown and of nearly uni-
form diameter throughout. The body is soft and
flexible. and the movements of the maggot are slug-
gish. The species is very common.

In his observations, Professor F. H. Chittenden
of the United States department of agriculture says
that one of the best means of deterring the parent flies
from depositing their eggs consists in sand soaked in
kerosene, one cupful to a bucket of dry sand, placed
at the base of the plants, along the rows. This also
kills young larvae that might attempt to work through
the mixture. Fertilizers, preferably kainit and nitrat=
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 255

of soda, are also useful as deterrents, particularly
when employed just before or after a shower has thor-
oughly wet the ground. They should be applied as
nearly as possible to the roots, and the earth should be
turned away from the plants for this purpose. This
retnedy has the advantage of acting as a fertilizer as
well as a preventive of insect attack. As soon as
plants show signs of wilting, and this maggot is
known to be present in the field, the injured plants
should be promptly pulled and destroyed. These
methods of control have been used with success against
onion maggots and similar root-feeding species.

The White Grub—Injuries of white grubs to corn
may begin as soon as the roots are fairly well started,
and will range according to the age of the plant, kind
of weather, and the age and abundance of the grubs.
There may be only a slight and temporary retarda-
tion of growth but a complete destruction of all the
corn is not uncommon. Lec: of the tap root exposes
the plant to severe suffering by early drouth, and it is
often so reduced in vigor from root injury that it fails
to form brace roots at the proper time, and hence has
so slight a hold upon the earth that it cannot keep
itself erect or recover itself after prostration. In any
case where the plant is yellowed, or dwarfed, or killed
outright, especially if these appearances be most
marked on the higher, lighter parts of the field, the
presence of white grubs may be suspected. As the
roots of an infested plant are evidently eaten away,
injury by the white grub is not easily mistaken for
any other. The presence of the insects themselves, in
the earth among the roots, is not hard to detect. If
they are not thus found where other evidence points to
them as the cause of the injury, they may frequently
be discovered by digging down a foot or two in the
worst injured tracts,
256 THE BOOK OF CORN .

The adult beetles of the more abundant forms
spend the winter in the earth in cells where they orig-
inated, emerging in spring and early summer. Warm
and genial days in spring often bring them suddenly
out in myriads where previously only scattered
individuals have been seen, and their flight at night
is free when the weather is warm. The grubs feed
only during the season of growing vegetation, usu-

Lyd.

Pig 62—Adult of White Grub
May or June beetle, male; enlarged (after Forbes)

ally going down into the earth from the middle to
the last of November to a depth varying according
to the severity of the winter weather, and coming
up again within reach of food commonly sometime
in March or early April. Full-grown white grubs
will live an active life in the earth, feeding freely
from March to June or July, during which months
they change to the pupa a few inches under ground
in oval cells. At least some species of the white
grub may be freely and abundantly bred in fields
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 257

of corn; but it still remains true that by far the
greater number of those in the country at any time
have arisen from eggs laid by beetles in ground bear-
ing a crop of grass; and that corn is consequently
much more likely to be damaged if planted on sod
than if it follows clover, small grain, or corn itself.
The first effort of the corn farmer should be
directed to clearing the grubs out of the grass land
which he wishes to plant to corn. For this purpose
Professor Forbes thinks that hogs should be pastured
for a considerable time on the meadows or pastures
before plowing for corn, and that they should also be

Pig 63—White Grub
Young of the June beetle; enlarged (after Forbes)

given the run of the field while it is being plowed.
This measure will be practically useless under ordinary
circumstances, if resorted. to later than October or
earlier than April. In the interval between these
months the grubs will be beyond the reach of pigs,
buried in their winter quarters. After plowing, the
collection by hand of white grubs may be resorted to
where they are particularly abundant, especially where
any kind of cheap labor may be had. Owing to the
relatively small damage done to clover by the grubs,
it is a good practice to insert clover between grass and
corn in the rotation; and this is especially advisable
in light soils not perfectly adapted to corn. Here it
258 THE BOOK OF CORN

will have the effect of not only eliminating the grubs,
but will also diminish the damage to the following
crops of corn by increasing the strength of the land,
thus helping the corn plant to withstand such loss of
roots as it may be subjected to. Generous treatment
of the soil by heavy fertilization, thorough cultivation,
and the like will diminish loss to corn by enabling
plants attacked to throw out new roots. The man-

Fig 64—Adult Click Beetle
(After Forbes)

agement of corn on land containing grubs should also
be directed to the protection of the plants from drouth,
cs dry weather takes a double effect by retarding root
growth.

To prevent the laying of the eggs of the June
beetle in the corn field in May and June, it is desir-
able that the ground should be kept practically free
from weeds at that time, as it is well known that a sur-'
face growth of vegetation is a strong attraction to
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 259

these insects searching for places suitable for the
support of the young. Professor Forbes says direct
remedies for the attacks of white grubs are either inap-
plicable to the corn field, are of doubtful economic
value, or are too little understood, as yet, to make them
worthy of recommendation. For example, kerosene
emulsion may properly be applied to infested lawns,
and, if followed by a copious watering, may kill large
numbers of the grubs, but the cost of the material and
treatment will preclude its use against grubs in corn;

Fig 65—Pale Striped Flea Beetle
(After Chittenden)

and kainit and other potash fertilizers will destroy
grubs in the earth, but for this purpose must be used at
a rate inadmissible in farm practice.
The southern corn root worm will probably be
found much more generally present in corn fields than
indicated by reports. Its injuries are very similar in
general character and effect to those of the much more
abundant and better known northern corn root worm,
mentioned below. The presence of this root worm in
the field gives origin to the sual general effects of the
loss of roots by the plant, varying according to the age
260 THE BOOK OF CORN

of the corn, the gravity of the injury, kind of soil and
weather. In the young plant about six inches high,
the characteristic perforations of the stalk under-
ground may result in the sudden withering of the
whole plant, or more commonly, in the killing of the
central leaf or tuft of growing leaves—an appearance
which has given to this insect the common name of the
“bud worm” in some of the southern states. In cer-
tain instances the plant has been killed, as the writer
observed in Maryland, almost as soon as it was
sprouted.

As the season advances the corn in the affected
fields is likely to be uneven, and later, as the plant
becomes topheavy with growth, it may fall when the

Fig 66—Southern Corn Root Worm
Dorsal view; enlarged five diameters (after Forbes)

soil is softened by rains, especially during storms.
Having once so fallen, it will, if badly injured, fail to
rise again; and it may further be seen that the plant
has but little hold upon the ground, a whole hill, per-
haps, being readily pulled up with one hand. As a
consequence of the loss of roots and the general weak-
ening of the plant, many stalks fail to set the ear, or
form only a nubbin. The injured plant also matures
slowly, remaining green longer than the average, and
being thus especially subject to injury by frost. A
closer examination ot the young plant will commonly
show a perforation of the underground part of the
stem either at or near the upper circle of the roots.
Later, as the plant increases in size, the roots them-
selves are seen to be gnawed irregularly, great holes or
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 261

notches being eaten out, first in one direction and then
in another, until the roots are severed or consumed.
In the larger roots the larva may perhaps completely
bury itself. In well-grown corn it very commonly
bores into the stalk beneath the upper circle of brace
roots, or behind the sheath of the lower leaf, in which
habit it differs from the northern corn root worm. It:
is a soft, slender-bodied, worm-like insect, a little over

Fig 67—Beetle of Southern Corn Root Worm
Enlarged five and two-thirds diameters (after Forbes)

an inch long when full grown, and nearly ten times as
long as thick.

The fact that its injuries to corn occur without
apparent reference to the crop of the previous year
makes it unlikely that the favorite method of rotation
will serve for the protection of corn against this species.
Sweet corn seems to be much more liable to injury
than the field varieties, from which fact we may sus-
mise that the time of planting has something to do with
262 THE BOOK OF CORN

the intensity of the attack. ’: ne vicinity of cucumpers,
squashes, and other of the commoner food plants of the
beetle may account for this seeming preference.
Northern Corn Root Worm—lIt is not an uncom-
mon thing for the farmer to find his corn wilting and
falling over very easily during the months of June
and July. He wonders why it does not take root. The
fact is the roots have been destroyed by a slender white
worm not thicker than a pin, about a quarter of
an inch long, with a small brown head and six very
short legs. It begins its attacks on the roots in May
and June, eating its way beneath the surface, and kill-
ing the root as fast as it grows. Late in July or early
August the worm settles near the base of the hill,
where it transforms. Ina few days a bright grass green
beetle emerges, scarcely more than a quarter of an
inch long. It climbs up the stalk and feeds on the fine
yellow dust or pollen and upon the fresh silk at the end
of the ear; when the silk dries out, some of the beetles
creep down between the husks and feed upon the corn
itself, while others fly to such weeds as are in blossom.
The female lays its eggs in the ground in Septem-
ber and October upon or about the roots of corn. The
beetles die late in the fall, The eggs remain in the
ground over winter and do not hatch until after the
ground has been plowed and planted to corn in the
spring. The principal injury is done by the worms in
their attack upon the roots; but some harm is done by
the adult beetles, when numerous, by eating the silk
before the kernels are fertilized by the pollen. They
also occasionally destroy a few kernels in the tip of the
ear. Although the roots penetrated by the worms die
and decay, thrifty corn will throw out new ones to
replace those lost, and this is most likely to occur in
moist rich ground in wet seasons. The damage is -
therefore greatest on high ground and in dry weather,
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 263

and the use of manure will palliate, but not wholly
obviate the injury. Little or no mischief is done except
in fields that have been in corn during the year or two
preceding, and a frequent change of crops is therefore
a complete preventive.

STALK AND LEAF

Cutworms—Corn growers for many years have
suffered serious annual loss from the ravages of cut-
worms. These losses are becoming more apparent in
sections where crimson clover and other crops are
grown on the corn lands for turning down in the
spring us a soiling crop. Such fields furnish ideal
places the early and latter part of the season for the
parent insects to deposit their eggs and for the young
worms to feed. The result is that when the crop is
turned under the worms remain below the ground for
a time feeding upon the leaves, stems and roots until
the corn is up, and then they emerge and concentrate
upon the delicate plants. In many instances the
second planting is cut off.

The parent insects or moths of the common cut-
worms vary greatly in color in the different species.
Normally the female lays her eggs in grass lands, but
clover fields and weedy places get their share. The
young worms hatching from these eggs early in the
summer or late fall, feed voraciously upon any vegeta-
tion in their vicinity and are by no means particular
what it is; the only requirement being that the plant
shall be juicy and abundant.

It is known that cutworms as well as the adult
moths have a liking for sweet substances, and are
attracted to them when they are placed in their vicinity.
The worms also eat wheat bran with much relish. By
combining bran with molasses, or syrup made from
sugar, we have an ideal bait, and the worms will eat it
204° THE BOOK OF CORN

in preference to anything else when available. By
poisoning this material with paris green or arsenic,
we have a good remedy, cheap and easy to apply.

The ingredients used for making the poison mash
are as follows: Wheat bran, fifty pounds; molasses
(any kind), two quarts; paris green (good quality),
one pound; and water (enough to make thick mash).
The bran should be placed in an old tub or barrel, and
to this the poison should be added and stirred thor-
oughly before the water or molasses is poured in. Stir
the molasses in about a gallon of warm water and pour
it over the bran, to which the poison has been previ-
ously added, thoroughly stirring until it is well mixed.
Then add enough water to make a mash about the con-
sistency of dough, so that it can be handled easily with-
out running. Drop a small quantity near each hill.
Not over a heaping teaspoonful in a place. Apply
in the afternoon toward evening. Where it is necessary
to get over large areas, there is no objection to distrib-
uting it in any time during the day Care should be
taken to keep chickens, turkeys, or animals of any
kind that. would be liable to eat the mash, out of the
field for a day or two. A light cultivation a few days
later will cover up any remnant that may be left.

The Army Worm—The popular name is given to
this creature from the fact that the worms congregate
and travel in large numbers, invading a field of corn
or other crop like an army. The sudden appearance
and disappearance of this pest is very curious. The
adult moth appears in the fields early in the spring.
Two or three days are required for the moth to com-
plete the egg iaying process, after which it dies. Eight
or ten days elapse before the eggs hatch. The young
worms begin to feed at once. When not excessively
abundant they hide during the day and are rarely seen.
In years of great abundance they are generally unno-
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 265

ticed during the early life. The earliest acquire full
growth and commence to travel in armies and
devastate fields of corn and other
crops. They soon afterward descend
into the ground, where they trans-
form and issue again as moths two or
three weeks later.

The advance of these creatures can
be arrested by ditching. To protect
a field, however, from the marching
horde, a deep furrow should be
plowed along the side toward which
they are moving, care being taken
that the land-side is next the threat-
ened crop. The worms being unable
to climb this, accumulate in the fur-
row, where they can be trapped in
post holes dug every ten or fifteen feet,
and killed with kerosene, crude pe-
troleum, or by crushing. Planks or
boards of any kind placed on edge
end to end and smeared with coal tar
will prove an effectual barrier to them.
Paris green, london purple, or better,
arsenate of lead, sprinkled on the
plants in front of a marching host,
can be used to good advantage. The
most important agents which keep
these pests in check are insect para-
sities, which attack the worms in great

Fullgrownlarva; numbers when they appear in march-
cy “M ing armies. These parasites develop

so tapidly it is not an uncommon
thing at times to find two-thirds of the worms
parasitized.

ye
Fig 68—The Army
Worm
266 THE BOOK OF CORN

The Larger Cornstalk Borer—In general appear-
ance it is a white six-footed caterpillar, ordinarily with
dark-brown spots, boring into the stalks of young corn,
causing more or less distortion of the plants, and
seriously reducing the yield. The larva bores into old
stalks, later working down into the tap root and
passing the winter in a channel near the surface of
the ground or a little below, transforming in the spring
to a brown moth. This insect is thought to be identical
with the sugar-cane borer of Louisiana and the West

Fig 69—The Army Worm

Moth above, pupa below, and eggs in natural position in a grass leaf—all natu.
ral size (after Comstock)

Indies. It occurs all through the southern states, west
to Kansas, and as far north as Maryland along the.
north shore of the Potomac river. The adult insect
issues from the old cornstalks in the spring. Soon
after the young corn comes up it lays its eggs upon
the leaves near the axils, and the larva upon hatching
penetrates the stalk at or near the joint and commences
to tunnel, usually upward through the pith. When
ready to transform it bores to the surface of the stalk,
making a hole for the exit of the future moth, then
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 267

changing to the pupa state. The damage done by the
second generation consists largely in weakening the
stalk so that it is readily blown down. Injury by the
irst generation results in serious harm to the crop,
preventing the growth of the ears. Upon reaching
maturity, the larvae of the second generation do not
transform at once, but the majority of them pass the
winter as larvae. Early planted corm is more apt to
be infested than late corn. For instance, corn planted

Fig 70—The Larger Cornstalk Borer ]
a, female; 4, larva; c, pupa—all somewhat enlarged

the first and second weeks in April, twenty-five per
cent was damaged; the third and fourth weeks, twenty
per cent; May 1 to 15, fifteen per cent; of that planted
May 15 to 31, twelve per cent; June 1, eight per cent.
In fact, corn planted after June 1 was practically
uninfested. See Fig 88, showing work of the larger
cornstalk borer.

With the more careful and thorough methods of
cultivation in the North this insect in all probability
will not thrive. Dr L. O. Howard, entomologist of
268 THE BOOK OF CORN

the United States department of agriculture, thinks
it will reach its maximum in localities like parts of
South Carolina, where corn is simply stripped for
fodder in early August, and the bare stalks with the
ear attached stand until after the cotton is picked,
ginned and shipped, and where even after the ears are
harvested the stalks are seldom burned. In Virginia,
however, the conditions are nearly as favorable for the
continuous development of the insect. Where it is
not intended to follow corn with winter grain, the
corn is cut in October and the butts stand in the
ground until the following spring, affording the larvae
safe places for hibernation. Even in plowing for
another crop of corn in the spring many of the old
stalks are not destroyed, but still remain standing
through winter. Under these conditions there is no
check whatsoever to the increase of the pest. Where
winter grain follows corn, the stalks are not thoroughly
dragged off. Even when collected they are rarely ever
burned. Where the old stalks are systematically
removed from the field and burned after the harvest
or during winter, or where a constant rotation of crops
is practiced, the cornstalk borer will never become a
serious pest. Southern farmers have it in their hands
to check it at any time by pursuing these methods.
Aside from corn, sugar cane and sorghum, this borer
has only one other food plant, so far as is known.
This is the gama grass, or sesame grass, Tripsacum
dactyloides, which grows very high in swampy ground.
Farmers whose corn fields adjoin swampy ground
should burn over the grass during the winter. The
rotation of crops is reasonably efficient against this
insect.

The smaller cornstalk borer is a tropical species
occurring in Alabama, Georgia, North and South Car-
Olina, Florida, Kansas, Texas and as far north as
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 269

Virginia. It also inhabits Central and South america.
The moth has been captured in Maryland and Indiana,
but this is not evidence of the permanency of the species
in those states. As this stalk borer hibernates in all
stages, larva, pupa and adult, a practical remedy is
difficult to find. The pulling up and burning of
infested material as early as possible after the crop
is removed, and rotation with some crop that would
not be affected by this species, are desirable. It is
quite a serious pest on beans and peanuts occasionally,

"bb ae
Fig 71—The Smaller Cornstalk Borer

Elasmopalpus lignosellus. a, male moth; 4, fore-wing of dark female; 58,
antenna of female; ¢, male at rest; d, larva; e, ventral segment of larva from
side, much enlarged; J, cocoon—all except c three times natural size (after
Chittenden).

and these should be avoided on iand infested with it.
It does not seem possible that the insect could be
reached with insecticides with profit. See Fig 92,
showing work of the smaller cornstalk borer.

The Corn Worm—The corn worm has about as
many popular names as it has food plants. Through-
out the corn growing states it is known as the corn
worm when it occurs upon corn. In the cotton grow-
ing states it is called.the boll worm when found upon
cotton. In many southern states it is known in the
270 THE BOOK OF CORN

early part of the season as the corn bud worm. The
same worm is found also upon tomatoes, and is called
the tomato worm. It is about an inch and a half
long when full grown, and varies in color from pale
green to dark brown, with longitudinal stripes of the
same color. This difference in color is so great as to
make them look like different insects; still the mark.
ings are the same; the green worms marked with
stripes of darker green, and the brown ones with
darker brown. When full grown they leave the ears
and crawl into the ground, when they change to
chrysalids. See Fig 84.

There are as many as five broods during a single
season in Alabama. There are three normal broods
a year as far north as New Jersey, Ohio and northern
Illinois, then in South Carolina, north Georgia, Ten-
nessee and Arkansas there are probably four broods,
and as many as six in south Texas and Florida. Early
in the spring, pale, clay yellow moths, with a greenish
tinge, emerge. They are very seldom seen, unless
disturbed during the day, when they fly out with a
quick, darting motion.

The eggs of the first brood are laid upon the leaves
of the corn, upon which the young begin to feed as
soon as hatched, gnawing many small, irregular holes
through them, giving them a ragged appearance. The
brood that works on the ears is produced from eggs
laid on the silk; and when hatched they feed upon
the silk; when they come to the kernels, they. wor!
their way around the ears inside the husks, sometimes
eating only the outside portion of the kernels, or boring
through the under side next to the cob, so that when
the husks are stripped back the worm may be nearly
half hidden in the corn. As the corn gets hard, those
that are full grown leave the ears and go into the
ground to undergo their transformations, while others
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 271

that have not reached that stage die and rot in their
burrows, where they mold and decay, making the
corn unfit for use.

In garden patches of sweet corn, hand picking is
the best remedy so far suggested. The planting of
several rows of early sweet corn around the field liable
to be infested has been advised. In such cases the
moths are attracted’ to these rows of early corn and
deposit their eggs, after which the worms can be
hand picked, or destroyed by the destruction of the
corn, Fall plowing will also break up and expose
many chrysalids.

Fig 72—Corn Root Brokea meteds fe Shee Northern Corn Root Worm
in

(After Zorbes)

The Chinch Bug—As soon as wheat is cut the
chinch bug usually makes its way on foot, for it rarely
uses its wings, to the nearest corn field. It is not
an uncommon cecurrence in the central western states
to see the ground literally covered with these bugs
in their various stages of development, passing from
one field to another. If the ground is reasonably dry
several furrows should’ be plowed around the field
of corn. After harrowing and pulverizing as much
as possible, open a furrow six to eight inches deep
with a single shovel plow. In this drag a smooth log
eight to ten inches in diameter until the furrow is
272 _ THE BOOK OF CORN

finely dusted on both sides. If necessary make several
parallel furrows in the same manner. The bugs tumble
in them and are unable to crawl out on account of
the dust crumbling under their feet. If the sun is
hot the bulk of the pests are destroyed; but in cool
weather it may be necessary to drag the log back
and forth several times during the day to destroy
them.

Fig 73—Various Stages of the Chinch Bug
(After Johnson)

When the ground is too wet to make furrows,
gas or coal tar can be used. It should be poured in
a continuous stream on the ground, forming a band
about half an inch or more in width. The bugs will
crawl up to this line, but will not cross it. They will
run in either direction along the line, and can be
trapped by digging post holes every few rods. Care
must be taken to see that no rubbish, not even a straw
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 273

or blade of grass, forms a bridge over the line. In
case the bugs do get upon the young corn they can
be destroyed by spraying with a ten to twelve per cent
solution of kerosene emulsion. It should be applied
with a- good spray pump. About one-quarter to half
a pint of emulsion will be sufficient for each hill. In
1895 the writer made a practical demonstration of
these methods on the farm of William Quade near
Edgewood, Illinois. A forty-acre field of corn sur-
rounded on three sides with wheat and oats was saved.
In one day it was estimated that the furrows contained
about twelve bushels of dead chinch bugs.

The Corn Root Aphis—Usually associated with
ants in hills of corn, farmers will often find minute,
soft, thick-bodied, six-legged insects, mostly without
wings. They are always sluggish. When exposed
they may show little or no signs of disturbance, but
if shaken off the roots into which their lance-like beaks
are inserted, they will probably crawl slowly and clum-
sily about. Ants which have nested in the hill will
seize these little insects in their jaws and hurry away
with them into concealment. No insect affecting corn
is more deserving of the attention of farmers than the
corn root aphis or louse. It ranks as a corn pest with
the chinch bug and army worm. See Figs 74 and 85.

The corn root louse takes its food through a stiff
beak, which it thrusts into the tissues of the plant
it feeds upon. It thus produces no external injury,
nor any local internal effect discoverable by ordinary
methods of observation. Indications of injury by this
insect are consequently all of a general character,
affecting the entire plant, and do not materially differ
from those caused by severe drouth, except in the fact
that they are likely to be unequal in different parts
of the same field in a way to indicate no connection
with the amount of retained moisture in the soil. The
274 THE BOOK OF CORN

root louse has been found on the plant as early as
May 9, only four days after the field was planted.
The dwarfing of the plant, especially in patches
here and there, with a yellowing or reddening of the
leaves, beginning with the lowest ones, and a general
apparent lack of thrift and vigor, are sufficient to cause
suspicion of injury by this louse. This will be con-
firmed in part if numerous burrows of ants are seen
in or near the hills. The presence of ants in the field

Fig 74—Winged Viviparous Female of Corn Root Aphis
Greatly enlarged (after Forbes)

may be overlooked after the ground has been recently
cultivated, but can scarcely escape attention shortly
after rain, when these little insects actively open up
their burrows, heaping up the little pellets of earth
about the openings of their nests. The root aphis of
the corn is of a bluish-green color, slightly whitened
by a waxy bloom. The form of the body is usually
oval, with two short, slender, but conspicuous tubes on
the hinder part. These stand erect or project slightly
backward, and have open ends externally. They are
called “honey tubes,” it having been formerly supposed
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 3275

that they were the source of the abundant excretion
upon which the ant attendants of the lice eagerly feed.
The grass louse, on the other hand, is white in color,
with a blackish head and other blackish markings, but
without any tint of green; it has no traces of honey
tubes, their place being taken by two minute openings
in the corresponding segment of the body, each sur-
rounded by a delicate brownish rim.

From our present knowledge of these pests, there
seem to be at least four methods to attack them. Pro-
fessor Forbes, in summing up the results of work done
in Illinois, thinks farmers may (1) try the effect of a
change of crop after any notable plant louse injury to
corn, in the expectation that corn planted on ground
which contains no plant louse eggs will become so
slightly or so slowly infested, if at all, that no harm
need be anticipated. (2) The application of fertilizers
and other materials made to the young corn hill in
spring in the hope of killing the lice outright or
of supporting the plant against their attack at a time
when this is likely to be most injurious. (3) Since
the small brown ant cares for the eggs in winter
and spring, it is thought the lice can be lessened by
disturbing the nests or breaking them up and dis-
persing their contents in late fall or winter, so
that their stores of aphis eggs cannot be recovered
by them, and thus left to perish. (4) Taking
account of the early hatching of the eggs in spring,
several days, as a rule, before the usual time for
planting corn, and the dependence of the young
lice for food at that time on sprouting weeds in the
field, especially smartweed and pigeon grass, the
ground should be handled in such a manner that there
shall be no sufficient start of vegetation to keep the
lice alive. Delay somewhat, if necessary, the planting
of the field to corn. There can be no doubt that a
276 THB BOOK OF CORN

judicious rotation of crops has the effect at least to
diminish injury by the corn plant louse by distributing
its attack. Many observations show that wheat and
oats and the smaller grass-like plants in general are
commonly soon deserted by such corn root lice as
commence to breed on them.

IN THE BIN AND GRANARY

The grain moth is perhaps the most destructive
enemy to stored corn south of the wheat growing belt.
Its ravages are most marked in Texas. It attacks all

Fig 75—The Grain Moth

larva; 4, pupa; c, adult moth; d, wings showing marking; e, egg—much
* marge ; th grain of corn, showing larva at work (after Riley

stored cereal products, but corn and wheat are the
principal grains affected. Its presence in corn can
be easily detected. The corn is light and is peppered
full of little round holes about half the size of a
pin’s head.

The parent insect is a small gray moth, resem-
bling a clothes moth, and measures only about half
an inch with its wings spread. The moth lays its
eggs only upon hard grain. They are deposited in
the field, granary, warehouse, mill or elevator. The
eggs hatch in about a week and the young worms
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 277

work their way into the grain. They feed for about
three weeks. The creature passes the winter only in
granaries, warehouses, mills or elevators. It will breed
uninterruptedly, generation after generation, in stored
corn or wheat. After harvest the moth flies out from
the granaries to the corn and wheat fields and lays
its eggs upon grains of corn and wheat in the shock.
The larvae are not destroyed by the husking or thresh-
ing, and are carried back to the granaries and finally
to the warehouse. When once established in such
places, it will remain there an indefinite length of time.
The most efficient remedy now known for its arrest
and destruction is bisulphid of carbon. It can pe
thrown directly upon grain without injuring its vital-
ity or edible qualities in the least. See Fig go, showing
ear of corn riddled by the grain moth.

The Grain Weevils—The granary weevil is a
small, flattened-snout beetle, less than a quarter of an
inch long, of a uniform shining, chestnut-brown color.
The larva is legless, short and fleshy, whitish in color.
In making preparations for the deposition of her eggs
the female first punctures the corn with her snout, and
then inserts an egg in the incision. The eggs hatch in
a short time and the larva devours the interior of the
grain and finally undergoes its transformation within
the hull. In wheat and other small grains a single
larva inhabits a kernel, but in corn several individuals
may inhabit the same kernel. About six weeks are
usually required for the transformation from egg to
adult. There are probably four or five broods in the
northern states, and six or more in the southern. The
adult beetles do a great deal of damage by gnawing
into the kernels.

The rice weevil, another common species, was first
found in rice and was given this popular name by its
discoverer. It occurs in every state and territory and
278 THE BOOK OF CORN

occasionally invades Canada and Alaska. It is most
troublesome in the southern states, where it is com-
monly, but erroneously called the “black weevil.”
Large cargoes of grain have frequently been destroyed
during transportation by this insect. The annual
losses by it are very great in India, Mexico, South
America and other tropical countries. It resembles

Fig 76—Grain Weevils

Calandra granaria: a,beetle; 3, larva; c, pupa; d, C. oryza beetle—all en-
larged (after Chittenden)

the granary weevil in size and in general appearance,
but has well developed wings. It is a dull brown and
its wing covers are ornamented with four more or less
distinct red spots. The larva and pupa are similar to
those of the granary weevil. Although the rice weevil
feeds upon rice, it attacks a great variety of other
cereals, particularly corn and wheat.
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 279

There is but one standard remedy for all stored
grain insect pests, and that is scrupulous cleanliness
supplemented hy the free use of bisulphid of carbon.
The bisulphid is usually evaporated in vessels con-
taining one-fourth or one-half a pound each, and
is applied in tight bins at the rate of a pound
to a pound and a half to the ton of grain, and
in more open bins a larger quantity is used. For
smaller masses of grain or other material an ounce
is evaporated to every one hundred pounds of the in-
fested matter. Bins may be rendered nearly air-tight
by covering with cloth, blankets or canvas. Infested
grain is generally subjected to the bisulphid treatment
for twenty-four hours, but may be exposed much
longer without harming it for milling purposes. If
not exposed for more than thirty-six hours its ger-
minating power will not be impaired. In open cribs
and badly infested buildings it may sometimes be
necessary to use a double quantity and repeat treatment
at intervals of about six weeks during the warmest
weather.

For a complete and detailed account of this sub-
stance, together with directions for its application in
stored corn, the reader is referred to the book “Fumi-
gation Methods,” published by Orange Judd Company,
New York.

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

The Indian meal moth has a wide distribution and
does not confine its attacks to grains and farinaceous
products, but feeds on seeds and various kinds of nuts,
dried fruits, roots and herbs. It is an all-round nui-
sance in granaries, stores, and in houses. The moths
are quite active and are easily disturbed. They may
be seen flying about a granary, warehouse or pantry
in the daytime, but they are usually more active at
280 THE BOOK OF CORN

night. The female deposits her eggs upon the grain
or in the meal itself, where they hatch in a few days
into tiny worms. When full grown the worms or
larvae are about half an inch long, flesh colored and
hairy. They have the peculiar habit of spinning fine
silken threads wherever they go, in much the same
manner as the flour moth. When full grown the
larvae usually leave their food and crawl to some
isolated angle or corner to pupate. They are exceed-
ingly free with their silk during the migratory period,
and will often line the inside of tightly closed bins or

Fig 77—Indian Meal Moth

Plodia interpunctella: a, moth, 4, chrysalis ; c, caterpillar; 4 same, dorsal
view—somewhat enlarged; d, head; e, tirst abdominal segment of caterpillar
—more enlarged (after Chittenden),

granaries with their waste material, trailing it back and
forth in every conceivable direction, forming a fine and
delicate fabric. There are in all probability from five
to seven generations annually where the temperature is
favorable.

The meal snout moth is another little moth which
is attracting considerable attention in this country. It
usually occurs in mills, granaries, storehouses, barns
and houses where farinaceous products are stored. The
adult moth is a beautifully banded creature with a
wing expanse of about an inch. The ground color is
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 281

light brown, with reddish reflections. The larva is
about three-quarters of an inch long, and is consider-
ably darker than that of the preceding species. Its
habits are similar to those of the Indian meal moth.
The larva constructs tubes of silk and particles of
feed or other food in which it lives. It lives on cereals
of all kinds and in all conditions, either in the kernel
or in the form of flour, meal or bran.

Fig 78—Common Grain and Flour Beetle

Tribolium confusum: a, beetle; 4, larva; c, pupa—all enlarged; d, lateral
lobe of abdomen of pupa; ¢, head of jbeetle, showing antenna; /, same of 7.
lerrugineum—all greatly enlarged (after Chittenden),

The Mediterranean flour moth is the most impor-
tant of all mill insects. It is the scourge of the flour
mill and has attracted much attention in recent years.
It was discovered in a flour mill in Germany in 1877.
In later years it invaded Belgium and Holland, and
in 1886 appeared in England. Three years later it
made its appearance in destructive numbers in Canada.
In 1892 it was discovered by the writer in mills in Cal-
ifornia and in New York, Pennsylvania in 1895, and
recently in Ohio. Indiana and other states. The adult
282 THE BOOK OF CORN

moth has a wing expanse of a little less than an inch;
the fore wings are pale leaden gray with transverse
black markings. The caterpillar is whitish and hairy.
It is their habit of web spinning that renders them so
injurious where they obtain a foothold. It is while
searching for a proper place for transformation that
the insect becomes troublesome. The infested flour
becomes felted together and lumpy, the machinery is
clogged, necessitating frequent and prolonged stop-
page, and resulting in a short time in the loss of
thousands of dollars in large establishments. Although
the larva prefers flour or meal, it will attack grain
when the former are not available, and it flourishes
also on bran, prepared cereal foods, including buck-
wheat grits and crackers. When a mill is found to be
infested, the entire building should be fumigated, and
in case a whole district becomes overrun, the greatest
care must be observed not to spread the pest. Unin-
fested mills should be tightly closed at night, and every
bushel of grain, every bag or sack brought into the
mill, subjected to a quarantine process by being disin-
fected either by-hydrocyanic acid gas or bisulphid
of carbon.
THE CORN SMUT

Corn smut is very common throughout the United
States and familiar to every cultivator. In ordinary
years the yield is decreased by it on the average from a
fraction of one per cent to about two per cent, while
in exceptional seasons and in particular localities the
loss may reach ten per cent, or in rare cases even fifty
or sixty per cent. Compared with some fungous dis-
eases of cultivated crops, this is a low percentage of
injury; and yet for the whole country it represents
many millions of dollars annually. Even for single
farms, where corn is a staple product, it is an amount
worth saving.
WIOD peyNWs Jo SJB OML—6L By

284 THE BOOK OF CORN

Corn smut is caused by a fungus known to bota-
nists by the name of Ustilago zeae. It is a fungus of
simple structure and habits, entirely distinct from the
smuts of sorghum, broom corn, wheat, oats, barley,
millet and those of many other wild and cultivated
plants. It affects any part of the plant above ground,
forming large pustules, at first of a whitish or grayish
color, and finally black by exposure of the mass of. dark
fungous spores. On the left every kernel (see Fig 79)
is destroyed, and the growth of the outer part of the
ear has been checked by the disease. On the right
only the outer half of the ear is affected, the remainder
having perfect kernels, unaffected with smut, and
which might be planted without danger of transmitting
smut to the next crop. From photographs loaned by
the Indiana experiment station.

When the corn plant becomes inoculated with the
disease, the infection does not spread to all parts of
the plant, but remains local, so that each pustule repre-
sents a separate infection. The fungus does not grow
upon the surface, but inside the tissues, and by the
irritation that it sets up causes the tissues to swell and
form a pustule, the size depending upon the amount
of nutriment that the fungus can extract from the
plant, and the rapidity with which that part of the
plant is growing at the time. For these reasons the
ears usually bear the largest masses of smut.

For one hundred and fifty years or more it has been
the practice of farmers in Europe to treat seed wheat
with blue vitriol to remove smut from it, and in late
years a variety of practical and efficient methods for
the treatment of seed grain have come into general
use in both Europe and America. Until recently it
has been assumed that corn smut might be prevented
by similar means, and it was not until the life history
of the corn smut fungus was fully worked out by
STossVL 9} ZUNINY UIS—08 314

286 THE BOOK OF CORN

botanists, led by such eminent investigators as Meyen,
Leveille, Tulasne brothers, De Bary, Kuehn, Fischer
von Waldheim and Brefeld, that the futility of such
methods for corn became apparent. Brefeld’s publica-
tion in 1895 completed our knowledge of the essential
features in the life history of the fungus, and for the
first time made a rational procedure possible.

The habits of the fungus are readily described.
The spores, composing the black powder, are capable
of growth as soon as ripe but for the most part do not
grow until June, or later, of the year following. They
grow best in a nutrient solution, such as the drainings
from rich soil, or barnyard manure, and consequently
it is the smut masses that fall to the ground 1n the field
and are not wholly plowed under, or are distributed
in yards where cattle are fed dry stalks, that chiefly
furnish material for the spread of the disease.

When the spores germinate they produce a white,
mold-like growth of limited extent, on which are borne
minute, colorless, secondary spores. If the fungous
filaments are submerged, the secondary spores are
formed sparingly, but when they develop in moist air
these spores are produced in the greatest profusion.
It is the aerial, secondary spores that are the direct
source of infection. They are carried about by air
currents, and falling upon the moist surface of any
part of the corn plant, not too mature, grow into the
plant and cause smut pustules. Under favorable con-
ditions it requires only twenty-four hours to produce
secondary spores after the black spores find a suitable
place in which to grow; and after the secondary spores
strike the corn plant in growing condition but ten to
fourteen days are needed for a mass of smut to form,
which in a week longer will contain ripe spores. It
will be seen that the reproduction of the fungus is very
rapid, three weeks being ample under favorable condi-
W9}g JO SIDIOL 947 ZUIABW yUIS—TE Bry

288 THE BOOK OF CORN

tions for completing the whole cycle of growth, no
resting period being essential.

Observations carefully tabulated have shown that
the pustules become more numerous in a field of corn
as the season progresses, unquestionably due to suc-
cessive infections. Early planted corn is liable to show
more smut at the end of the season than late planted,
simply because it has had a longer period in which to
become infected. Corn planted upon extra rich or
extra moist soil is more liable to infection, because the
rapid growth exposes more surface of tender tissues
and for a longer time. It must be remembered that the
secondary spores are only able to push their germinal
tubes into soft tissues. They sometimes effect an en-
trance into the tips of the brace roots before these enter
the ground. They attack any part of the leaf when
immature, and also the tassel, especially when the stam-
inate flowers first appear. The lower part of each
internode of the stem, just above the joint and inside
the sheath, is particularly vulnerable throughout almost
the whole season, for corn, in common with other mem-
bers of the grass family, continues to grow and elon-
gate at this point for an indefinite period. On the left
(see Fig 80, showing smut affecting the tassels) the
smut spores were washed in among the unfolding
leaves at the summit of the stem before the tassel
emerged, and the base of the leaves as well as the
tassel became diseased, so that growth of the tassel
was checked. On the right the infection took place
after the tassel unfolded, and gained entrance through
the open staminate flowers.

Not only are the tissues delicate here, but the
sheaths retain moisture and provide the spores, that
drop in from above or are washed down by rains or
dews, good opportunity to germinate and pierce the
plant. Smut often starts where the stalks are injured
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 289

by the cultivator or otherwise, thus exposing soft and
moist tissues. The ear, about which the farmer is
chiefly concerned, is infected through the silk, conse-
quently, although the ear is particularly susceptible, it
is only for a brief period while the silks are young and
moist that it can be successfully attacked. In Fig 81
another phase is shown. On the left each joint along
the lower part of the stalk bears a mass of smut, which
started by spores being washed down inside the sheath,
and which, as it grew, ruptured the sheath and became
exposed. On the right the uppermost joint of the
stalk is similarly affected, but instead of the smut mass
breaking through the sheath, it has pushed the stem
bearing the tassel to one side, and the sheath remains
upright. Figs 80 and 81 are from photographs loaned
by the Indiana experiment station.

SMUT DETRIMENTAL IN VARIOUS WAYS

The smut injures the corn crop in two ways.
First, by destroying the ears of corn, causing practi-
cally a total loss, and secondly, by absorbing the juices
of the plant and thus preventing full growth, especially
of the ears. Statistics show that plants affected by
smut, the ear remaining sound, give a yield on an av-
erage of only three-fourths the full number of bushels.
The loss in yield of stover is not usually material.

Besides the actual loss to the crop there is a wide-
spread belief that the smut does great injury when
eaten by animals. This belief is not new; it is handed
down from the earliest days in the history of corn
growing. From the eighteenth century to the present
time it has been considered dangerous for animals of
any kind, or for man, to eat corn smut. It is reported
to produce weakness, paralysis of the limbs, gangrene,
loss of hair, staggers, abortion, and very frequently
death, which is usually sudden.
290 THE BOOK OF CORN

Effects of Smut on Animal Life—On the other
hand experimental evidence goes to show that danger
from eating corn smut is very slight, if indeed, there
is any at all, and that the harm which has been ascribed
to it is more reasonably referred to other causes. In
1784, the distinguished French investigator, Imhof, ex-
perimented upon himself by taking a considerable
quantity of the spores before breakfast every morning
for a fortnight, also applying the spores to a wound on
his hand, and employing them as snuff, without ex-
periencing the slightest harm or ill effects. Other
early investigators and many recent ones have tried
experiments both on man and animals, and with one
or two possible exceptions no injury resulted. 'n these
trials cows, which are thought to be the chief sufferers,
have been fed smut for weeks, often as much as ten
pounds, or a half bushel, daily during the !atter part
of the time, without symptoms of injury in any partic-
ular, and with every appearance of its being an accept-
able and nutritious food. Some of the cows were
pregnant.

Chemical tests, and physiological studies with
fluid extract of smut, however, appear to show that it
contains small quantities of a narcotic substance, which
taken in concentrated form may act upon the nerve
centers and affect certain reflex movetnents, especially
those of respiration. It appears possible to cause death
with it, but unless that happens the effects of even
large doses soon disappear and no harm follows. That
it is ever possible for an animal to eat enough of the
smut as found in the field to produce death seems
highly improbable, unless in the possible rare case of a
very susceptible individual.

A Nutritive Food—Feeding experiments have
demonstrated that cattle relish the smut, and that it
Serves as a nutritious food. Moreover, chemical analy-
CORN PESTS AND DISEASES 291

sis shows that it is richer in protein than corn, oats or
clover hay, and is also high in carbohydrates. It con-
tains about four per cent of sugar, which may help to
make it palatable. It has been thought that the spores
pass through the animal without impairing their power
of germination, but this, like many other current views
regarding corn smut, is found by trial not to be true.

A concise statement regarding present knowledge
of the action of corn smut upon animals would be, that
it is a highly nutritive food, quite harmless, except
when eaten in excessive amounts, and then only rarely.
The small quantity of a narcotic-like substance which
it contains may under all ordinary circumstances be
ignored.

CONTROLLING OR ERADICATING THE DISEASE

In the spread of corn smut in the field, assuming
that careless husbandry has permitted smut masses to
remain undestroyed, thus providing an ample source of
infection, the most important factor is that of the
weather. A damp atmosphere, cloudy days, and gentle
winds furnish ideal conditions for the rapid spread of
the smut. Under such circumstances the delicate sec-
ondary spores are wafted about without loss of vitality,
and effect an entrance into the corn plant at any vul-
nerable point with little danger of desiccation.

Observation has shown that periods of dull, sultry
weather were followed in about two weeks by out-
breaks of smut. A rain storm, however, checks the
spread of the smut, for it washes the spores from the
air and the surface of the plants into the ground, where
they come to naught. A rainy season, therefore, may
be less favorable to the growth of smut than a dry
season in which dewy nights are frequent.

From a knowledge of the life history of the corn
smut fungus only two courses seem open at present for
292 THE BOOK OF CORN

controlling or stamping out the disease. One course
is to protect the crop by some method of spraying so
that floating spores may be killed when they come in
contact with the corn plant, That it is possible to
greatly diminish the amount of smut liable to occur in
a field by repeated spraying with some copper com-
pound, like bordeaux mixture, has been amply proved
by trial. But it is an expensive and cumbersome
method, incapable of protecting the ears from smut,
because it is not wise to spray the silks when in a re-
ceptive condition, and consequently is a method never
likely to come into general use.

The other course is to remove the source of infec-
tion by gathering the smut pustules before they break
and scatter spores, and to thoroughly destroy them.
If the smut masses are gathered from the fields of
growing corn two or three times during the season,
beginning in July, and the gatherings burned or
plunged into boiling water, the injury from smut in
the present crop and especially in subsequent ones must
be greatly lessened or entirely removed. The wider
the extent of country over which this method is pur-
sued, the more permanent and complete will be the
benefit. By employing boys, or other cheap labor, the
method is made financially profitable.
CHAPTER XV

Cost of Growing Corn

HE selling price of every product of human labor,
Of the production of which is open to general com-
petition, is in the end determined by the average
cost of producing that article. The truth of this
rule is most clearly shown in the case of those articles
of manufacture in the production of which the element
of chance is most completely removed, and an exact
knowledge of the cost of material and labor entering
into their composition is possible. Where such absolute
accuracy is possible, the producer simply sums up the
cost to himself and fixes a selling price so as to allow as
large a margin of profit as competition will permit.
The application of this rule to the products of the farm
appears difficult because of the difficulty of measuring
the cost of producing any given product, but that it
does apply is certain, and is illustrated by the declining
course of prices of farm products that accompanies the
increased use of labor saving farm machinery.

It is not possible to measure cost of production
of farm products with the same accuracy as is possible
with manufactured articles, but every farmer should
know approximately at least what his own products
cost. If he does not he is no position to market them
intelligently and is assuming risks which no other
business in the world carries. It is remarkable how
little data of positive value bearing upon the cost of
producing corn are available. Most that has appeared
is in the way of loose general estimates based upon
small areas grown in an experimental way, though
within the past few years some careful and systematic
THE BOOK OF CORN

204

effort has been made to gather data upon a scale broad
enough to serve as a basis for a reasonable estimate

of cost of corn production.

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sasodg ynuig 0109—Zg 314

‘vy :saiods Arepuozas

AN UNRELIABLE OFFICIAL ESTIMATE

In 1894 the United States department of agricul-

ture published the results of an

investigation as to
COST OF GROWING CORN 295

the cost of growing corn, based on “estimates” supplied
by “over 28,000 practical farmers” in all parts of the
country. The methods followed in securing the in-
formation were crude in the extreme, and the statistical
treatment of the data secured very unsatisfactory,
leaving the results of so little value as to hardly merit
analysis. In presenting the conclusions reached it may
be pointed out that mere personal estimates and not
exact records are the basis of the work, and that the
only items of cost considered are “rent of Jand, ma-
nure, seed and labor.” The official conclusion of this
investigation, averaged for the whole country, was:

Per acre

Rent of land .......... aiovaele wes RAS $3.03
Manure, sexes sec ceie statis eicies sami 1.86
Preparing ground .............+00 -. 1.62
Planting es o593-6ee eases ganvaseia els! stacanerarata's .42
Cultivating ..........4. arsliatere’e 6 ere wee 1.80
Gathering .......... B ecatanerss tae Meds Sane « -¥22
Housing .......0e08- ydilelgies aes Sensese wi. 250
Marketing ........... seviores os wepsaises 1620
Total: siciee heise eitle Gaasapate-Weweneiereres $11.71

Cost per bushel (22.5 bushels per acre) .52

In view of the fact that this statement does not
include taxation, depreciation of horses and machinery
and other items of cost, and yet shows an average cost
of $2.69 per acre greater than the average value per
acre of the crop for the ten years preceding, as re-
ported by the same authority, further consideration of
this “official” estimate of the cost of growing corn is
unnecessary.

AN ILLINOIS INVESTIGATION

In 1898 the Illinois experiment station published
a report prepared by Mr Nathan A. Weston, giving
the results of an investigation undertaken to ascer-
tain the cost of growing corn in 1896. Unfortunately,
the circular issued to secure the data was so drawn as
2096 THE BOOK OF CORN

to invite estimates rather than actual records, and was
faulty to an extent that made necessary a supplemen-
tary circular at a later date. The results, therefore,
are open to the objection of being based upon esti-
mates, or at best imperfect recollection of unimportant
circumstances taking place nearly a year before the
asking of any questions concerning them.

The data gathered are so imperfectly presented
that it is impossible to construct a table which shall

Fig 83—The Seed Corn Maggot

Phorbia fusciceps : a, male fly, dorsal view; 4, female, lateral view; c, head
of female from above; d, larva, from side; ¢, anal segment of larva; 7, anal
spiracles; g, thoracic spiracles; 4, puparium—all much enlarged (after Chitten.
den),

show in detail the cost of the various items necessary to
a showing of the cost of growing corn. The final con-
clusion is that the “cost per bushel through husking”
averaged 16.1 cents, qualified by the statement: “If we
omit rent, the cost per bushel through husking would
according to this inquiry be about eight cents.” In
view of the fact that this does not include any allow-
ance for depreciation of horses or machinery, team
maintenance during their period of idleness, fertiliza- ’
tion, and other items of cost always present, even the
final conclusion cannot be accepted as having any very
positive value.
COST OF GROWING CORN .297

A CAREFUL WISCONSIN INVESTIGATION

In his report of 1898, Mr Halford Erickson, com-
missioner of statistics for Wisconsin, presents a valu-
able contribution of data upon the question of cost
of producing staple crops. It is based upon exact
records kept by a large number of representative farm-

Fig 84—The Corn Worm

othe iger: a, adult moth; 4, dark full-grown larva; c, light-colored full-
are ee larva; a, pupa—natural size (after Howard)

ers, the method followed in securing the data being
exactly the same as that pursued in the American
Agriculturist and Orange Judd Farmer investigation,
which will be presented in detail later. This estimate
includes as part of cost production interest on perma-
298 THE BOOK OF CORN

nently invested capital, the propriety of including which
is doubtful. The averages of the Wisconsin investiga-
tion are as follows:

Per acre
PIO WATS? ecdic-decscreyacerotensisievere eraser gcalavaratenepepoua $0.535
Fertilizing: ssecsisseiuosdivignsacrdacicaas .690
Harrowing, ete: seosesasscam siowearens es .230
Planting cscs ices aeons wae eee ee Seees -143
SEEMS reuse sete catanccaeasedravecotensdresaerd te sovavessuwnaiere .080
Cultivation
Cutting se cece s
Husking ......... 6
SHEWNHS jo icea case macannaeaea areas :
Marketine: ccieccieiacecsineiseceansise svoiovaicxeketenes -500
Maca On. aiesecam sei Sorin teasers ceserereanerelers .256
Team maintenance ............05 sees 807
Depreciation of machinery ........+4. -429
Depreciation of horses .......eeeeeeee .125
Other expenses ......seceeoeeccevecee .500
Total, saccasanenceeweicansewnrewnees $7.912
Less value of fodder .............. 3.000
Total cost per acre ..........005- $4.912

Cost per bushel (42 bushels per acre).. .117

Adding the allowance for interest on permanent
investment the statement becomes:

Per acre

Annual investment (details above)... .$4.912
Interest on machinery investment...... .257
Interest on value of horses............ .075
Interest on annuel investment ......... 475
Interest on value of land.............. 2.640
Total». soca Eade veveca ar evoraRuabantaaamasuanschend $8.350
Pet Bushel. cssviccsis ssccswmarcadasose -199

INDIVIDUAL ESTIMATES OF COST

There are many methodical farmers who realize
the importance of knowing what it costs them to pro-
duce their crops, and such men possess data which
answer the question of cost of growing so far as
their own well-managed farms are concerned. The
COST OF GROWING CORN 299

Hiram Sibley estate at Sibley, Illinois, a notable exam-
ple of large and well-managed farming operations, has
accurate records of cost of producing its crops.
The manager, Mr F. A. Warner, has submitted the
following showing of the cost of growing a crop of
sixty acres of corn upon that estate:

COST OF PRODUCING CORN ON SIBLEY ESTATE, SIBLEY,
ILLINOIS

Fall plowing, 45 acres at $1 per acre...$45.00
Spring plowing, 15 acres at $1 per acre. 15.00
Breaking stalks on 15 acres............

Disking on fall plowing, 45 acres
Fla rrOwang icccc agiciaceie sc peuicd oye ts asacs ae
Seed corn, 9 bushels at 75 cents.......
Plantine sacs visa sassewaas v3 Sees oor
Harrowing after planting .............
Cultivating three times..............0.

Thinning and weeding ............... i

Husking, at 2 1-2 cents per bushel.... 62.25

Shelling and hauling, at 2 1-2 cents per
bushel .,...........- S evayagensiacs Sayaress 62.25
Total “cst: cdse sseeewees sees ee eled $333.25
TARES) oso ¢ scecsie do's aisisiondie 86-2 8S 20.00
Insurance and repairs ..........00- 10.00
$363.25

Cost per bushel (41.5 bushels per
ACTE) = ie decese'y o-o etapavtio.are 3 bie iesejeie Weir 14

This cost is figured on the basis of the actual ac-
complishment per day’s labor, labor being charged at
the rate of $2.50 per day for man and team and 50
cents per day for extra horses where used. This wage
includes board and keep of man and team.

The crop was 2490 bushels, making the average
yield per acre 41.5 bushels, and the cost per bushel
14.6 cents. The land was valued at $80 per acre, or
$4000 for the field, and if interest be allowed upon this
investment at the rate of 6 per cent, it raises the cost
300 THE BOOK OF CORN

of the crop to $651.25 and the cost per bushel to
26.2 cents.

Record on a Nebraska Farm—One of the most
valuable collections of data relative to cost of pro-
duction in a given locality of which the writer has
knowledge, is found in the annual records kept by Mr
R. M. Allen, manager of the Standard Cattle Com-
pany, for the farms of the home feeding station at

Fig 85—Corn Root Aphis
Male and oviparous female enlarged (after Forbes)

Ames, Nebraska. These crops have been grown on
different kinds of soil, from sandy to very heavy,
sticky, black gumbo in the Platte river valley. The
record as presented below covers a ten-year period,
thus including both good and bad seasons. Farming on
this place is carried on as an exact business and the
figures presented are exact records as drawn from the
books of the company. Under the head of operating
expenses is included manuring of a portion of the
acreage each year and the cost of producing, harvest-
ing and cribbing the crop. From this gross cost is
COST OF GROWING CORN 301

deducted the value of the stover, according to the
character of the season, ranging from $1.46 per ton in
1896, a season of very cheap hay, to $5 per ton in 1894,
the year of great drouth and deficient hay crop. The
figures do not include any allowance for either rent of
land or .interest on the permanent investment. It is
‘interesting to note the close relation between the aver-
age cost per bushel for the ten years, and the average
cost of 12.9 cents presented in the American Agricul-
turist investigation which is reviewed at length later.

COST OF GROWING CORN ON STANDARD CATTLE COMPANY
FARM, AMES, NEBRASKA

* Bush-|Bu per! Oper’t’g | Val of Cost.| Cost
Year/Acr’s els acre |expenses | stover Net cost pera| per bu
1891 | 1,825) 42,000) 23.0 $8 134.20) ......... $8,134.20} $4.46] 0.194
1892 | 1,825) 51,344) 28.0 8,479.97]... ts 4.67 -165
1893 | 1,325) 60,028) 45.3 3,966.30 5.78 127
1894 | 1,792) 41,001) 22.8 12,930.33 3.22 141
1896 | 1,875) 76,154) 40.6 17,217.48 6 89 170
1896 | 2,462) 169,031} «4&6 { 27,593.40 1.42 108
1897 | 2,717| 111,932) 41.4 22,346.00 3.28) 07S
1898 | 3,431) 108,090} 3135 28,178.49 5.04 -160
1899 | 1,644) 60,837) 35.9 15,275.80 5.73 155
1900 | 2,735) 124,995} 35.0 25,451.00 5.65, 124

Tot'l | 21,631) 845,412) $112,270.78
Avg 39.1 $5.19! 0.133

AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST AND ORANGE JUDD FARMER
ESTIMATE OF COST

In 1897 these journals published a series of arti-
cles upon the cost of growing corn based upon data
furnished by growers who had kept detailed records
of all items of cost connected with their crop in 1896.
Up to that time, no systematic and scientific effort to
determine on any large scale the cost of production of
any staple farm crop had ever been made, and most
erroneous estimates of this cost were currently ac-
cepted. The method adopted to secure the necessary,
302 THE BOOK OF CORN

data was simple and effective. A large number of
corn growers were induced to keep an actual day to
day record, upon a specially prepared blank, showing
the exact amount of labor and other expense bestowed
upon a certain definite area, and when the season was
over these records were consolidated and the results
averaged.

This investigation covered but eight states, and it
was determined to prosecute a second investigation
which should include systematic results typical of the
conditions under which corn is grown in all sections
of the country. The original plan of securing actual
day to day records was adhered to, the circulars being
so arranged as to secure the exact record of all ex-
penses attached to the growing of the crop from ferti-
lization and preparation of the soil, through the whole
season’s work, in the order in which performed up to
the cribbing of the crop. These circulars were in the
hands of the growers before the first plow entered the
ground and continued in their possession until the
crop was gathered.

In tabulating these individual records only those
absolutely complete and perfect were used, these cov-
ering 4051 acres, located in 156 counties of 21 states.
In this area was included corn grown under various
methods practiced in different parts of the country, so
that the averages presented do not represent the cost
under any particular method, but an average of the
various methods.

What Is Cost—In analyzing the data secured by
this investigation, the term “cost of production” is
used in its popular significance, as representing the
actual outlay or the amount of capital actually used up
and which must be wholly replaced before any profit
upon the fixed or permanently invested capital can be
secured. In the tabulations to be presented this covers
COST OF GROWING CORN 303

taxation, labor and labor maintenance, fertilizing ma-
terial, seed, team maintenance and depreciation of ma-
chinery and horses. Land, horses and machinery are
treated as permanent capital and an allowance of inter-
est on this permanent investment is not considered as
part of the cost of production, but the net profit on
the crop after all the circulating capital which has been
used up has been replaced is taken as the profit of pro-
duction and therefore is the interest returned on the
permanent investment.

Va HN e\,
Fig 86—Mediterranean Flour Moth

Efphestia kuehniella: a, moth; 5, same from side, resting; ¢, larva; d, pupa—
“ enlarged; ¢, abdominal joint of larva—more enlarged (atter Chittenden)

Labor and Wages—The great bulk of the corn
crop is produced by the labor of the owner of the crop.
Some hiring is done in stress of work, but this usually
supplements the labor of the owner. In figuring labor
cost the rate of wages paid where hiring is done by
the day is used, the assumption being that the owner
is entitled to charge his labor at the highest local mar-
ket price. By common custom in every community,
there is a wage rate for labor with board furnished
and another where the laborer boards himself. The
difference between the two rates represents the value
or cost of maintenance as determined by experience
and custom. In this investigation cost of wages and
304 THE BOOK OF CORN

cost of labor maintenance are figured together by mak-
ing the wage basis the rate of wages per day without
board. Having the number of days’ labor given to
each operation pursued in the growing of the corn crop
and the average rate of wages per day without board,
the cost of labor and labor maintenance becomes a sim-
ple matter. The average wages per day without board
ranged from 60 cents in Virginia to $1.50 in Maine,
averaging for the 21 states $1.10.

Teams and Maintenance—The meaning of team is
not the same in all districts or in all operations. It
may be two, three, or more horses. To bring the vari-
ous customs to a common basis the number of horses
used in any operation is reduced to a common standard
of teams of two horses. As an illustration, if four
horses were used to plow in a given crop, it enters into
the calculation as two teams. The horse power used
in making the crop may be regarded from two stand-
points. Wage allowance may be made for their serv-
ices on the basis of the rate usually paid where horses
are hired. The second way of considering horse power
is regarding the necessary complement of horses on
the farm as part of the permanently invested capital.
Beyond question this is the proper method. On this
basis annual cost of team maintenance and an allow-
ance for depreciation is the proper charge against the
crop. This charge may be made in two ways. The
first is to ascertain the average cost per day of team
maintenance, charging the corn crop with maintenance
only for those days in which the team is actually en-
gaged in producing the crop. This plan would be fol-
lowed upon the assumption that the horses of the farm
are constantly engaged in some form of farm work,
and that the cost of their keep and care each day
should be charged to the work then engaged «1pon.
The objection is that horses are not employed equally
COST OF GROWING CORN 305

day by day and their maintenance ir. their days of idle-
ness must be charged to some portion of the farm work.

The other plan of charging for horse power, which
is considered the most equitable, is to divide the annual
cost of maintenance of all horses required in the ordi-
nary work of the farm by the total acres of cultivated
land in the farm. The whole cultivated area shares in
their work and should share in the cost of keeping

Fig 87—Adult Moth and Cutworm
a, moth; 4, larva, side view; c, larva, top view (after Chittenden)

them. In the same way, their annual depreciation
should be shared by the farm as a whole.

The data submitted, showing monthly feeding of
hay, grain and other feed, made the average cost per
month of maintaining a team of two horses $8.21, with
a range from $12.91 in Massachusetts to $5.98 in
Nebraska.

Horse Power and Machinery—The horse on the
farm is what steam is to the manufacturer: power.
Horses are therefore properly part of the permanently
306 THE BOOK OF CORN

invested capital of the farm. Treated in this way the
charge for horse power in crop production is the
annual cost of their maintenance and the annual depre-
ciation of their value. The farms included in the
schedule of this investigation aggregated 26,522 acres,
the number of horses required in conducting the farm-
ing operations was 781, their total value being $39,525,
an average of $50.60 per head. The value per farm
acre of the horses necessary to farming operations was
$1.49. The monthly cost of team maintenance, as
shown above, was $8.21, making the annual cost of
maintenance of the necessary complement of horses for
the farm work $38,472, or a cost per farm acre of $1.45.

Taxation—The rate of taxation- per acre of the
corn land is ascertained by securing the total taxation
on the land, buildings, stock and implements, the fixed
capital, and apportioning the taxes equitably between
this total farm value and the value of the corn land
alone. The average rate of taxation is 28.3 cents per
acre, ranging from 3 cents per acre in Virginia to 79
cents in Massachusetts. This seems a wide range, but
when the value per acre of the land is considered the
taxation is more equitable, being .6 of 1 per cent of the
value in Virginia and 1.3 per cent in Massachusetts.

Rent, Interest and Implements—The average cash
rental per acre of land similar to that reported upon
was returned at $3.05, ranging from an average of $1
in Virginia to $5.25 in Pennsylvania. The average
value per acre of the corn land was returned at $47.71,
and on this valuation the cash rental equals 6.4 per
cent. The average rate of interest at which loans could
be secured was reported at 7.1 per cent, ranging from
5 per cent in New England to 10 per cent in Texas.

The quality and effectiveness of farm implements
varies greatly and the amount of fixed capital in-
vested in such machinery varies equally. From the
COST OF GROWING CORN 307

data submitted it appears that the average investment
required to furnish implements for a 4o-acre corn
field was $83.59, or $2.09 per acre, ranging from 87

Fig 88—Work of the Larger Cornstalk Borer

a, general appearance of stalk infested by the early generation of borers; 4, same,
cut open to show pupa and larva burrow (after Howard)

cents per acre in Virginia to $2.62 in lowa. The aver-
age effective life of such implements was a fraction
over 10 years, thus fixing the allowance for deprecia-
tion of implements at 20.9 cents per acre. This allow-
308 THE BOOK OF CORN

ance includes repairs necessary during the life of tfe
implements.

Labor and Its Statistical Treatment—The amount
and character of labor required to make a corn crop
necessarily varies according to the culture methods
followed. In the 4051 acres included in this investiga-
tion various culture methods were used. As an average
must include all methods, the total amount of labor re-
quired to perform a certain operation is distributed over
the total area, although actually the labor was per-
formed on only a part of the acreage. For example, it
was necessary to remove stalks on only 1673 acres, but
the labor cost of this operation is necessarily divided
among the whole 4051 acres. So far as possible, how-
ever, the labor cost of the different operations is
grouped into certain fundamental divisions of culture
according to the result aimed at by the operation in
question. The term “labor cost” as used in this an-
alysis includes wages and labor maintenance, but does
not include cost of team maintenance, that being in-
cluded later in the tabulation as a separate item.

Removing Stalks—When corn is grown two years
in succession, the first work of preparation is the re-
moval of old stalks. Cutting up and carrying off was
practiced on 784 acres, requiring 91%4 days of labor
and 76 days of team service. The actual accomplish-
ment was 8.6 acres per day of labor. Breaking, raking
and burning was practiced on 889 acres, requiring 92
days of labor and 7934 days of team service, the aver-
age accomplishment being 2.4 acres per day’s labor.

Plowing—Of the 4051 acres, 3491 acres were
plowed, the remaining 560 acres being listed in. To
plow 725 acres in the fall required 293 days of labor
and 382 days of team service, or an accomplishment
of 2.47 acres per day’s labor. The discrepancy be-
tween days of labor and days of team work is of course
COST OF GROWING CORN 309

due to the fact that more than two horses were fre-
quently used to the plow, and in all such cases team
work is stated in the equivalent of two horses. The
spring plowing of 2766 acres required 115434 days of
labor and 1479 days of team service, an accomplish-
ment of 2.4 acres per day’s labor.

Harrowing—The amount of work done in the
way of harrowing, disking, rolling, dragging and

Fig 89—Beetie of Northern Corn Root Worm
Enlarged ten diameters (after Forbes)

otherwise preparing the seedbed varies greatly in local
practice. Instances appear in the schedule where the
field was worked seven times, while in other cases only
one working was given. Of the 4051 acres, harrowing
or other similar preparation was practiced on 3280.
As only 560 acres were listed, this leaves 211 acres
on which planting followed plowing with no effort to
prepare a seedbed. It required 49634 days of labor
310

THE BOOK OF CORN

and 66814 days of team service to accomplish the har-
rowing, or an average of 6.6 acres per day’s labor.
Listing—This method of planting is little prac-

PORE

> ny EY
eee
Pee

ey,
\e@

Oy
3

Pe emer ny |

48
bho)

EEG
et

qaa8
cle

Cy.
oye
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aay

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a TRTE.

Pi ek be)

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'e
ese.

eelero

r Se Fs
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}
} Teel

OC a Se tes

be
a

Fig 90—Ear of Corn Rid-
dled by the Graia Moth

(After Riley)

eiewle aU

PELE:
As
“131,

Ee
‘ae x fe

°
cholo,
fs:

Sand

ticed except in Kansas and
Nebraska. Under the proper
soil and climate conditions it is a
desirable method, and so far as
the amount of labor required is
concerned it is far cheaper than
the usual practice. In this in-
vestigation 560 acres were listed,
requiring 92% days of labor and
119% days of team service, the
accomplishment per day’s labor
being 6.1 acres.
Fertilization—The percentage
of the total corn acreage which
in any year is fertilized by the
direct application of. fertilizing
material is so small as to hardly
merit consideration. Where this
is done at all it is usually thus
treated once in a series of years,
so that the full cost of such treat-
ment cannot properly be charged
to the single crop following. The
usual method of maintaining fer-
tility is by devoting the land
occasionally to some renovating
crop, like clover, and when this
is done it is obvious that some
allowance must be made for the
less valuable product of the land

in that year, but what that allowance should be cannot
be determined with accuracy.

In this investigation no allowance has been made
COST OF GROWING CORN 311

for fertility directly applied, and in such cases the full
cost has been charged to the crop in question. This
course undoubtedly makes the charge allowed for fer-
tilization higher than it actually averages, but no other
course seems open without the introduction of personal
estimate into a calculation which is intended to be an
actual record. In the schedules fertilization was re-
ported on some parts of 1639 acres, requiring 63534
days of labor and 48314 days of team service. There

Fig 91—Saw-toothed Grain Beetle

Silvanus surinamensis: a, adult beetle; 5, pupa; c, larva—all enlarged; d, an-
tenna of larva—still more enlarged (after Chittenden)

were used 9100 pounds of commercial fertilizer, cost-
ing $86.85, and 5977 loads of homemade material, val-
ued at $2413.95.

Planting—Planting methods included the whole
range from hand dropping and hoe covering to the use
of hand planters, and up through machines of varying
efficiency to the best modern horse planters. As a
result the efficiency of a day’s labor varies widely,
from .71 of an acre in New Hampshire to 12.44 acres
in Nebraska. The acreage regularly planted was 3491
312 THE BOOK OF CORN

acres, requiring 442% days of labor and 37534 days of
team service, an average accomplishment of 7.89 acres
per day’s labor.

Cultivation—Cost of cultivation differs more than
any other operation, owing to differences in imple-
ments used, and to differing degrees of care and labor
given the crop. The whole area, 4051 acres, was cul-
tivated twice; 3991 acres were cultivated three times;
2515 acres received a fourth cultivation, while 442
acres were given additional cultivation. To perform
the total amount of cultivation given to the crop of the
record required 229614 days of labor and 2297%4 days
of team service. The average performance per day’s
labor was 1.76 acres, this of course representing the
total cultivation given to this breadth during the whole
season. A day’s labor sufficed to cultivate about 6.6
acres a single time.

Gathering and Cribbing—Two methods are fol-
lowed, first, cutting up and shocking and husking from
the shock; second, husking from the standing stalk,
the stalks remaining in the field to be pastured down.
In this investigation 2976 acres were husked standing,
requiring 243814 days of labor and 2264 days of team
service, the accomplishment being 1.22 acres per day’s
labor, this including cribbing as well as husking. Of
the crop cut up, 659 acres was done by hand, requiring
59534 days of labor, or 1.11 acres per day. Machines
were used in cutting 215 acres, requiring 74 days of
labor and 4834 days of team service, the accomplish-
ment being 2.91 acres per day’s labor. The balance of
the acres of record was harvested by contract and is
therefore not included in the calculation of the effi-
ciency of labor per day.

Husking from the shock was practiced on 651
acres, excluding 212 acres by contract, requiring
122334 days of labor and 382% days of team service,
COST OF GROWING CORN 313

or an accomplishment in husking and cribbing of .53
acre per day’s labor.

Fodder—The value of fodder as a by-product
must be taken from the gross cost of growing the corn
crop. Where the crop is cut and shocked, the value

Fig 92—Cornstalk Showing Work of Smaller Cornstalk Borer
Natural size (after Riley)

of the fodder is an important item, but where the crop
is husked. standing the value of the stalks for pastur-
age is slight. Fodder was shocked on 945 acres and
this product was returned as worth $2174.70 in the
field, or an average value per acre of $2.30 where the
fodder is cut. On the 3106 acres where the crop was
husked standing, the selline value of the pasturage
314 THE BOOK OF CORN ;

privilege was estimated by the owners at $990.60, or
an average of 32 cents per acre. The aggregate valua-
tion of fodder production by both methods was
$3165.30, or an average per acre of 78.1 cents.

Production—The total production of corn was
158,815 bushels, or 39.2 bushels per acre.

With the preceding analysis of the methods fol-
lowed in this investigation, the following table is pre-
sented as a fair showing of the cost of producing the
corn crop on the 4051 acres included in these schedules:

ORANGE JUDD FARMER CONCLUSION AS TO COST OF
GROWING CORN

Av cost

Acres so} Total Aoruel pera
treated | cost per acre whois

Cutting stalks......... 784 $108.60 | $0.139
Breaany atalles, 389 | 110.13 ‘Tat 80.054
Plowing.. .. 8,491 | 1,723.48 4.94 425
Harrowing 3,280 684.86 178 144
Listing... 660 110.46 -197 027
Fertilizat: 1,639 | 3,275.89 1.999 809
Planting.... 3,491 519.84 149 155

Replanting. 1,086 108.69 100 =

CO... . ccc see eee 4,051 332.35 -082 082
Cultivation........ . 4,051 2,752.44 -679 679

Husked standing... 3,106 | 3,120.76 1.005
Cut by hand........ 0 725.45 994 1.372

Cut by machinery... aietals 215 95.55 444 :

Husking from shock............. 867 | 1,616.95 1.865
Taxation............cceneeccssaeee 4,051 | 1,147.78 283 283
Team maintenance..........scecececseccseces seseeee siaieroumsajaieis esos} 1.450
Depreciation of machinery....... +309
Depreciation of horses......... site 149
Total annual investment.. $5. 838
Less value of fodder....... 781
Actual cost per acre............+5 $5.057
Cost per bushel (39,2 bushels per acre)... i 2129

Cost with Allowance for Interest on Investment—
It has been previously pointed out that in determining
cost of production no allowance is made for interest
on capital permanently invested. The difference be-
COST OF GROWING CORN aig

tween the annual investment and the value of the crop
produced represents the profit of production or the
percentage of gain on the permanent investment. For
the benefit, however, of those who desire to include
interest or rent, the following table is presented, show-
ing the proper allowance for interest on capital in-
vested, at the rate of 6 per cent:

COST WITH INTEREST INCLUDED

Per acre

Annual investment (details above)... .$5.057
Interest on machinery investment...... -125
Interest on the value of horses........ 089
Interest on annual investment......... -303
Interest on value of land............. 2.862
Total: cease cciishieie od siewitiaisies eee oo oe 0 08.430
Per bushel ...... sraccinvetaias Lopselecryuaes os 215

CONCLUSION

The tabulations which have preceded have in-
cluded every item of cost of production, except an
allowance for annual repairs of buildings, fences and
farm roads, insurance and superintendence. The
allowance for these items must necessarily be a matter
of opinion only. Leaving them out of the question,
the data presented show that the cost of producing a
bushel of corn of the crop under record may be fairly
placed at 12.9 cents, and if sold from the crib at 21.5
cents it would net the producer 6 per cent on his per-
manently invested capital.
CHAPTER XVI

Nee Uses of Corn

wo will yet be the spinal column of the nation’s agriculture—James G.
e.

but the full possibility of the crop is not yet

appreciated. It is only within a decade or so

that it has been regarded as other than a rude,
primitive food for man and the feed par excellence for
meat producing animals. During the past few years,
however, attention has been directed to the economic
possibilities of the corn plant, and scientific study and
inventive genius have combined to open new lines of
commercial importance in connection with our great
cereal.

The fact is only imperfectly realized that corn has
forms of commercial value other than as cattle food,
human food in the shape of meal, or for distillation of
spirits. Yet at the Paris Exposition of 1900 in the
American section there was exhibited a museum case
containing one hundred and eight separate commer-
cial products manufactured from corn. In this long
list there was no direct duplication, each article having
a different commercial use, though naturally there
were some items that were only differentiations of the
same product. But as each was intended for a differ-
ent use the list practically represented fully one hun-
dred commercial products. Such a list is a revelation
of the rapidly growing importance of corn as the raw
product base of manufacturing industry.

Three Classes of Products—Roughly speaking the
commercial products of corn may be divided into those

(Ss is the foundation of American agriculture,
NEW USES OF CORN 317
produced by mechanical or milling methods, those by
chemical process and those made from the stalk or
plant. Improvement in milling machinery has been
very marked in the last few years, and the result is
a large increase in the number of forms in which corn
is made available for human food. Under old milling
methods corn could only be
ground into a coarse meal, and
this was the only form in
which it entered into the diet-
ary of the people. This old
process meal was made by
grinding the whole grain, and
it therefore contained the
large percentage of oil which
is in the chit or heart. This
excess of oil made it difficult
to preserve the meal fresh and
sweet, its keeping quality be-
ing low, and it was not a safe
product for commercial pur-

e of Cellulose in

Pig 93—Us
Warships

The accompanying sketch
illustrates the use of cellulose, a

product of corn pith, in pro-
tecting warships from shot and
shell. Ifashell from the enemy
ierces the side of the ship be-
low the water line, and passes
through three feet of corn pith
cellulose into the ship, the cellu-
lose will swell up so quick!
that no water will get in.
number of United States war-

poses.

The improvement in corn
milling is by the adoption of
the roller reduction process
similar to that used in wheat
milling, but requiring much
greater power, and by this
process a flour is produced

Ee ener quite as impalpable as the best

grades of wheat flour. Through the use of very
ingenious machinery the chit, or germ, is mechan-
ically removed from each grain of corn before it
passes into the rolls, by this means removing all but
a trace of oil from the meal or flour. The product by
this process loses some of the distinctive corn flavor,
318 THE BOOK OF CORN

but the loss is more than offset by the gain in keeping
quality, and corn flour can now be used or shipped
under the same conditions as wheat flour. Corn being
without gluten in its composition this flour must be
used in connection with strong wheat flour, and when
properly blended as much as thirty per cent of the.
cheaper product may be used, thus cheapening the cost
of bread and furnishing a palatable and nutritious
product.

In the process of gradual reduction there is a
demand for the product at different stages of manu-
facture. When the grain has passed through the first
process the coarsely broken grains are sold as samp
or hominy, for which there is a large and growing
market. An export trade of very considerable pro-
portions has grown up in this product. When it has
been further passed through the rolls and broken finer
it finds its way to the table as a breakfast food under
various names of hominy, pearl hominy, grits, etc.
With each reduction there is cracked or dusted out a
fine grainless powder, almost pure starch, that finds
a market for special purposes in the confectionery
and fine baking trade.

Glucose—An industry which has become one of
enormous proportions is the manufacture of glucose
and kindred products. This belongs to the division
of products the result of chemical process. Probably
more than sixty million bushels per annum are now
consumed by the glucose factories, and the industry is
growing rapidly. Thirty or more separate commercial
products, for which a permanent market has been
established, are now made. Glucose is made in various
grades of density, each for a specific purpose, the
largest use being in the manufacture of table syrups
and of confectionery. Other products are dextrin and
gums for sizing cloth and especially as a medium for
NEW USES OF CORN 319

carrying colors in cloth printing. Various grades of
starches, from edible to laundry, are also Brenna.
These products may be regarded as the principal or

Fig 94—Ear of Smutted Corn

This ear is affected with smut only at the tip where it was imperfectly
covered by the husks. From photograph loaned by the Indiana experiment

station,

original products of the giucose works, but there are
a long line of by-products of large commercial and
320 THE BOOK OF CORN

economic value. The principal of these are corn oil
and oil cake, oil cake meal; various grades of cattle
feed in the shape of gluten feed, bran, etc.

Cornstalks in Mechanic Arts—Another line of
products in which exploitation is just beginning is
secured by a complete utilization of cornstalks. The
full economic possibility of the stalk is not yet under-
stood, but practical experience to some extent and
laboratory experiments still further demonstrate that
enormous wealth-producing possibilities are wasted in
the failure to utilize cornstalks. Scientific tests have
demonstrated that there is as much economic value in
the stalks as in the crop of grain they bear, but up to
this time the mechanical difficulties in the economical
handling of the stalks have not been fully overcome.
Good progress, however, has been made in that direc-
tion, and it will only be a question of time until inven-
tive genius will solve the problem.

The most important product which is now a com-
mercial success is the manufacture of cellulose from
the pith of the cornstalk. This product has numerous
chemical uses, but the important mechanical want
which it fills is its availability for use as a packing
between the inner and outer shell of warships. Upon
contact with water it swells enormously and thus auto-
matically closes water tight any aperture made by a
shell or projectile piercing the ship’s armor. The use
of a backing of this kind is now specified in the con-
struction of war vessels by nearly all naval nations.

After the pith is extracted the remainder, chive
or outer casing of the stalk, leaves and tassels, are
ground into a coarse meal which careful experiments
have shown to have a nutritive value for stock feeding
little different from clover or timothy hay. In labora-
tory experiments numerous other products have been.
made. alcohol, paper, smokeless powder, etc, and there
NEW USES OF CORN 321

is every reason to believe that the experiments of
to-day will be the demonstrated facts of to-morrow.

The economic possibilities of the corn crop are
only beginning to be understood, and it is only a ques-
tion of time until 1t shall become the most valuable and
widely used of the world’s cereals.
CHAPTER XVIi

Specialties in Corn Culture
Fives corn is a species group of field corn

known botanically as Zea saccharata, and is

characterized by horny, more or less wrinkled,

crinkled or shriveled kernels, having a semi-
transparent or translucent appearance. It is a native
of America, although the wild form has never
been discovered. It was first known about 1779,
but it was not until 1850 or thereabouts that it
was cultivated to any extent. At that time but two
varieties were known. It is pre-eminently a gar-
den vegetable, although the large growing kinds are
used for forage and feeding purposes. The kernels
are generally used green, also cut off the cob and dried
to some extent, but dried corn is being supplanted
largely by canned corn, the packing of which has
grown to enormous proportions in the past few years.
Although several million cases containing two dozen
Number 2 cans each are packed each year, it is almost
entirely consumed within the United States and Can-
ada; the foreign market for canned corn is capable of
large development. Each standard can weighs twenty-
six cunces, including tin.

The production of corn for canneries is very im-
portant business in certain sections, notably in New
York, Maine, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and some other
states. It is grown by farmers as a field crop, who sell
the ears to the factory and use the stalks for feeding
purposes. As the ears are picked in their roasting
stage, the stalk has opportunity to develop and
SPECIALTIES IN CORN CULTURE 323

contains more nourishment than where the ear is
allowed to ripen. It is so rich in sugar that it spoils
easily, if not kept and stored under the best conditions,
and is somewhat harder to handle because of this than
field corn.

A constantly increasing area is devoted to sweet
corn intended to be sold green in the husk for imme-
diate consumption in towns and cities. Usually this is
quite profitable, especially if the crop gets into market
early. The demand for out-of-season specialties at
high prices has led to the growing of sweet corn in
greenhouses, in a small way, at a profit, and its cul-
ture under cheesecloth sheds has also been suggested.

BEST CONDITIONS FOR SWEET CORN

Although sweet corn will grow on a large variety
of soils, the best is a warm, sandy loam which retains
moisture. Where it is raised for market, it is essential
to have a warm, quick soil that will bring it in early,
for the first corn fetches top prices, and when the main
crop comes in the price falls rapidly. A difference of
three or four days in time of maturity will often make
a difference of several cents per dozen ears in the
market price.

In addition to a warm, quick soil, some quick-
acting fertilizers are desirable, especially in sections
remote from the central west, with its natural fertility.
The preparation of the soil should begin by rather
deep plowing and the turning under or working in of a
liberal application of stable manure. Use also two
hundred or three hundred pounds of quick-acting ferti-
lizer per acre, which should be put in the drill with
the corn to give it a rapid start. When sweet corn is
grown by market gardeners within hauling distance of
large cities, sometimes as much as five hundred to one
324 THE BOOK OF CORN

thousand pounds per acre of commercial fertilizer is
used. As the roots of corn do not go deep in search of
plant food and moisture, the plant will not stand long
and extended periods of drouth, therefore the prepara-
tion and cultivation of the soil should be such as to
conserve all moisture possiblé and to keep the plant
growing rapidly.

Sweet corn is a tender plant and will not stand
much cold weather or any frost, therefore it should
not be planted until danger of frost is over and the
ground has become warm. If planted in cold soil, the
seed will often rot before sprouting and replanting
is necessary. The ground is commonly marked into
rows three to four feet apart and the corn planted in
hills from two and one-half to three feet in the row,
or in drills so that one stalk will stand in each foot.
For the family garden, it is desirable to get the first
crop as early as possible, therefore an extra early
planting may be risked. Not only should an extra
early variety be selected, but the seed may be artificially
sprouted. To do this, put sand one inch deep in the
bottom of a large pan or shallow box. Spread a cloth
over this and the corn thinly on the cloth. Cover with
another cloth and then a-layer of sand one-half inch
deep. Sprinkle with water and keep warm by the stove
or in a hotbed or greenhouse. The corn will all sprout
in about five days. By this method of sprouting the
seed is tested, the danger of rotting is reduced to
a minimum and the harvest time is also hastened
several days.

After sprouting, the corn must be at once planted
in the open ground. Another way is to plant five or
six kernels in a five-inch pot and allow three plants to
grow. Tf carefully done, the corn can be transplanted
when six inches high and several days in maturity
gained thereby. Even though the first planting should
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326 THE BOOK OF CORN

be killed by a late frost, but little is lost thereby in the
family garden. The main crop should not be planted
until all danger of frost is over, which will vary in
different latitudes.’

For the family garden, several varieties should
be planted, beginning with the extra early and choosing
a selection which will mature one after the other, and
in this way keep the table supplied from late July
until well into October. After the main planting addi-
tional plantings should be made at intervals of two or
three weeks up to the first of July. If the first sharp
frost in the fall catches a patch of sweet corn with the
ears in roasting condition, all change seems to be ar-
rested. Although the leaves turn white and are of
little use for cattle feed, the ears seera to undergo little
change and will remain in good eating condition
for two or three weeks and can be picked from day to
day as wanted, but for canning they are practically
useless.

CULTIVATION AND HARVEST

The cultivation should be frequent and thorough,
A few days after corn is planted, run over the ground
with a weeder and follow this up at intervals of four
days to a week until the corn is six to eight inches high.
The use of the weeder when corn is of a fair hight will
tend to prevent too rank growth of stalk and to induce
greater fruitfulness and the production of larger, better
ears. After the weeder, use the cultivator, letting it
run at a fair depth to induce as deep rooting as possi-
ble. A plow should never be used which will cut off
the roots nor should the last cultivations be deep’
enough to injure them.

Sweet corn is commonly harvested when the ears
have reached what is known as the roasting stage. A
good way to determine whether garden corn is in the
SPECIALTIES IN CORN CULTURE 327

proper stage for use is to split the husk with the two
thumbs about midway of the ear. An opening about
an inch long can be made through which the ear can
be examined, and if immature the leaves can be closed
again by gentle pressure. This method can be used
without noticeable injury to the ear. If a few husks
are stripped down, as commonly done, the corn
quickly spoils when exposed in this way. This method
is not practicable for the market gardener or when
picking for canneries. A little experience will teach the
picker to tell by handling the ear when the kernels
are plump and full, so he may know which to pick and
which not to.

After picking, sweet corn, like peas, changes
quickly, and loses its sweetness if allowed to heat. To
obtain these two vegetables in perfection it is abso-
lutely necessary that they be prepared and eaten as
soon after harvesting as possible and before the sugar
has had time to change to starch. This latter process
takes place quickly when they are stored in bulk and
explains why most of the corn and peas found in city
markets lack the sweetness which is so characteristic
of the home grown and freshly gathered article. If
sweet corn must be picked one day and stored until
the next morning before marketing, it should be spread
out thinly over night on the ground or on the bottom
of a cool cellar. A good average yield of sweet corn
is from eight thousand to ten thousand marketable ears
per acre. In market it is always sold by the dozen
or hundred, but to canneries by the ton. Canneries
make contracts in the spring with farmers for a given
acreage at a stated price per ton delivered. A deduction
is always made for husks and immature ears. This is
based on a fair averase of how the crop will run.
While the canners generally buy corn by the ton, husks
and all, there are occasional instances where it is
328 THE BOOK OF CORN

bought husked, the nuslane and silking being done by
the factory.

Use of Sweet Corn Fodder—After picking the
ears of sweet corn, the stalks are either cut and put in
a silo or allowed to ripen, then cut, placed in shocks or
stooks and fed in a dry state to cattle. In some sec-
tions the fodder is stored largely in silos and the milk
business thereby expanded. In the fermentation proc-
ess which corn fodder undergoes in the silo, the sugar
is changed to starch, and if the silo is not perfectly air-
tight this changes again into acids which become very
rank and strong, owing to excessive quantity. Al-
though the stock seem to relish this sour silage, it
oftentimes has an injurious effect upon the milk. But
with a first-class silo and with the corn well cut and
packed, the sweet corn fodder makes an excellent
silage. The dry stalks make a rich, nutritious food,
almost if not quite equal to timothy hay in feeding
qualities, and are greatly relished by cattle. The stalks
should be allowed to dry thoroughly in the field, then
stored under cover in a dry place. Sweet corn stalks
mold readily and spoil if at all damp.

In the selection of seed ears, they should be chosen
from the very best stalks true to the type or variety,
and either marked in the field or a strip left unpicked
for this purpose. Select neither the very largest ears
nor the smallest, but there is a general type which it is
desirable to perpetuate and the ears nearest to this type
are the ones that should be chosen. After maturing
well, the best method is to pick the ears from the stalk;
leaving a few husks attached, and tie a half dozen or
more ina bunch. These bunches may be put astride a
fence or strung up in a dry loft where there is plenty of
air. Sweet corn retains moisture a long time and must
not be stored away in bulk. If kept from the weevil it
retains its vitality two years or more.

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Fig 96—Varieties of Popcorn

» Queen’s Golden, Silver Lace, White Rice,

ite Pearl.

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der as follows: Wh:

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330 THE BOOK OF CORN

VARIETIES OF SWEET CORN

There are something like eighty varieties of sweet.
corn known to the American seed trade. Sturtevant in
1899 listed sixty-three varieties and in 1889 American
seedsmen cataloged seventy-six varieties. Dr Sturte-
vant has divided sweet corn into three groups, accord-
ing to the shape of the kernel. Seedsmen and growers
generally classify it according to its period of ripening,
there being the extra early, early or intermediate, gen-
eral or main crop, and late. The illustrations (see
Fig 95) from photographs of seed ears show some
of the more popular varieties. The Cory is one
of the most popular of the extra early varieties. It is
eight-rowed, with good sized ears, large grains, but
aot of high quality, earliness being its great merit.
Metropolitan, Marblehead and Minnesota are in this
class, and like the early and extra early corns, the ears
are of only medium size and the stalk from four to six
feet tall. Perry Hybrid is a favorite market sort be-
cause of the large size of ear and stalk. This, with
Crosby and Moore Concord, matures after Minnesota.
The Early Adams and Extra Early Adams are not
properly speaking sweet or sugar corns, bmi are grown
extensively by market gardeners for early use.

For the general crop, Stowell Evergreen.is pre-
eminently the leader. The ears are of large size, ker-
nels large and regular, and of fine quality. It pro-
duces abundantly, makes a large growth of stalk and
has the merit of remaining green and in good condition
for a long time. The late sorts, which are of large
growth, are generally of superior quality. The Black
Mexican, distinguished by the dark, almost black color
of the grain or kernels, is very sweet in flavor. The
Ne Plus Ultra or Shoe Peg produces ears of only
medium size with kernels long and irregularly set.
SPECIALTIES IN CORN CULTURE 331

The Country Gentleman, which is the same as this,
except with larger ears, has become very popular in the
past half dozen years. Egyptian is also popular.

For canning, Stowell Evergreen is the most popu-
lar and widely grown. Other popular sorts are Egyp-
tian, Crosby Early and Country Gentleman. The
extraordinary reputation of Maine canned corn is due
to the Crosby variety. In that state a better yield and
a finer quality of Crosby corn is grown than elsewhere,
but it does not even there produce the quantity per acre
that the Stowell does in New York and the western
central states. Because of its superior quality and
lighter yield per acre Maine growers usually get a
better price per ton than New York, and western
farmers.

Popcorn, known botanically as Zea everta, is a
species group, characterized by the excessive propor-
tion of the corneous endosperm and the small size of
the kernels and ear. The best varieties have corneous
endosperm throughout, which gives it the property of
popping, a complete eversion or turning inside out of
the kernel through the expansion of moisture contained
within it, upon the application of heat. The best varie-
ties of popcorn have but little or no deposit of starchy
endosperm, which when in excess interferes with pop-
ping, as the kernel will merely split open or turn only
part way. Popcorn is used largely by confectionery
manufacturers for the making of popcorn balls, etc.
It is also handled extensively by growers for family
trade. Good crisp popcorn is not only appetizing but
very nutritious.

THE CULTIVATION OF POPCORN
This differs but little from that of field or sweet

corn. The valuable product is the ear, and the effort
should be to produce as many of these on a stalk of as
332 THE BOOK OF CORN

good form and size as possible. Most varieties of pop-
corn incline to grow too much stalk at the expense of
ear. To overcome this, only moderate quantities of
fertilizer should be employed. The best results are
obtained from plowing an old pasture and using com-
mercial fertilizers made up largely of muriate of pot-
ash, broadcasted and harrowed in. Harrow the ground
well and mark out in rows three to three and one-half
feet apart, except for the dwarf kinds, and plant either
in hills or drills. Two stalks to every foot is plenty.
Use the weeder freely until the corn is eight to ten
inches high. This not only keeps the ground mellow,
conserves moisture and prevents weeds growing, but
it also has a tendency to prevent a strong and rank
growth of stalk.

When the corn is ripe, cut and place in small
shocks or stooks, binding them tightly at the top with
twine, weeds, straw or suckers without ears, in order
to turn rain. Tie another band about midway between
the tip and the butt, drawing it tight enough to keep
the shock upright, but not so tight as to prevent the
corn from drying out nicely. After drying, the corn
should be husked in the field; or if drawn to the barn,
it must be husked before rats and mice have oppor-
tunity to work it. The ears are then stored in well-
ventilated cribs, and must be kept absolutely free from
mice and rats. If these vermin get into popcorn they
spoil its sale for popping purposes and it is useful only
for hen feed. The corn must be kept dry, and is not
generally fit for sale until the following year. Although
popcorn can be, and often is, marketed the same season
that it is grown, it does not give as good satisfaction
in popping. A few damp days will utterly spoil it, so
that it must be dried out again. During the summer
care must be taken that it does not become so hot as to
bake, as its popping qualities would be destroyed.
SPECIALTIES IN CORN CULTURE 333

Marketing—Popcorn is commonly marketed by
growers on the ear. A few dealers have worked up
quite a business in shelling and putting it up in pound
or quart pasteboard cartons, which are packed in cases
and sold to grocers for family trade. Many grocers
handle popcorn both in packages and in bulk on the
ear. For corn in bulk, a better grade is always de-
manded. One well-known eastern packer who sells
largely to grocers buys western popcorn for his pack-
age trade, but always the best crops of native grown
for the trade in unshelled corn. Much of the western
corn received in eastern markets is more or less shelled
on arrival. Shelled popcorn kept in boxes through the
hot weather is useless for popping. The corn gets too
dry and will not expand enough in popping to evert it,
but will split or crack. For this reason the trade for
corn on the ear will always hold good, as corn of good
popping quality can be kept only on the ear from one
season to the next.

Twenty-five varieties of popcorn were cataloged
by Sturtevant in 1899. However, not more than half
a dozen of these are grown to any extent. The White
Rice is most popular in market and more of this is
grown than all others together. This variety is dis-
tinguished by the long, pointed, beaked kernel. There
are several varieties of the Rice corn, which differ from
the White in color only. These are the Red, Amber,
Blush, Page Striped, Yellow, White’s White, Monarch
White and Bear Foot, the latter being a monstrous
form and the others only color forms. The illustration
(see Fig 96), from a photograph of seed ears, shows
typical ears of some of the more popular varieties.
The White Rice specimen was furnished by a Massa-
chusetts grower who has made a specialty of this crop
for fifteen years. This variety grows from five to seven
feet tall and produces ears four to eight inches long.
334 THE BOOK OF CORN

Queen’s Golden is another large-growing variety
with yellow or orange-colored kernels. The ears are
six and one-half to eight and one-half inches long and
the stalks from six to eight feet tall. Silver Lace has
ears five to six inches long and stalks six to seven feet
tall. Mapledale Prolific is a very tall growing kind,
sometimes attaining a hight of twelve feet. The stalks
set several ears, varying from six to eight inches long.
The kernels of these three varieties are smooth and
rounded at butt. The Pearl is another popular tall-
growing variety with smooth, rounded kernels but with
smaller ears than the above. The California Golden is
a dwarf variety growing from three to four feet tall
and ears from two to three and one-half inches long.
The kernels are beaked like the Rice corns and of an
amber color.

There is great variation in different ears of the
same variety grown in the same field, and it is only by
long and careful selection that a strain can be obtained
which will prove fairly uniform. From a strain not
carefully bred, all shapes, sizes, and shades of color of
ear and kernel will be produced, some with good pop-
ping qualities, and others lacking greatly in this re-
spect.. The yield, which is always estimated in pounds,
varies from one thousand to two thousand pounds per
acre and may run even higher in some varieties. A
yield of fifteen hundred pounds per acre of Rice corn
on the ear is considered a good; profitable acreage, but
with less than one thousand pounds there is little profit
in it. The price varies greatly, as the market for pop-
corn is limited, and it takes only a comparatively small
quantity to overstock it. Prices in a wholesale way
vary from one to four cents per pound.
CHAPTER XVIII

Maize in Other Countries

HE overshadowing importance of the United
J States in corn production tends to obscure
the fact that the crop is grown in all quarters
of the earth, and is an important crop and
food resource in some part of each of the world’s
great continents. It is the cereal food of a vast pop-
ulation in the northern provinces of China, where
famine stalks in the train of a crop failure; it is
a staff of life in northern Italy and to a less extent
in the valleys of the lower Danube; its green blades
and golden tassels wave along the banks of the historic
Nile, and it is having its part in the modern regenera-
tion of the land of Joseph and Pharaoh. It is at home in
the rich alluvial plains of the Rio de la Plata, and is
the chosen food of the native sheep and cattle herders
of northern Argentina, while in the great island con-
tinent of Australia it holds a small but not insignificant
place in agricultural development.

For a series of years the contribution of the United
States amounts to approximately seventy-five per cent
of the recorded crop of the world, a proportion which
during the past ten years has increased, rather than
diminished, in spite of the fact that in some foreign
countries the same period shows an increasing impor-
tance of the crop that almost indicates a revolution in
agricultural practice. In 1893 the United States de-
partment of agriculture compiled a statement showing
the corn crop in all countries of the world for which
data were regularly available, making an average for
what was practically the ten years preceding 1890 of
2,003,074,144 bushels, of which the United States fur-
336 THE BOOK OF CORN

nished 1,680,696,600 bushels. In addition, unofficial
allowance was made for other producing countries,
which swelled the total crop of the civilized world to
“about 2,300,000,000 bushels.” On this basis we pro-
duced in that decade about seventy-three per cent of
the recorded supply. :

STRONG POSITION MAINTAINED BY UNITED STATES IN
WORLD'S TOTAL

During the decade just past the United States
alone has grown in a single year a crop almost equal-
ing the world’s average production of the decade
preceding, yet our proportion of the whole is still
slightly under seventy-five per cent, and with our own
maize land now practically all occupied, we have
evidently reached a point where we may expect a
diminishing figure to represent our proportion of the
world’s supply. Official figures covering all the
countries included in the 2,300,000,000-bushel aggre-
gate above quoted show an average world’s crop, 1895
to 1899 inclusive, of 2,759,857,000 bushels, of which
the United States contributed 2,257,062,000 bushels,
or seventy-five per cent. Comparing these two state-
ments of world production it will be seen that in the
period ending with 1890 all countries other than the
United States made an average annual contribution of
619,303,400 bushels, while for the five years ending
with 1899 the contribution of the same countiies was
702,995,000 bushels.

The crop of the world, as tabulated by the United
States department of agriculture from reported official
sources, is more fully shown in accompanying table in
Appendix. The federal census figures of 1900, how-
ever, covering the year 1899, were-.eventually reported
(in 1902) at 2,666,438,279 bushels, an amount mate-
tially greater than that here named. Considering the
MAIZE IN OTHER COUNTRIES 337

snarp revision of official figures, increased acreage
and consequent gifeater yield in the United States by
the census of 1900, it has been necessary to make
readjustment all along the line. The world’s totals in
recent years, therefore, must have been very much
more than here indicated, and the figures are valuable
chiefly in showing the relative distribution of corn
growing in all countries.

OUR CHIEF COMPETITORS IN CORN CULTURE

It is obvious that this statement does not include
all the countries of the world in which corn forms an
important item of production, it being known that in

Fig 97—Corn Crib Which Holds 20,000 Bushels

This is the big crib in whichthe corn referred to in the text by Mr Maxon
re Page 161) was kept. It is an ordinary farm cri! of great size covered with
joards.

some omitted Central and South American countries
this cereal forms an important part in the ordinary
dietary of the people, while in northern China, in
Japan, Cochin China and portions of India the crop is
of local importance. ;
The Crop of Austria-Hungary—The dual empire
takes second rank among corn-producing countries,
with an annual average yield during the five years
338 THE BOOK OF CORN

ending with 1900 of 153,600,000 bushels. It is the
leading cereal crop of the country and its volume
shows marked increase in recent years. During the ten
years ending 1890 the average crop was 110,000,000
bushels, showing an increase of forty per cent between
the two periods. Hungary produces the great bulk of
the crop, and it is in this division of the empire that its
importance has increased so greatly in recent years.

While the country named ranks second in corn
production, it consumes more than it grows, there
being a net importation nearly every year, and the defi-
ciency continues to increase in spite of the phenomenal
gain in production during the recent years. The fol-
lowing statement shows the Austrian imports and
exports in bushels of fifty-six pounds during the past
decade:

MOVEMENT OF CORN INTO AND OUT OF AUSTRIA

Year Imports Exports Year Imports | Exports
1891 1,998,985 3,263,502 1896 4,728,636 | 899,654
1892 2,137,964 4,236,998 1897 9,099,662 | 742,074
1893 2,947,733 1,326,948 1898 26,181,028 | 119,044
1894 8,814,428 435,534 1899 6,098,470 | 132,620
1895 8,450,592 175,061 1900 7,190,139 84,982

Corn Culture in Mexico—Corn is the great cereal
crop of Mexico, with a production in some years fully
twelve times as great as wheat, its nearest grain rival.
That country is also unique in that the original corn
plant is still found there in its wild state. The crop is
grown for domestic purposes only, and in years of
ordinary results the production about suffices for home
requirements, The domestic use is mainly as human
food, and as it forms the principal grain food of the
people any crop shortage is followed by correspond-
ingly large importations from the United States. This
importation in recent years has ranged from 154,644
MAIZE IN OTHER COUNTRIES 330

bushels in 1901 to 8,825,860 bushels in 1897, following
the partial crop failure of 1895 and 1896. The total
crop of Mexico in recent years has ranged as follows:
In 1893, 69,029,000 bushels; 1894, 77,273,000 bushels ;
1895, 71,906,000 bushels; 1896, 76,264,000 bushels;
1897, 121,893,000 bushels; 1898, 111,347,000 bushels.

The most favored section of the country for the
production of this crop is that lying south of the
twenty-eighth degree of north latitude, in the states
bordering on either the Gulf or the Pacific. Here the
seasons are divided into wet and dry, and it is claimed

Fig 98—Small Corn Crib in Feed Lot
Sills are 8x8 inches, joists 2x8, studding 2x4, lower part of siding 1x6, upper

pat 1x4, roof common boards. The whole set on stone pillars. On farm of
. H. Provine, Christian County, Illinois.

that in some districts two crops can be raised from the
same field in a single year. This may account for the
heavy rates of yield that are occasionally claimed.
The states of principal production are Jalisco, on
the Pacific coast, which with an area slightly larger
than New York produced in 1898 a crop of 16,812,000
340 THE BOOK OF CORN

bushels. On the opposite coast the states of Vera
Cruz, a narrow belt along the Gulf with an area a little
over half that of Jalisco, produced 12,266,000 bushels,
Guanajuato grew 10,934,000 bushels, and Michoacan
5,020,000 bushels. Other states of important produc-
tion are Sinaloa, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca, Mexico and
Yucatan. Available statistics of yield show that in the
territory between the twenty-eighth and twenty-fifth
degrees of north latitude the annual rate of yield varies
considerably, indicating uncertain climatic conditions
and especially tendency to drouth damage. South of the
twenty-fifth parallel, especially in the coast states, the
yield from year to year runs quite uniform, and it is.
in this district, where conditions are unusually perfect,
that the largest part of the crop increase in recent
years is centered.

The Crop of Argentina—The area of Argentina
climatically fitted to the production of corn is better
understood and much more circumscribed than in the
case of wheat. Broadly speaking, it is limited to the
northern part of the province of Buenos Aires and the
adjoining southern part of Santa Fe and including a
limited adjoining area in Cordoba and Entre Rios.
This district represents the most fertile available land
in the republic, and practically all the land where corn
can be success“ully grown one year with another.
North of this district long summer drouths come too
early and with too great regularity, while south, in
western and southern Buenos Aires, rainfall is too
irregular or the growing season too likely to be short-
ened by untimely frost.

The first agricultural development of Argentina
was in the corn belt, and it is a striking fact that here
agricultural occupation has been more permanent than
in other districts of the country. In the wheat and flax
sections the farming population has been unstable,
MAIZE IN OTHER COUNTRIES 341

migratory in character, but in the corn belt cultivation
has been systematic and agricultural improvement per-
‘manent. Conditions surrounding the growth of corn
in Argentina are unusually favorable, and with agricul-
tural methods careless in the extreme the rate of yield
averages very little less than the average in the United
States. With corn planted in drills, rows only twenty-
four to thirty inches apart, usually cultivated but once
or frequently not at all, yields of twenty to thirty
bushels per acre are normal. ;

Fig 99—Corn in the Old Style Rail Cribs
The rails are oe to 10 feet ec Each crib holds 350 to 400 bushels
These cribs are in Christian County, Illinois, a few miles north of Taylorville.

The photograph was taken in October, 1902, at the beginning of the husking
season.

The great drawback to corn culture lies in the un-
favorable climatic conditions for drying out the grain.
The winter is a period of damp and frosty rather than
dry cold weather, making it difficult to dry out the
grain into merchantable condition. This failure to dry
out makes it difficult and dangerous to handle or store
Argentine corn, and the percentage of loss in cargoes
during ocean voyage is very heavy. To some extent
342 THE BOOK OF CORN

this failure to secure corn dry enough for commercial
handling is due to careless and ineffectual methods of
farm handling after harvest, but even where the great-
est possible care is exercised the unfavorable climatic
conditions will remain as a severe handicap.

During the past few years, while the acreage de-
voted to wheat and flax has increased very rapidly, the
importance of the corn crop has changed but little, fur-
nishing ground for the opinion that Argentina is not
likely to become in the near future a very important
factor in the world’s corn crop. Argentina agricultural
statistics are scanty, and even when given as official
are very unsatisfactory. No data of corn acreage by
provinces later than 1895 are available, this being as
follows:

ACREAGE UNDER CORN IN ARGENTINA

Province Acres

Buenos Aires.. 1,653,116
Santa Fe....... 459,
Cordoba........ 235,281
Entre Ri0S.....cccsasccccccecscccrcvccsecersvsces 179,694
TROD cosesiasicrennirienssansenwssewnigeweewwnane 444,558
Motel woccreisteievcieierswrerew se wisreisheresisalnsiels a gistet artis ela earsiacnd 2,972,003

The acreage of the crop of 1900, not given sepa-
rately by provinces, aggregated only 3,074,374 acres,
showing an increase in five years past of only 102,371
acres, or three per cent. The consumption of corn in
Argentina is largely as human food, comparatively
little being used as animal feed. This domestic use
being about the same from year to year, the amount
exported for a series of years will show with reason-
able accuracy the varying production. The exports
1891 to 1901 were as follows:
MAIZE IN OTHER COUNTRIES 343

ARGENTINA’S EXPORTS OF CORN

Year Bushels Year Bushels
1891 2,594,706 1897 14,760,71
1892 17,555,569 1898 28'230'990
1893 3,212,965 1899 43,945,554
1894 * 2.160,358 1900 28,079,149
1895 30,404,615 1901 43,785,474
1896 61,828,113 2

Russia—In comparison with other grains, corn
occupies but an insignificant place in Russian agricul-
ture, yet the acreage is steadily increasing, and there
is abundant evidence that soil and climatic conditions
in the southern portion of the empire are such as to
permit of a great expansion in production. The rate
of yield. averages low, a fact which apparently may be
due quite as much to poor methods of cultivation as
to any natural condition. With corn apparently des-
tined to occupy a higher permanent price level in the
future, it is probable that Russia will become an in-
creasingly important factor in the world’s crop.

CORN CROP OF RUSSIAN EMPIRE

The following statement shows the acreage and
production of corn in the Russian empire in recent
years, according to official statistics of that govern-
ment: :

European Russia | North Caucasus Total

Year| Acres |Bushels| Acres | Bushels Acres | Bushels} per

14.2 bu
1, 24,940,476| 379,135] 6,752,692 2,296,756| 31,693,168
i | Sica deuce) Srv Geta) SREGR) cea] tte
1897 | 2,211,543] 45,488,291) 34,7 477, pe os Sere aa Ba
1898 | 2,351,606] 39,529,435) 435,262 8,388,082 a cee ake SA cin 06
1399 | 2,406,081] 22,640,741 479,604| 8,271,554) 2.885,6¢ ore 460] 10.4 bu
2 9'043| 8,686,528| 3,268,473) 34,256, .
100 | 20880 5g2 400 aoe | 1,098,800] ry. | 63,640,000] +--+ -+--

344 THE BOOK OF CORN

Tt will be noted that in spite of the low rate of
yield each year since 1895, the table relating to Russia’s
corn production shows a substantial enlargement in
the corn acreage, and that between 1895 and 1900 the
breadth of the crop increased by forty-three per cent.
If the figures of production above quoted may be ac-
cepted as approximately correct, it appears that rather
more than half of the Russian crop is exported, as
shown in table in Appendix.

The Crop of Roumania—As in the case of the
other Danubian countries, the acreage devoted to corn
has increased rapidly in recent years. in spite of th:
low rate of yield usually secured. In the best vears an
average of twenty bushels per acre is rarely reached,
and no crop of the country seems so subject to violent
fluctuations of return. In 1894 the average yield was a
trifle over twenty bushels per acre, while in 1895 the
opposite extreme was reached with a return of but lit-
tle more than five bushels. Despite this uncertainty,
the acreage devoted to corn is already increasing. It
was 4,184,372 acres in 1891; 4,560,230 in 1895, and
5,003,918 in 1900, an increase of nearly twenty per cent
between the beginning and the close of the decade
The exports during the past decade may be noted it
able in Appendix.
APPENDIX
Gorn as a Nitrogen Gatherer

the soil, and to some extent from the air in the soil, and

in the atmosphere, was demonstrated only after many

years of experiment and scientific controversy. It can-
not now be said that the whole subject is by any means fully
understood, but certain principles have come to be generally
accepted. And these principles have demonstrated the re-
markable power of the corn plant as a restorative crop when
grown In proper rotation.

Professor W. O. Atwater in 1876 inaugurated tests at the
Connecticut agricultural exneriment station to ascertain the
truth or falsity of the above principles, which are now so gen-
erally accepted. Under his direction similar experiments
were conducted by a large number of farmers throughout the
country, in co-operation with the American Agriculturist.
This was really the inception of scientific work among prac-
tical farmers that has since become so popular and had such
an important influence. Atwater’s work is set forth in great
detail in the reports of the Connecticut board of agriculture
and the United States department of agriculture. In 1881 he
concluded :

“Of the ingredients of plant food in our soils, the most
important, because the most costly, is nitrogen. Leguminous
crops, like clover, do somehow or other gather a good sup-
ply of nitrogen where cereals, such as wheat, barley, rye and
oats, would half starve for lack of it, and this in the face of
the fact that legiiminous plants contain a great deal of nitro-
gen, and cereals relatively little. Hence a heavy nitrogenous
manuring may pay well for wheat and be in large part lost
on clover.’

»This conclusion was directly opposite to the results at
Rothamsted, England, for Dr J. B. Lawes had written in 1873
to the Massachusetts society for the promotion of agricul-
ture that “the best possible manure for wheat, barley, maize,
oats, sugar cane, rice and pasture grass is a mixture of super-
phosphate and nitrate of soda. Potash is generally found in
sufficient quantities in soils, and an artificial supply is not
required.” 3 ;:

But in more than half of Atwater’s experiments with corn,
and in nearly all with potatoes, the crops were materially
aided by potash salts, and without potash in the fertilizer

i HE power of the maize plant to assimilate nitrogen from
346 THE BOOK OF CORN

they often failed. “The corn almost universally refused to
conform to nitrogen in fertilizers, and persisted in getting on
well without any artificial supply. But it was largely ben-
efited by phosphoric acid, and often by potash.” :

These results and concurrent investigations by other sci-
entists and by many practical men, led some of the ablest
agricultural writers of that time to champion the Atwater
theory. Joseph Harris wrote in his book Talks on Ma-
nures: “We know less about the manurial requirements of
Indian corn than almost any crop. The main question is the
nitrogen supply—whether, like other cereals (wheat, barley,
oats, grasses, etc), corn has but little power to get nitrogen
from natural sources, and requires nitrogenous fertilizers, or
whether, like leguminous plants (clover, beans, peas, etc), corn
can gather the nitrogen for itself. That is, whether corn is
an exhausting crop like wheat or a renovating crop like
clover.”

Summing up his work in 1881, Atwater concluded: “With
the mineral fertilizers’ alone (phosphoric acid and potash)
the corn crop gathered in these experiments some sixty pounds
of nitrogen per acre. The important fact, however, is this:
The corn plant has in these trials shown itself capable of
getting on and bringing fair-yields with but relatively small
amounts of the less costly mineral fertilizers, even in the
worn-out soils of the eastern states. With this help, corn
has gathered its nitrogen from natural sources, and holds it
readily to be fed out in the farm and returned in the form of
manure for other crops. In other words, the experiments
thus far imply that corn has somehow or other the power to
gather a great deal of nitrogen from soil and air or both;
that in this respect, it comes nearer to the legumes than the
cereals. That in short, corn can be classed with the ‘reno-
vating’ crops. If this is really so, and this can be settled
only by continued experimenting, our great cereal, instead
of being simply a consumer of the fertility of our soils, may
be used as an agent for its restoration.” 7

Professor Charles V. Mapes, “without whose interest and
enthusiasm, as well as counsel and substantial help, the enter-
prise could not have succeeded as it has” (said Atwater in
his official report), did much to popularize these results and
promote their further verification. In a paper in the sixth
annual report of the New Jersey state board of agriculture,
1878, Pages 79-167, Mapes emphasizes the exhaustive effect
of wheat, barley and other dainty-feeding small grains as
compared with renovating crops like clover and corn. He
laid stress on the ability of clover, corn and turnips to “for-
age” successfully, but the other crops would fail, and sets up
the following
APPENDIX 347

CLASSIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS OF CROPS

Group A: Wheat, barley, rye, oats, timothy hay, require
first nitrogen, next phosphoric acid, last potash.

Group B: Corn, cotton, require first phosphoric acid,
next pole last pitogen:

roup C: eas, beans, clover, red clover, hay, requi
first potash, next phosphoric acid, last nitrogen. Ba ctemeee

In this table, corn in its demand for nitrogen as com-
pared to potash and phosphoric acid is-allied to clover rather
than being classed with wheat, barley, oats, timothy hay, etc
as had been the rule previously. ?

The estimated cost for fertilizer required for growing
these staple crops on average soils in this country was on’ the
following basis: Phosphoric acid and potash, full quantities
as shown by analysis to be contained in each crop, that is,
full rations; nitrogen, one-half rations for wheat, barley,
oats, meadow hay, one-quarter rations for corn and one-tenth
ration for peas, beans and clover.

In the New Jersey report for 1879, Mapes reviewed Lawes’s
and Gilbert’s manurial experimentation at Rothamsted for
thirty years. For the total period the wheat crop received
about 3540 pounds more nitrogen per acre in farm manure than
in chemicals or concentrated fertilizers, and barley received
3021 pounds more nitrogen per acre in farm manure than in
the concentrates. Yet in both experiments the results from the
concentrated manures were equally good in every particular.
What became of these differences in nitrogen, amounting in
the two cases to 6551 pounds per acre, representing probably a
value of $1200?

Dr Lawes replied (seventh report New Jersey board of
agriculture) “that no subject has occupied our attention more
than that with relation to the assimilation, accumulation or
loss of nitrogen,” and concludes that a considerable propor-
tion of it is retained in the soil.

Mapes also emphasized that the plain superphosphate, even
with the addition of potash, magnesia and soda,. but without
nitrogen, produced an average increase in the wheat crop of
only one and one-quarter bushels per acre per annum above
the yield from the natural unmanured soil. But when nitro-
gen was added, in the form of sulphate of ammonia, the yield
went up from seventeen to thirty-five bushels as the average
per annum per acre. . :

Dr Henry Stewart and others proved by their experience
and writings that “if we had to supply all the nitrogen corn
consumes, it would cost more to grow the crop than it would
come to,” whether the nitrogen were supplied in the form
of manure or of fertilizers. Stewart pointed out (eighth report
New Jersey board of agriculture, 1881) that, since it was neces-
348 THE BOOK OF CORN

sary. to supply for corn on poor land only half the nitrogen it
consumed, it would take no more nitrogen to raise one
hundred bushels of corn on one acre than thirty-five bushels of
wheat. Stewart maintained that the totally inadequate nitrog-
enous manure used, resulting in large crops, conclusively
demonstrated that corn is able to get its nitrogen from some
occult source, when the crop is sufficiently provided with
potash and phosphoric acid. :

The last article in this controversy v Dr Lawes (ninth
report New Jersey board of agriculture, 1882) says: “At the
same time, while I think that corn (maize) in common with the
other cereal crops is dependent upon a liberal supply of nitric
acid in the soil, I must not in saying this be supposed to advo-
cate its application artificially. I quite agree with Dr Stewart
in thinking that mineral manure alone (phosphoric acid, pot-
ash, etc) should be used with the addition of a small quan-
tity of nitrogen, so long as they enabled the farmer to grow
one hundred bushels of corn, or even a much smaller crop than
that, per acre. The only difference between Dr Stewart and
myself is this: I think that it is to the soil rather than to the
atmosphere that we must look for the supply of nitrogen; while
Dr Stewart’s view is that the poverty of his soil does not admit
of so large a supply of nitrogen being yielded.”

Dr Lawes concludes: “Corn is a giant among the other
grain crops, and for me has a peculiar fascination. I have
already called attention to the remarkable advantage which
corn possesses over the other cereal grain crops in that it
continues growing throughout the summer and ripens in the
autumn, but, at the time of writing, I was not so fully im-
pressed as I now am with the great value of temperature for
the production of nitric acid in the soil.

“With corn, the most vigorous growth and the most active
assimilation of food take place just when nitrification is most
attive, but when the other cereal crops have done their work.
No wonder then that the average yield of corn is much above
that of other cereals. At the same time, although corn has
access to sourves of food in the soil which are not available
a one grain crops, still the food itself must come out of

e soil.

CORN AS A RESTORATIVE CROP

_Out of the above controversy and by much successful ex-
perience among practical farmers extending over the past
twenty years, the conclusion is now coming to be generally ac-
cepted that in a proper rotation of crops, but with a minimum
of manure or fertilizer, the corn crop may be extremely useful
in not only maintaining but in restoring the soil’s fertility.

“On the comparatively light and poor soils of New Jer-
sey, the land has for many years and in numerous instances,
APPENDIX 349

shown decided improvement due to a rotation of corn, po-
tatoes, wheat, timothy and clover. Stable manure is plowed
under for the corn crop, which puts the soil and the manure in
prime condition for the potatoes to follow. The potatoes are
heavily dressed with commercial fertilizer, which so increases
the yield and quality that the potatoes pay a handsome profit
above cost of fertilizer. No manuring of any kind is done for
the succeeding crops of wheat, timothy and clover. If, instead
of using 1500 pounds of fertilizer on the petatoes, these farmers
should use 500 pounds on the potatoes, 500 on the wheat and
500 on the grass, their bills would be as high as now, the
labor three times as great, and their croys of potatoes cut
down nearly one-half, with but a small increase in grain and
hay. It is because potatoes are a money crop of the farm that
they are fed on the choicest food. The corn plant is the
key-keeper of the rotation. Clover supplies the crude ma-
terial and corn manufactures it into suitable humus for the
potato plant, yielding its grain as almost clear gain. On a
rotation of this kind, corn is quite as important as the clover,
because of its ability as a weed cleaner, and also because
stable manure should first be ‘strained through a crop of corn’
before being used on potatoes.” :

As H. W. Collingwood points out, “one great advantage of
this system is, that all the farm manure is used on the corn
instead of on wheat or other crops.” The hot summer is par-
ticularly favorable for the action of the chemical [and bac-
teriological] processes of the soil, including nitrification
(changing of inert nitrogen into active nitrate or ammonia),
and in converting farm manure and all coarse materials in
the soil into available plant food. Corn, during its long sum-
mer growth, can freely use manurial supplies. Not so with
wheat, for its growth stops soon after the corn crop has
fairly started growing.”
350 THE BOOK OF CORN

Wheat and Corn Compared

It is a difficult matter to arrive at a fair basis for an in-
telligent comparison of two such dissimilar crops as wheat
and corn. Consultation with experiment station workers and
others indicates that a wheat crop yielding fourteen bushels
per acre will contain about 1400 pounds of straw of a given
water content. In like manner, twenty-five bushels of shelled
corn may be produced on an average of 3000 pounds of field
cured corn fodder. While these two conclusions may there-
fore be taken to fairly represent average conditions in Amer-
ica, there are many wide variations from this standard.

Such a crop of wheat grown on one acre, also of corn,
would have (under average conditions) about the composi-
tion below stated. (For explanation of the terms used, see
note introduction to Table A, Appendix, on average composi-
tion of maize, and for computation of ‘‘manurial values” see
Table B.) :

nu : 3000 Ibu Total Total
Composition of the who on fag rei hay from ‘or for
crops: mentioned grain grain wheat straw corn fodder wheat corn
‘Water, lbs per acre 84 154 168 1200 252 1354
Dry matter, lbs per

ACTE wo... eee cece ee 756 1246 1232 1800 1988 3046

Ash, Ibs per acre.. 15 21 52 49 67 70
. Digestibleprotein,

Tbs peracre...... 86 111 10 45 96 156
Digestible fiber,

POT ACT secs veas 8 12 272 169 280 181
Digestible starch,

per ACTE. . sess ses 526 886 283 432 809 1318
Digestible fat, per

ACTE......... Dies 14 60 6 21 20 81
Fuel value (calo-

ries)......... + +++-| 1,300,353) 2,195,700] 1,035,972 |2,146,620 | 2,336,325] 4,342,320
Nutritive ratio....| lto7 | 1to9 1to9 LTO 14 [orreccccelecserees :
Feeding value, per

BETO. css geny ears $7.31 | $12.32 $6.58 $12 | $13.89 | $24.32
Nitrogen, lbs per

BOLE cash sie vcw a nics 20 26 9 53 29 84
Phosphoric acid,

Tbs per acre...... 8 10 17 16 25 26
Potash, lbs per acre 5 6 7 27 12 33
Manurialvalue,per a

acre........ estan) SEBS $4.48 $1.54 $9.60 $5.07 | $14.08
Total value, per

acre....... eee $9.07 | $14.56 $8.12 $21.60 $7.19 | $36.16

APPENDIX 351

.. Now, having found out the yield per acr
crib-cured corn, and of dry tiiatier: or fel food oo ve
next question is, what is the real value to the farmer of these
crops? Dividing the crops into three great classes, and ap-
plying original data, American clgriculturist gets these results:

POUNDS OF DIGESTIBLE FOOD ELEMENTS IN 100 POUNDS
OF CHEMICALLY DRY CORN

NAME OF FOOD ELEMENT

Eastern
corn
Western
corn
Southern
corn

Cellulose or fiber............ cee eee eee eee ee eae eeeeeaees 1.34] 2.16] 1.63
Fat or Oil. ..........-.-2-+ 5+ ete e neces eeeeeeaens -| 5.03] 4.57] 5.63
Protein or albuminoids (nitrogenous
Sugar, starch, etc (carbohydrates).............06+ é
Mineral matter (lime, potash, phosphoric acid, ete)..| 1.7: 1.53) 1.52

Feeding value per 100 pounds...........cceseee cee enee 1.17 | $1.14 ‘

Manurial value per 100 pounds . a . 34 . +28 “
Total value per 100 Pounds ..... 0. se eeee eee eee ents ees 1.51) 1.42] 1.51
Feeding and mauurial value per bushel of 56 pounds) = .84 “19 84

In this table, the composition of eastern corn is based on
the average of seven analyses, made at the Massachusetts
experiment station, of crops grown in the American Agricul-
turist competition; southern corn, average of five analyses,
made at the South Carolina station, of prize crops grown in
the state; western corn, Jenkins’s statement. The feeding
value is based on 4.2 cents per pound for fat or oil, 1.6 cents
for the protein, and 0.96 cent per pound for the sugar, starch,
fiber, etc. These are the average costs of the respective
elements, at the market prices for feed sold in Connecticut
last year, as determined by Jenkins. It may be assumed that
the digestibility of all these corns is practically equal, and,
therefore, that in all three classes of corn 34 per cent of the
fiber, 76 per cent of the fat, 85 per cent of the protein and 96
per cent of the sugar and starch are digestible or available
as food, under a judicious system of feeding. The manurial
value is based on phosphoric acid at eight cents per pound,
potash five cents, and nitrogen 16 cents; these elements often
cost as much in ordinary commercial fertilizers. The total
value per bushel is used for estimating the total feeding and
manurial value of the prize crops in the large table of yields.
Tt is an arbitrary basis of comparison, but is equally fair to
all; it has nothing to do with the market or commercial value.
352 THE BOOK OF CORN

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF FEED STUFFS?

The average chemical composition of the grain, of the
mill products, of the different parts of the plant, both green
and dry, is shown in accompanying table:

ne -~
O] w 5 o f°
3! 8 oS he oo
mle = oO vy Woe! wo
og] SS ZR ok ES [ls| s
as|e |< |e jm |=
4 a Zz °
Grain
Dent—All analyses............| 86] 10.6 | 1.5) 10.3} 2.2] 70.4) 6.0
Fiint—All analyses..... veeeeee{ 68) 11.3 | 1-4) 10.5 | 1.7] 70.1] 5.0
Sweet—All analyses.......... 26) 8.8) 1.9) 11.6 | 2.8] 66.8] 8.1
Pop varieties............4. veces] 4] 10.7] 1.5] 11.2] 1.8] 69.6] 5.2
Sott varieties 22.0 cccsssexexves | D) 9-3 | 16) 41.4 | 26) 70.2 | 5.5
All varieties and analyses...| 208) 10.9 | 1.5) 10.5 | 2.1] 69.6 | 6.4
Mill and waste products........
Corn meal—All analyses......| 77) 15.0 | 1.4) 9.2] 1.9] 68.7] 3.8
Corn and cob meal............| _7| 15.1 |.1.5) 8.5] 6.6] 64.8] 3.5
Corn cob......... aiaranereceis a -| 18) 10.7 | 1.4) 2.4 | 80.1 | 54.9 5
Hominy chop...... -| 12] 11.1 | 2.5) 9.8] 3.8] 64.5] 8.3
Corn bran.. 5) 9.1) 1.3) 9.0] 12.7] 62.2] 6.8
Corn germ 3) 10.7} 4.0) 9.8] 4.1 | 64.0] 7.4
Corn germ n 5 6} 8.1 11.3] 11.1] 9.9] 62.5] 7.1
Cream gluten meal. --} 10.1 | .8/ 83.7 | 1.7] 51.1] 2.6
Chicago gluten meal.......... +-| 12.3 | 13) 36.5 | 1.4] 45.5] 2.7
King gluten meal.............. --]| 7.4) .6] 38.7} 1.2] 026] 4.6
Gluten feed........ eiaieineratbisiaiareie 11) 7.8 | 1.1) 24.0 | 5.3} 51.2 | 106
Buffalo gluten feed............ --| 9.6 | 2.3] 27.1] 6.7] 51.1] 3.2
Peoria gluten feed............. 1] 7.5] .8| 19.8 | 8.2] 51.1 | 12.6
Rockford gluten feed......... --| 8.9] .8| 23.6] 6.6) 56.6] 3.5
Chicago maize feed...........| 3! 9.1} .9| 22.8] 7.6 | 52.7] 6.9
Glucose feed and refuse...... 2| 6.5 | 1.1) 20.7] 4.5 | 56.8 | 10.4
Dried starch and sugar feed.. 4, 10.9 | .9) 19.7 | 4.7] 54.8] 9.0
Starch feed, wet........... «---] 12] 65.4 +8) 6.1 | 3.1 | 22.0) 3.1
Corn fodder, green 4............
Dent varieties..................| 63) 79.0 | 1.2} 1.7] 5.6] 12.0 5
Dent varieties, kernels glazed 7 73.4 }1.5) 2.0) 67] 15.5 a)
Flint varieties ...............-+ 40) 79.8) 1.1) 2.0) 4.3] 12.1 7
Flint varieties, kernelsglazed| 10) 77.1 | 1-1} 2.1] 4.3 | 14.6 8
Sweet varieties................} 21) 79.1] 13) 1.9] 4.4] 12.8 «5
All varieties ............ eee eee 126] 79.3 | 1.2) 1.8] 5.0] 12 2 (5
Leaves and husks, green..... 4| 66.2 | 2.9) 2.1] 8.7/190] 1.1
Stripped stalks, green.. 476.1} .7; .5| 7.8 | 14.9 5
Corn silage 99} 79.1 | 1.4) 1.7] 6.0] 11.0 8
Corn fodder, field cur +5) 42.2 | 2.7] 4.5 | 14.8] 34.7] 1.6
Corn leaves, field enred 17; 30.0 | 5.5) 6.0 | 21.4] 35.7] 1.4
Corn husks, field cured.... 16) 50.9 | 1.8) 2.5 | 15.8] 28.3 “7
Corn stalks, field eured..... .. 15} 68.4 | 1.2) 1.9 | 11.0] 17.6 5
Corn stover, field cured c.......| 60] 40.5 | 3.4] 3.8 | 19.7 | 31.5 | 1.1

a Arranged from Jordan’s The Feed of Animals—1901,

& By corn fodder is meant the en'ire plant, including the ear.

e Bycorn stover is meant the portion of the plant remaining
after the ear is removed.
APPENDIX 353

Anvriran Agriculturist Gorn Contest

Many growers all over the United Sta i
1889 for prizes offered by the American Aeueeee ake
lished by Orange Judd Company, New York) for the ion est
yield of corn on one measured acre—forty-three chowe: ail
five hundred and sixty square feet. The rules (as worked
out by Herbert Myrick) were simple, uniform, and were
rigidly adhered to, including surveying of land, witnessin
harvest, weighing crop, etc. There was no room for eee
or fraud, the results were never questioned, and are accepted
oe eee demonstration of the possibilities of maize

_Thanks to the co-operation of the respective state
agricultural experiment stations (except that the Iowa crops
were analyzed by the United States department of agricul-
ture), we are able to give, for the first time in the history
of this crop, a concise statement not only of the yield of ear
corn, kernels and cobs, with the percentage of each, but also
the Percentage of water in ear corn, kernel and cob. With
this data it has been possible to ascertain (see the three
columns 4, 5 and 6 in the table):

First, the number of bushels of shelled corn, in its fresh
or green state, as husked.

Second, the number of bushels to which this green
shelled corn would shrink, when kiln-dried until it contained
only ten per cent of water, thus representing corn that has
been kept in a dry crib for several months, until it will shrink
no more.

Third, the number of bushels of chemically dry corn, with
no water whatever in it. The farmer speaks of old, crib-
cured corn as dry, but such grain contains at least ten pounds
of water in every hundredweight. But the sixth column
shows the number of bushels of chemically dry matter in
the crops. ‘

It is on the basis of dry matter that the crops are
arranged in the table, and the prizes awarded. The dry
matter, not the amount of water in a crop, measures its
value. For instance, crop No 5, of one hundred and thirty
bushels of shelled corn, green weight, being grown in Georgia,
where the latter part of the season was quite dry, contained
only sixteen per cent of water; the one hundred and thirty
bushels, therefore, contained one hundred and ten bushels of
chemically dry corn or dry matter. But crop No 7, from the
moister Illinois climate, contained twenty-seven per cent of
water in its kernels, so that its one hundred and thirty bushels
of green or fresh corn yielded only ninety-five bushels of dry
matter. Crop No 5, although apparently exactly the same
size, really contained fifteen bushels more of actual corn.
354 THE BOOK OF CORN

PRIZE WINNING CROPS IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST
CORN CONTEST OF 1889 (GROWN ON ONE ACRE)

Percentage Bushels of
of Shelled Corn.
Z 3 3g
E Sa
8g ee
. 4 a §¢ §3es8e
63,2457 8. $-3338
$28 2 2 2 eg “secs
gd 2 F 8 8 sa sg 6g ut
2, pa 2 £38 285238
_ a ov
@éa as S6R $F Brae
1234656 %7% 8 9 10
1. Zachariah Jordan Drake,
Marlborough Co, S C; see full
descriptive article, Page 172........ 82) 85] 87|255/239)217/264/158] 44/182
2. Alfred Rose, Yates Co, N Y;
land, sandy loam; fertilizer, 800
pounds Mapes corn manure; vari-
ety, Early Mastodon; one kernel
every footin rows 3 feet apart...... | 7H 83) 68)/213/191/174! 62) 16] 16/146
3. ‘George Gartner, Pawnee Co,
Neb; land, black rich loam; fer-
tilizer, barnyard manure, 90 loads;
variety, Early Mastodon; hills,
3: X'S feebscccw.eisercsceae wens «-« | 84 80] 65/171/151/137] 87] 2) 47/108
4. J.Snelling, Barnwell » SC;
land, aan loam; fertilizer. 300
bushels stable manure, 300 bushels
cotton seed; variety, White Gourd;
hills, 1 x 4 feet... .... seseeeceeeees | 84 85) 87/131)122/111] 57) 19] 33] 95
5. W.L. Peck, Rockdale Co, Ga;
land, sandy loam; fertilizer, 4
wagon loads stable manure, 30
bushels heated cotton seed, 1000
pounds Packard standard fertili-
zer, 500 pounds cotton seed meal;
variety, large white corn; hills, 5-6
HE LOSU Ss iare ictaisre acter cersier cites aeeeecececes | 80 84) 75/130/121/110) 46) 7] 32) 92
6. B. Gedney, Westchester Co,
N_ Y; land, clay loam; fertilizer,
800 pounds Mapes corn manure;
variety, King Philip; hills, ¥%4 x3,
LOO a s.9s desea cia sid vilis Sins Hee sibsals eeeeee | 79 85) 65/119]112/102/131) 71) 54) 86
7. EB. P. Kellenberger, Madison
Co, Ill; land, sandy loam; no fer-
tilizer; variety, Eclipse (early
yellow dent); hills, 5-6 x 2% feet.... | 83, 73] 40/130/105] 95] 26] 15] 30) 75
8. H. M. Kersey, Marshall Co,
Ia; land, dark rich loam ; fertilizer,
29 loads stable manure; variety,
Nebraska dent; hills,14%4x 2 feet.... | 84 91] 84/100|100/ 91] 15) 8] 23] 72
9. L. 8. Wells, Hartford Co, Ct;
land, heavy sandy loam; fertilizer,
60 loads stable manure, 30 bushels
hen manure, 600 pounds bone, 200
pounds nitrate of soda, 200 pounds
muriate of potash, 20 bushels wood
ashes; variety, Clark’s Early
Mastodon ; hills, 34% x 312 feet..... | 80 82! 65/110! 99! 901132! 66! 23! 76

APPENDIX 355

Percentage Bushels of
of Shelled Corn.

manure, dollars,

Total expenses,

Shelled corn.
Crib cured.

2 | Dry matter in corn.
co | Dry matter in cob.

m | Green weight.

@ | Chemically dry.

o Value of unexhausted

ry
a
a2
-
°

10. E. W. Lupton, Berkeley Co,W
Va; land, clay loam; fertilizer,
6 cords stable manure; variety,
Cloud’s early dentand a mixture of "
yellow corn; hills, 1x 3% feet..... | 80) 82] 66/107] 95} 88] 31] 4] 38] 74

11. P. C. Hiller, Lancaster Co,
Pa; land, clay and sand mixed;
fertilizer, 600 pounds special fertili-
zer; variety, a local corn, Improved
Chester Gourd; hills, 1144 x 344 feet | 77| 72] 48/120] 96] 87| 37] 8] 47] 73

12. E.R. Towne, Washington Co,
Vt; land, gravelly; fertilizer, 78
loads barnyard manure; flint vari-
ety of his propagation ; gand3 ker-
nels every 6inches;rows, 21 feet.. | 78] 69] 42/124) 94) 85/117] 80] 40} 71

13. Morris C. Smith, Linn Co, Ia;
land, sandy loam; fertilizer, 22
loads barnyard manure; variety, a
mixture of several kinds; hills, 2
% 35-6 FE€t......ccceeeceeeveecccceeeee | 82] 92] 77] 91) 91] 84) 33} 7] 45] 66

14. R.T. Gillespie, York Co, 8 C;
land, mucky loam; fertilizer, 120
pounce acid phosphate, 300 pounds

ainit, 500 pounds cotton seed
meal; varfety, large white corn;
hills, 1} x 14 feet.........0eeeeeeeeees | 81] 76) 64/109] 92] 83) 37] 4) 36) 70

15. Jacob S. Pfrinner, Harrison
Co, Ind; land, sandy loam; fertili-
zer, 500 pounds Lister’s phosphate;
variety, not stated; hills,1x 2an
BECOCt. oc scce cece cess cecsesteseceescee | 76] 80] 65]106] 90] 82] 25] 5] 34] 65

16. Henry Campbell, Monmouth
Co, NJ‘ land, clay loam; fertilizer,
18 loads stable manure; variety,
Ohio Gourd ; hills, 1x 4 feet........ | 78] 70] 55/117) 90) 82) 49) 4 50] 69

17. D. Pence, Fairfield Co, 0;
land, black muck; fertilizer, 190
pounds Bowker’s, 12 loads barn-
yard manure, salt; variety, yellow
dent; hills, 1 6-6x 3 feet.......----» | 82

18. J.M. Graham, Hickman Co,
Tenn; land, clay loam; fertilizer,
300 bushels ashes, 500 pounds Ten-
nessee guano, and barnyard ma-

e i dent corn; hills,3 x
ee eee yr cea sscceseecseeeeeseee_ | 81] 83} 67| 97] 89] 81] 721 26] 62] 68

70} 51/115] 90) 82) 33) 7 45) 65

356 THE BOOK OF CORN

ercenta: Bushels of
vere i” Shelled Corn.
: #
i ae mS
§ 2 ., 26.38
5 eg) pg Woasks
€ ee S ym as8e 8558
6 8s 38 Py Pm Beth eo ge
o 2.23 e¢ 8©@ & BMS ols ow
o @ @ F § 8 §S°R oe we
os & FE g © 2 WS ot Ha ce
ZS pp ?a 5 B° 25 23 ss
M re 3
@ea464 6666 5 2° er
123 456% 8 9 10
19. A.L. Griffith, Monroe Co, 0;
land, brown and yellow clay loam;
fertilizer, 50 bushels wood ashes,
200 pounds Mapes raw bone, 100
pounds Mapes corn manure, 300
pounds Buckeye superphosphate,
650 pounds ammoniated superphos-
phate, 40 loads barnyard manure;
variety, Golden Beauty ; hills, 1 x 3
LOO iiinieacawnp axienmiem nome Aes eee 80} 75] 60/106] 87] 80) 60] 19) 47| 63
20. R. M. Allison, York Co, S C;
land, sandy loum; fertilizer, 7500
pounds barnyard manure, 175
pounds: Farmers’ Alliance guano,
400 pounds Edisto, 600 pounds wood
ashes, 4 bushels lime in salt; _
variety, Maryland; hills, 4x 4feet | 86] 80} 82/100] 88) 80} 66] 26) 47] 67
21..M. H. Carraway, Harrison
Co, O; land, clay lowm; fertilizer,
40 loads stable manure; variety of
his own propagation ; hills, 24 z 3}
feet.......... Saisie SaWieisialelSleinree o..0n.disjeie 77| 73) 63)113] 87) 79] 40] 3) 44) 62
22. ey Butler, Washington :
Co, Kan; land, black loam; fer-
tilizer, 600 pounds Mapes corn
manure; variety, Calico corn, hills,
LX SLES cwercsiier screeners apasofensis steals 82) 83] 83] 95] 87| 79) 25] 4/ 25) 62
23. R.M. Allison, York Co, S C;
land, sandy loam; fertilizer, 7500
pounds stable manure, 200 bushels
cotton seed, 20 sacks unleached
ashes, 2 sacks guano; variety,
Garfatt; hills, irregular widths
by 5 feet....... sisvaroiajarare asoresbyorate lete Steers - | 78] 75) 70/104) 86) 78] 79) 35] 41) 66
24. Abel Allen, Jr, Caldwell Co,
M», land, black prairie loam; fer-
tilizer, barnyard manure; variety,
white dent; hills, 1 x 35-6 feet. 79) 80) 50| 95] 84] 70) 15) 12] 33] 60
25. E, M. Williamson, Darlington
Co, 8 C; land,sandy loam; fertili-
zer, 600 pounds cotton seed meal,
600 pounds dissolved bone, 300
pounds kKainit, 200 pounds Edisto
ammoniated; variety, William-
son; hills, 14, x 1\%,...... isis oibieyevsuebeiafep 87| 86] 90} 87] 83} 75! 64! 35, 35] 63
26. J.C. Miller, Fairfield Co, 0;
land, clay and_ black loam; ter-
tilizer, 300 pounds Crocker’s wheat
and corn phosphate ; variety,yellow
dent; hills, 1 to 144 x 8% feet...... « | 82] 811 68] 96) 79] 72) 25] 2] 34] 57

APPENDIX 357

Pereentage — Bush
ee” ghee Gon:

3 «62
a
g 4 ge Os
3 So HEEL ES
gfa2¢ 22 Bie
: : 3
8 £e oe Fz seSE key
3 22 E 3 2 BSE EG es
2 Rog 0 8 og od ne Ee
@ begs §2 a" S233
aaa ceEoa S BEEF
1234656% 8 9 10

27. Ira L. Hershey, Lancaster Co,
Pa; land, sandy clay loam; fer-
tilizer, 6 cords hog manure, 1700
pounds South Carolina phosphate,
200 pounds land plaster; variety,
Gaen See BaEhiGe OG. 79| 71] 48/110] 78] 71) 61) 23] 49) 60

. JN. ;
Ia; land, sandy a fertilizer,
31 loads barnyard manure; variety,
Poeaa Tio ake f He Rarliest;

ills, }x3to eet. ...- sees eens | 87} 91] 84) 77

29. Fonshee J. Tebbs, Harrison CEO a Sh BR
Co, Ky; land, black loam; fertili-
aor none 3 variety, not stated ; hills, -

SS OCbseswexs coevecssvaxcexsaccene | 82) TO! 78, 92) 76) 69) 21

30. John_C. Dillon, Hampshire qv ease
Co, Mass; land, sandy loam; fer-
tilizer, 12loads barnyard_manure;
varieties, Pride of the North and
Horton’s Favorite; hills, 17-12 x 3
ae ae ee 81] 67] 33/102] 75) 68) 97] 40) 76) 57

. A. H. ite, York Co, f
land, clay loam; fertilizer, 268
loads stable manure, 1400 pounds
cotton seed meal, acid phosphate
and kainit mixed, and_ 760 Ee
soluble and guano; variety,his own
propagation; hills, 14 x 2} feet...... 89] 86] 85] 79] 75] 68) 84) 36) 64) 57

32, Joseph S. Wells, Hampshire
Co, Mass; land, clay loam; _fer-
lilizer, 1250 pounds Chittenden’s
complete tobacco manure; variety,
Leaming; hills, 3x 3 feet........-.- 78| 67| 45/101] 74| 67/106] 54] 71) 56

33. Edwin Harper, Georgetown
Co, 8 C; land, a pine plain; fer-
tilizer, 100 cartloads hog manure,
120 bushels green cotton seed;
variety, Hick’s Gourd seed-corn ;
Hills, 1X6 feet.......eeresseeeeereees 83] 87

34. Alfred Fuller, Cattaraugus
Co, N Y; land, black loam and fine
gravel; fer aete > loggeere

: ellow flint; hi
ea eee ty ye noteces_ceneaee | 77] 60| 40}109/ 72) 65) 46) 5) 57] 55
. W. S. Westcott, Hampshire
Co, Mass; land, strong gravelly
‘loam; fertilizer, 10 cords stable
manure, 60 Pounce Pies Td x
Se ae et cer vor 79| 77] 671 84] 72] 6511291 601 96)_ 55

358 THE BOOK

OF CORN

123 4

678 9

36. Frank Goodwin, Middlesex
Co, Mass; land, clay loam; fer-
tilizer,7 cords barnyard manure,
900 pounds Bradley’s phosphate, 2
barrels lime; variety, Longfellow ;
hills, 3X 34, feet..... 0. ee eee eee e eens

37. William H. Tarbox, Kent Co,
RI; land, loam; fertilizer, 19
loads barnyard manure, 21 loads
barnyard dirt, 20 loads sink drain,
2loads hen manure and sand, 400
pounds Bradley’s phosphate;
varies Sanford; hills, 1 to 13 x 3k
ee

38. Henry Tillson, Franklin Co,
Mass; land, sandy loam; fertilizer,
1800 pounds Quinnipine phos-
phate; variety, early yellow dent;
hills, 5-6 X 3 feet. .... cece cee e eee eee

39. Ezra Michener, Bucks Co,
Pa; land, sandy clay loam; fer-
tilizer, 10 loads barnyard manure;
variety, no distinct variety; hills,
14, x 3 feet....... cia latblesayaiaiatataalacuietaretsings

40. E.J. Grover, Milwaukee Co,
Wis; land, black and sandy loam ;
fertilizer, 56 cords barnyar
manure; variety, yellow dent;
hills, not stated.......+.--ceeeee eens

41. George P. Smith, Franklin
Co, Mass; land, alluvial soi); fer-
tilizer,15 loads stable manure, 800
pounds Quinnipiac phosphate;
variety, yellow flint; hills, 3% x
314 feet........... sisinisioreiasaits seein eter

42. E. A. Robinson, Johnson Cv,
Ind; land, clay loam and muck;
fertilizer, 10 loads. barnyard

ianure, 10 barrels hen manure;
variety, Early Mastodon; hills, 3%
K1LBGLeet....ccccccerscnearcsseaseanes

43. Charles J. Tilden, Har i
Co, Ct; land, clay loam; fertilizer,
1600 pounds Mapes corn manure;
variety, yellow flint; lills, 1x3 feet

44. Henry Wood, Richland Co,
S C; land, sandy loan; fertilizer,
2 sacks Stone’s acid phosphate, 2
sacks Azolite top dressing, 2 sacks
cotton seed meal, lime, salt,] sack
kainit, 28 one-horse loads stable
manure; variety, Adam’s early;
Hills, : Wot Stale diiveccecs vicsswsreaseieene ia

45. James McCutchen, Williams-
burg Co, 8 C3 lana, sandy loam;
fertilizer, 555 bushels sheep’s ma-
nure,a mixture ot 1:0 bushels green
eotion seed, 320 pounds acid phos-
phate, 160 pounds kainit; variety,

ickory King; hills, 194x3% feet...

79)

63)

53}

8s| f

“1

56,

61/133] 66/115

60) 55) 15) 62

GO} 67] 21] 70

57| 56] 20) 58

56| 26] 2) 47

51] 80] 29) 92

51] 33) 1) 57

50) 59) 23) 64

42] 66) 30) 80

41| 30] 89] 68

Average of the entire 45 crops...... 80.5

63 104

81 34 2 34
APPENDIX 359

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE AVERAGE RESULTS OF THE
CONTEST CROPS IN THE EASTERN, SOUTHERN
AND WESTERN STATES

&
Fa|Galéa
PLATS OF ONE EXACT ACRE EACH o8is2]s8
a =o! $9
aS | 3s |es
Weight of green corn on aL... ..cscccsccceccccccccnces 7,364 8
Per cent of shelled corn...... Ae ee oe
Pounds of shelled corn ..... .| 5,748 | 6,910 | 5,766
Per cent of cob.......... si 17| '
Pounds of Cob..............0 000s «| 1,594 | 1,274 | 1,363
Per cent of dry matter in kernels. : 81 19

Pounds of dry matter in kernels..
Per cent of dry matterin cob....
Pounds of dry matter in cob...

- | 4,273 | 4,834 | 4,549
- 52 64
868] 993] 805

Per cent of water in corn on ear. aren (Gswyate 31 18

Pounds of water in Corn OM €aP...... cc. cee eee eee +++] 2,229 | 1,346 | 1,785
Bushels of shelled corn green as harvested., see] 103] 106] 104
Bushels of crib-eured or kiln-dried shelled corn. .... 84 95 87

Bushels of actually dry matter in shelled corn...... 7 86 81

Total feeding and manurial value of the crop...| $64} §$72| $64

IMPORTS OF CORN INTO VARIOUS COUNTRIES

[rn BuSsHELS]

United | United Ger-
States a| Kingdom France | many Belgium | Holland] Spain

Calendar
Years —

6.169 | 102,745,600) 11,601,428] 46,978,408] 14,944,751) 18,639,106/2,671,093
1900 2,480 108,303, 140] 13.011, 518| 54,491,801] 20,729,991 25.134, 1018) b
1899 4.171 | 125,482,700] 20,552,330) 64,036,148) 20, 429, 683) 29 034,795 2,829,615
114,338,584) 22,075,636) 62,224,833) 18,060, 7210 27,655,441 43253, 001
1897 6,284 | 107,570,760 15, "609, 556| 49,852, 174| 15 1514136 20 155,704

1896 4,338 | 103, 1544, 200} 12,981,531] 32, "335, 118] 13 1021, 562 17,437,024|

1895 16,575 | 67, 388, "700 5,359,534 12.748, 4510 8,116,857| 7,687,590

1894 2,199 70,730,086 9,848.097| 22.958,63° 5 8,105,436)

1893 1,881 | 65,805,006] 12,845,179 29,962,333
1892 | 15,290 | 70,762,448) 8,744,834, 28,239,222)
1891 2,111 | 53,651,250) 3,284.407 16,075,089
1890 1,626 | 86,875,668) 26, 7208, en 22,122,287

ooo
mg
Om
Bot
On
as
Sooo gog:

8,209,406

a Yearended June 30. 36 Figures not available.
THE BOOK OF CORN

360

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362 THE BOOK OF CORN

TABLE B—MANURIAL VALUE OF FEEDING STUFFS

eats Pesce” eaeee
HOS- ALUE ALUE
NAME OF ARTICLES |NTRO- pyonic | Porasa
ACID Per Per
100 lbs {100 lbs
Green Fodders
Corn fodder..........c008 AL 15 383 $0.08 $0.19
Oat fodder.........eee cess 49 13 38 -09 34
Timothy (average)....... 48 26 76 11 .
Red CLOVE .o.c.05eoneniininn xe 538 13 46 -10 -27
Alfal£a oo. cccceeceeeeeeee| «72 +13 -56 13 27
Soja bean ......-..00.6.2.[ «29 15 -53 -07 20
Dried Fodders
Corn silage. .........s00-- .42 13 3) $0.07 $0.18
Corn fodder.... 1.76 54 89 «82 -56
Corn stover ...... 1.04 29 1.40. 22 .
Hay from
Timothy.......... 1.26 53 90 $0.25 $0.65
Red clover..... 2.07 38 2.20 41 TT
ltalfa ...... aoe 2.19 -61 1.68 42 -85
Wheat straw... siete .59 +12 51 dH -63
Oat StTAW ....600 ceeeaee: 62 +20 1.24 +15 66
Soja Dean ...eceeecesevees| 1.75 40 1.32 -33 14
Roots
Potatoes.......ceeceeee oe 21 07 -29 $0.04 $0.17
Beets .........+. | 22 +10 48 05 -06
Mangel-wurzels 19 09 38 04 -09
Turnips......... +18 -10 39 04 15
Ruta-bagas ... 19 -12 -49 5 -18
Carrots ..sececceeeecee cee 15 09 51 0-4 ll
Grains and Other Seeds
COMM .... eee cccesvccccccce| 1.82 -70 -40 $0.32 $1.04
Barley 1.51 79 48 -28 -96
Oats... 2.06 82 62 37 1.02
Rye.. 1.76 82 54 32 1.00
Wheat (all varieties) 2.36 -89 -61 -42 1.08
Cotton seed (whole). 3.00 1.00 1.00 4 1.15
Mill Products
Corn Medl......eeeeeeeeee| 1.58 63 40 $0.28 $0.98
Corn and cob meal 1.41 67 47 +25 -91
Oatmeal.... 1.86 “TT -69 34 1.15
Barley meal........-- 1.55 66 34 27 +94
Ground corn and oat 1.90 -69 41 33 -98
Pea meal ........2++ seeee| 3.08 82 -99 54 1.13
Waste Products
Gluten feed ........ sieesieel, Bou2' +30 -O1 $0.55 $1.29
Gluten meal.. -| 5.03 33 05 ott 1.54
Hominy chops. o-| 1.63 -98 49 31 -98
Malt sprouts . wxees| 305 1.48 1.63 66 1.09
Brewers’ grains fae ae 89 81 -05 15 +28
Brewers’ grains (dried) -| 3.62 1.03 -09 69 1.05
Rye bran .......seeeeeeees 2,82 2.28 1.40 61 1.04
Wheat bran ......- 2.67 2.89 1.61 -60 -98
Wheat middlings.. 2.63 95 63 46 1.10
Wheat shorts ............| 2-10 16 Bl 37 93
Buckwheat middlings ..| 1.38 -68 34 “ +25 at
Cottonseed meal.........} 6.64 2.68 1.79 1.20 1.76
Cottonseed hulls.........' —.75 .18 1.08 16 44

APPENDIX 363

Misrellaneows Tables

CORN CROP OF THE WORLD BY COUNTRIES

[IN ROUND MILLIONS OF BUSHELS]

1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901
United States............ 2,284 1,903 1,924

Canada (Ontario). Hs 2 | 95 | "94 ane a A
MGXICO.. 03 vee oe 7 76 122 - 111 93 100 90
North America.........| 2,385 | 2,050 | 2,059 | 2,193 | 2,316 | 1,534
CHILI ais se vsieisin'sisisiessen sees 9 8 10 9 8 8
80 40 56 72 60 69
5 4 4 6 3 7
South America......... 94 52 70 87 71 84
FYance.....sceeeeeeees core 30 30 23 26 22 os
18 20 14 25 24 .

15 16 16 16 16 £8
ecenuiss aeionsees 80 66 80 89 86
Austria-Hungary. . 164 133 164 145 162 145
Roumania............ 65 80 102 28 85 112
Bulgaria and E “Roumelia 26 25 |: 38 20 36 30
ae ee eres 16 16 25 15 24 ne
Russia.... 24 2 48 31 34 66
EUrope.. .... cceccvercece 438 4238 510 395 486 aia
Egypt. ...0.s00 cesecceeeoes 34 35 32 30 20 30
Cape Colony...... .ssssse+ 2 3 2 3 2 2
APFLICA. 2... cee eeereeeoes 36 38 34 33 22 32
Australasia........0ceesees 10 9 10 10 10 i

RECAPITULATION BY CONTINENTS

rth CTICA... ees eeeees| 2,385 2,050 2,059 2,193 2,316 | 1,634
South ane “oa | 52 | 70 | 87} 7 |” Se
Europe....ceseceees 438 438 510 395 486 se
AMTiCa.....cccneoeee 36 38 34 33 22 32
Australasia.......+- . 10 9 10 10 10
Total ....cccceeeeeeeeeree| 2,963 2,587 2,683 2,718 2,905 | 1,989

364

THE BOOK

OF CORN

THIRTY YEARS OF CORN PRICES AT CHICAGO, NO 2 CASH
[IN CENTS PER- BUSHEL]

Year Jan May July Sept Dec
1902 56@65 59@ 65 2a0a 57@63 44@57
1901 36.238 43@ 59 43 258 54@60 62@66
1900 31@32 36@ 41 38@45 39@43 35@41
1899 35@38 33@ 34 31@35 31@35 30@32
1898 26@28 382@ 37 32@36 29@31 33.238
1897 21@23 23@ 26 24029 271@32 25@2T
1896 25@28 | 27@ 30 24@28 19@22 22@24
1895 40@46 46@ 55 41@47 31@36 24@27
1894 34@36 36@ 39 40a 46 48@58 44@48
1893 40@45 39@ 45 35a42 37@43 34@37
1892 37@39 40@100a 4AT@52 43@49 39@43
1891 47/@50 55@ 70 57@66 48468 39@59
1890 28430 32@ 35 33@47 44@50 47@53
1889 33@36 33@ 36 34@37 30.034 29435
1888 4750 i4@ 60 45 @51 402446 33@36
1887 35@38 387@ 39 34@38 40@44 46@52
1886 36@37 34@ 70 34q@45 41 35@38
1885 34@40 44@ 49 45@48 40@45 36@43
1884 51@‘8 52@ 67 49@5T 51@87 34@40
1883 49@61 52@ 57 47@53 47@b3 54@63
1882 60@62 68@ 77 7483 57aT5 48@60
1881 "36.38 41@ 45 45@51 60@74 58@64
1880 36@41 36@ 38 33@38 39@41 35@42
1879 29@31 33@ 36 24@3T 32@39 39@43
1878 38@44 34@ 41 35@41 34@38 29@32
1877 41@44 43@ 58 46@51 41@46 41@46
1876 40@45 44@ 49 42@48 43@48 43@47
1875 64@70 60@ 76 67Q@TT 5i@62 45@54
1874 49@61 b5@ 66 58@80 66@86 71@85
1873 30@31 37@ 43 - 8234 32444 44@54

a Abnormal price, due to temporary manipv/ation of market.

EXPORTS CORN FROM SURPLUS COUNTRIES—-BUSHELS

he
aa
U5 | United | Argen- Cana- Ronma-

1901 |176,588,000 | 43,784,474] 19,162,000/@438,246 50,090] 9,882,851 e
1900 /209,348,000 | 28,079,300/ 612,287,448 2,142 61,286] 1,595,420) 17,089,216
1899 |174,089,000 | 43,945,790) 018,447,939] 40,932] 106,036] 6,187,681} 23,442,889
1898 |208,745,000 | 8,231,140] 29,868,421 2,389 39,634} 5,223,847) 44,063,029
1897 |176,916,000 | 14,760,800] 13,645,743] 53,918} 326,185) 3,071,110) 30,776,447
1896 | 99,993,000 | G1,828,450) 8,341,319 9,765 43,062) 4,248,449] 17,475,964
1895 | 27,691,000 | 30,287,000] 19,464,857 120] 1,507,324] 1,782,857) 11,815,571
1894 | 65,325,000} 2,157,000) 17,452,214 734) 867,246) 7,635,500) 24,801,062
1893 | 46,037,000} 3,300,157] 10,245,857 2,790 49,873] 11,453,607] 43,289,414
1892 | 75,452,000 | 17,487,647| 13,872,857 394] 1,199,184) 2,784,714) 23,488,580
1891 | 30,768,000 | 2,584,666) 18,134,357 180] 3,983,747) 1.543,653) 25,032,480
1890 [101,973,000 | 27,736,500' 13,248,000]........ 221,848] 5,266,600! 29,267,000

a Year ending June 30.
grown. Exports of corn from

Figures for Canada relate onl;
nited States year ended

to Canadian
‘une 30, 1902,

were only 26,324,000 bushels, owing to short crop and high prices.
& Exclusive of exports over the Asiatic frontier.

¢ Figures not available.

d@ Eleven months to May 31.
APPENDIX 365

TEN YEARS’ MOVEMENT OF UNITED STATES CORN CROP

(In millions of bushels. Crop year July 1 to following June 30]

1902-3 | 1901-2 1900-1 1899-0
Total crop........... 2,556 1,419 2,188 2,666
On farms March 1...].... sececcccee 429 825 862
oe stocks % of

TOP soccscenccces| coscacconecves 30.2 37.7 39.0

Visible supply July 1 6 14 11 14
12 mos exports...... a3 27 178 209
Chicago price Nov.. 52@58 57@64 35@50 31@33
Chicago price May..| 46@48 59@65 50@55 36@41

a Six months eonlys July 1, 1902, to January 1, 1903.
& January, 1903.

VISIBLE SUPPLY OF CORN IN UNITED STATES AND
CANADA

[In round millions of bushels, first week of month named.
This represents the amount in public warehouses in the large
cities ae of the Rocky mountains, and afloat on canals and
fakes.

Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May| Jun |July| Aug |Sept| Oct | Nov! Dee

1902 12 | 12 | 10 9 6 4 6 7 3 3 3 4
1901 1 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 19 16 | 14 |] 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 11

1896 6 2 | a) eo 1 a 10 9 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 19 17
1895 M1 13 | 13 | 13 9} 11 9 5 5 5 5

1894 10 | 15 | 19 | 17 10 8 5 4 3 4 3 5
1893 11. | 14 16 | 15 | 10 8 8 7 6 9 8 7
1892 7 7 10 | 12 6 4 8 7 8 11 | 13 11
1891 3] 3 3 3 3 6 4 4 7 8 3 2
1890 g9 | 12 | 14 | 21 |] 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 8 9 7 2
1889 10 | 13 16 | 17 | 12 | 12 9 7 | 12 4) 12 8 6
1888 6 7 9 9 8 9 | 11 8 8 | 10 | 11 7
1887 14 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 10 8 6 7 8 5
1886 8 7] | 11 | 16 | 12 9 9 { 12 | 13 | 18 11
1885 4 5 6 9 8 5 5 4 5 5 5 4
1284 10 | 13 14] 17 | 12 8 7 4 4 7 & 5
1883 g9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 14 | 13 | 311 | 12 | 14 | 10 9
1882 17 18 | 14 | 10 8 | 10 7 6 6 7 4 2
1881 i¢6 | 17 1 16 | 14 1 13 | 10 | 15 | 16 3 23 '| 27 | 26 19
306 THE BOOK OF CORN

AMOUNT OF DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN THE CORN
PLANT?

The average percentage of digestible nutrients supplied
by the grain, the mill products and the different parts of the

corn plant:

. Carbohy-
Protein ‘drates Fat
% %
Grain, mill and by products........
Corn—all determinations.......... 1.9 66.7 4.3
Dent COPNn.......cceeccsccncccence sees 7.8 66.7 4.3
Flint corn.. apaiaisi 8.0 66.2 4.3
Sweet corn.......... 8.8 63.7 7.0
Corn and cob meal. 4.4 60.0 2.9
Cob meal........... 0.4 52.5 0.3
Corn bran. 7.4 59.8 4.6
Gluten meal. 25.8 43.4 11.0
Germ meal... 9.0 61.2 6.2
Starch refuse.. 11.4 68.4 6.5
Grano gluten.. 26.7 38.8 12.4
Hominy chops areavaleve eibieatiae! 7.5 55.2 6.8
Glucose meal.. 30.3 35.3 14.5
Sugar MeEAL......cccacesscccccnes aiere 18.7 51.7 8.7
Starch feed, wet. al aaieralatstetsis 5.5 21.7 2.3
Silage, fodder, etc. srastareistets

Corn silage......... ters aivesinents 0.9 11.3 0.7
Corn foddgr, green 4..... vasenes 1.0 11.6 0.4
Corn fodder, field cured.......... aa 2.5 34.6 1.2
Corn stover, field cured c......... 1.7 32.4 0.7

a From Henry’s Feeds and Feeding.

& The entire plant.

c¢ What is left after the ear is removed.

UNITED STATES CORN ACREAGE AND CROP

Average yield | Exports, year

Acres Bushels per acre ended caine 36
1902 94,488,000 2,556,311,000 27.1 26,637,000
1901 91,206,000 1,418,849 ,000 15.5 177,818,000
1900 85,294,000 2,188,000,000 25.7 348,
1890 a 72,088,000 2,122,328 ,000 29.4 101,974,000
1880 62,369,000 1,7547592;000 28.1 93,648,
1870 & 760,945,000 & 10,677,000
1865 18,990,000 704,428,000 37.0 14,466,000
1860 & 838,793,000 & 4,249,000
1850 & 592,071,000 & 7,633,000
1840 & 377,532,000 3 &

a Incensus years 1890, 1880, etc, figures relate to crops grown preced

ing year.
eB Figures not available.
APPENDIX 367

CORN CROP OF THE UNITED STATES

4 EO

UNITED STATES F
LZADING Corn Crop oF 1902 EDERAL CENSUS FIGURES
w
es S| a 1900 1890 1860
STATES 8 ies, 3
3 28
g iS 8 Z Bushels Bushels | Bushels

New York... 670,000 |24.0} 16,080,000 20,024,850) 15,109,969) 20,061,049
Pennsylvania] 1,477,000 |30.0| 44,310,000) 51,869,780} 42,318,279) 28,196,821
Texas ........| 5,351,000 |13.5) — 72;239,000|| 109;970,350| 69,112/150| 16,500,702
Arkansas ....| 2,485,000 |21.3} 52,931,000 44,144,098] 33,982,318] 17,823,588
Tennessee ...| 3,425,000 |22.8) 78,090,000 67,307,390] 63,635,350] 52,089,926
West Va..... 776,000 |25.2} 19,555,000 16,610,000] 13,730,506].......... a
Kentucky....} 3,415,000 |26.0) 88,790,000 73,974,220) 78,434,847] 64,043,633
Ohio .........] 3,950,000 [36.5] 144;175;000|| 152055390] 113/892'318| 73,543/190
Michigan ....| 1,577,000 |30.0| _47,310,000|| _44'584/130| _28,785,579| 12/444'676
Indiana «e+e++| 4,550,000 [37.5] 170,625,000]} 178,967,070] 108,843,094] 71,588,919
Illinois sees 9,650,000 |38.0} 366,700,000|| 398,149,140] 289,697,256/115,174,777
Wisconsin ...| 1,725,000 |29.1| 50,198,000} 63,309,810] 345024'216| _7/517;300
Minnesota ...| 1,708,000 |27.3| 46,628,000} 47,256,920] 24'696/446| 2'941/952
Iowa........-| 9,275,000 |35.5] 329,263,000]| 383,453,190] 313,130,782] 42,410,686
Missouri. ....| 6,925,000 [36.8] 254,840,000)| 208,844,870] 196,999,016] 72,892,157
Kansas ......| 7,735,000 [28.5] | 220,448,000]| 229,937,430] 259,574,568] 6,150,727
Nebraska ....| 7,411,000 |34.5] 255,680,000|| 210,974,740] 215,895,996] 1,482,080
North Dakota} ” 65,000 |22.8] 1:482,000||__1284’870 178,729| ” 20269
South Dakota] 1,505,000 |13:0| 197565,000|} 32'402'540| 13,152,008!.......... :
California ...| ” 56,000 |28:0/ 1;568;000|| 1,477,093] 2,381,270| 510,708
Oregon ...... 20,000 |23.0) 460,000 359,523 238,203} 76,122
Washington . 10,000 |25.0 250,000: 218,706 156,413} 4,712
Oklahoma ...| 1,500.000 |29.2} 43,800,000) 38,239,880 234,315]... .ce00-08
Other ........ 19,277,000 |12. 231,324,000|| 301,024,289} 204,123,919]233,318,743

‘Total...... 194,488,000 '27.112,556,311,000' |2,666,440,27912 122,327,547|838,792,742

368 THE BOOK OF CORN

Legal Weights of Grain--Pounds per Bushel

(Carefully compiled from official sources]

Maine............ 56 = 39 = = oS
New Hampshire.| 56 os 32 56 _ _
Vermont......... 56 as 32 56 48 _
Massachusetts...) - 56 = 32 56 48 60
Rhode Island.....| 56 70 32 56 48 60
Connecticut...... 56 — 32 56 48 60
New York.......- 56 39 56 48 a,
New Jersey...--- 56 30 56 48 60
Pennsylvania...-| 56 = 39 56 47 60
Delaware.....- «| 56 70 32 56 48 60
Maryland ........ a _— 26 aad = =
Virginia......--.- 56 70 30 56 48 —_
North Carolina..| 56 ae 32 56 48 —
South Carolina..| 56 70 32 56 47 60
Georgia......+.+. 56 70 32 56 47 _
Florida..........- 56 70 32 56 48 60
Alabama.......-- 56 70 32 56 47 —
Mississippi....... 56 72 32 56 48 60
Louisiana........ 56 72 32 56 48 _—
OX AS sieiesinereiolasots 56 70 32 56 48 -
Arkansas.....+.-- 56 70 382 56 48 _-
Tennessee .....-- 56 _— 82 56 48 60
West Virginia...| 56 = 32 56 48 60
Kentucky........ 56 72 32 b6 47 _
ORO ovis a ieroraisince tiers 56 68 32 56 48 _
Michigan.......- | 56 70 32 56 48 =
Indiana.......... 56 68 32 56 48 _
FRO IS ccncieumaace 66 70 32 56 48 60
Wisconsin........ 56 _ 32 56 48 _—
Minnesota........ 56 70 32 56 48 a
TOW: eieaiecn ssaisiriecsate 56 70 32 56 48 a
Missouri......... 56 70 32 56 48 60
Kansas........... 56 70 32 56 48 _
Nebraska........ 56 70 32 56 48

Oklahoma........ 56 70 32 56 48 _
California b...... 52 aa 32 54 50 _
Washington...... ~ = a 56 48 ,
Oregon........... 56 _ 32 56 46 _
Colorado......... 56 70 32 56 48 60
North Dakota....| 56 70 32 56 48 _
South Dakota....| 56 70 32 56 48 _
Montana...... eel 56 70 32 56 48 60

@ 335 pounds per barrel. Oats 32 pounds, according to Baltimore Cham-

ber of Commerce; shelled corn 56, wheat 60, rye 56, barl ey
6 In Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and

or territorial laws, cereals being sold almost exclusively by weight.

true to some extent in Califoruia, Oregon aud Washington.

ey 48,
yoming, no state

This

iy INDEX

PAGE
American Agriculturist contest 353
Antiquity of plant...........
Argentina:
Crop: Of cocciceiasorscecerstersisiiianciere: BAO
Corn acreage in..... 343
Exports from ......--.+0e+ 343
Austria-Hungary, crop of..... 337
Binder, use of.........e0008 ~ 356
Bisulphid of carbon. «+277, 279
poieae and varieties—Chapter

eee n nsec eee eeeeeee 5-36
Bran, how obtained.......... 195
Breeding:
Advantages of .......-000- 59
Barren stalks in plat....... 66
EC eck ciara wroteon E cea OE
Methods of .......... essineve: 59
Plats, arrangement of...... 65
Selection of variety in..... 61
Breeding and selection of seed

corn—Chapter IV ......57-74
Butt, grades of....... seen, B82
By-products, composition of... 195
Carbon bisulphid ......--277, 279
Characteristics:
Fixed by selection......... 10
Physical «....ceeeeccerceee IT
Chloride of lime..........--. 252

Circumference of ear, meas-
GIES” saccs xiereiayerereerospinceer 183
Clover:

As a soil fertilizer......--. 43
Plowing sod for .corn...... 47
Securing a stand........+.. 43
Seeding for fertilizing ..... 43
Seeding with nurse crops... 43

Seeding during last cultiva-
HON osieaswaereeereeeemea: 47
Seeding alone ......-- a)
Cob, proportion of corn to.... 86
Color, grades of.....see-eees 80
Commercial products of corn.. 316
Compounds, at various stages. . 148
Co-operative storing and selling 243
Corn judging—Chapter V....75-86

Corn pests. and diseases—Chap-
ter XIV... ee eee ee 2457292
Cornstalks in ymechanic arts... 320

Cost of growing corn—Chapter
KV “ensnnndeuonnceness202 275

PAGE

Cost of production:
American Agriculturist esti-

Mate we eee eee cece eee 301
Difficult to estimate....... :
Explanation of term....... *
Illinois investigation ..... y

Nebraska farm estimate.....
Sibley estate estimate......
Unreliable official estimate...
Wisconsin investigation ....
Crops:
Classification of...... ma eeeets
Corn a restorative..........
Requirements of ..........
Of the world.....s6006 see
Of the United States......
Comparison eastern, southern,
WESTEIN wee eerccreccerece
Cribs:
Double ..... eS
Most suitable ......--.2.--
Cultivation:
Alternating method ..
Cost Of ....-.seeeaee
Dunton system
Early methods of, in America
Object: Of sisecs newer cesens,
Reasons for ........-
Shallow ....-..seeee.
Southern methods ....

Culture outside the corn belt

314
293

302
295
300
299
294
297

Chapter XI ........ 2+ 167-191

Cutting and shocking.........

Dent corn:
Benton ......++--+- siatecsresaxed
Boone County White.......
Characteristics ....eeeeeesee
Development of ........-. “Fe
Early Mastodon ....+-+-.+6
Golden Eagle ...... bie iastaiers
Iowa Silver Mine. a
Leaming ....-...-- 2 i
Pride of the North.........
Reid’s Yellow ...-e-ee-eeee

Riley’s Favorite ......-- SGeSE
Varieties .......- diahtcddievesersaate
White Superior ........----
Digestion, summary of exper-

imentS ...-sccceseerreres

Ditching, to destroy insects...

155
370

PAGE

Elevators:
Attitude of railroads toward. 242
Farmers’

a sio'e pe/aceleiaie's ease vee: 242

PlsgGnie as0icsgeceuss ewes SAO
MENG} seis estas ejaievavansuareve s:eerecoses 230
Export trade ........-eeeee0+ 240

Exports from surplus countries 366

Extent of crop......:....... 335
Feeding—Chapter XII .....192-227
Feeding:

Importance of corn in..

To dairy cows + 204
To growing steers......... + 205
To hogs sscscsees siaeisee +. 209
To horses scyctsdancecesave BIO
FO. POWELL Y. ve ecesecs 6,6 visvoreessee Si 212
Feeding the lant Chapter VII
96-114
Fertilizers:

Barnyard manure accesses 53
Commercial 41
Constituents ..........+-.05 100
Cottonseed meal for the south 110
Direct ....... weceses: 199
Essential constituents of.... 98
For field corn............. - 107
For forage and pin corn.. III
For sweet corn. CR oe ees - 113
Indirect ........ eXteiesis 2075 sense 99
Wainit: \cvejaces a sce severeiesed tae - 252
Labor required in applying.. 310

Manurial value of feedstuffs 362
Moderate quantities sufficient 109
Nitrate sof S08. 00s s0 seni + 254

Use of manure spreader..... 55)
Flint corn:

Doolittle .............. + 28,34

Rhode Island White Cap.... 35

Varieties of ...-...eeceses 26

WALrren) sic eiecccas cies sieveisieven’ 228
Flowers, development OF wearer 5

Fodder:
Best time to cut for........ 154
Composition of maize as.... 360
Cutting corn for.... - 150
BION ea seseseiews Sakae TRE
Value Of 2... eeeeeencecees 313
Foods:
Balanced and unbalanced... 205
Chemical composition of.... 382

Classification of ....... siaere 2OT
Corn a carbonaceous........ 199
Digestible elements in’ “dry

corn pices xt Oe
Efficiency of mixed......... 208
Hints in selecting.......... 203
Rich in protein. 200
Gathering and cribbing, cost of 312
‘Germination, conditions of.... 87
Glucose, production of....238, 318

Green crops, preserving without
SHO. cies scscwscce seen cess 142

INDEX

PAGE
Harrowing, cost of.. 309
Harvester, 18¢ Ofssercseex exes 164
Harvester and shocker com-
Dined .......eccseceeeess 166
Harvesting—Chapter X ....144-166
Harvesting:
Hints as to methods and time 185
Old method ........,...... 144
Stage of development...145, 150
Top stalking .............. 186
Harvesting in the south:
New method, hy shredder... 174
Old method, by Hand scans ve AZ
Hight, maxim .s.ieecaesas 57
Hilling or drilling............ 117
History. of corn plant—Chap-
ter TD suave aneceueees 2 1-4
Horses, experiments in feeding e211
Husking:
Machine for ........-0..+. 162
Time required for.... 161
Standing corn 2eseuce 158
Imports into various countries. 359
Inbreeding, effect: of-cxcisan' - 68
Insects:
Army worm ..... savvece 264
Black-headed maggot oid Baek 254
Black weevil .............. 278
Boll worm ..........-2.++. 269
Bud worm ......0..+..06-- 260
Chinen “DUG s2aseieieskcccan O74
Click heetle ............ srose: 525T
Corn root aphis.. - 273
Corn root louse 31273
Corn worm .... - 269
Cutworms ....... ish atewie: 3 ates 263
Grain moth ............. -. 276
Grain weevils .. ~ 277
Grasshoppers .. ~» 248
Grass louse ........ Seas 327.5)
Hints in recognizing....... 245
Indian meal moth.......... 279
Jumping jacks ...... «= 251
Jane Beetle osecess a5s - 258
Larger cornstalk borer -. 266
Meal snout moth........ » 280
Mediterranean flour moth. . 281
Northern corn root worm... 262
Rice weevil .............+. 277
Seed corn maggots......... “2253!
Smaller cornstalk borer..... 268
Southern corn root worm... 259
Sugar-cane borer..... - 266
White grub .. - 255
Wireworms .....cceeeesees+ 249
Irrigation:
Amount of ....csseeeseeees IQT
Frequency of ........e---. 190
Irrigation, methods of. 188
Preparation of land. 187:

Time of adi dis dalalb ouiteaenred BF
INDEX

PAGE
Inspection, rules Of....eeeee0. 232
Judging:
Hints in ...cceeeesccseeeee 76
Rules GOP svesesees « 80
Kernel, chemical composition of 193
Kerosene as an insect destroyer 259
Labor:
“Influences cost of growing.. 303
Statistical treatment of..... 308

Leaf, characteristics of....... 6
Leguminous crops:
Alfalfas isices 9 e.cieisiavia'ss where, 52!
Cowpeas:
In corn land............. 171
Methods of cultivation.... 50
Varieties of ........+2405 48
Soy beans:
Methods of cultivation... 51
Varieties of ............ 51
Length of ear, measuring..... 84
Listing:
GOSt: GE. seesveveeiovd cvavelerabys «004s GUS
Success Of apse a Gilsuaverese"e sea 118
Maize in other countries—
Chapter KVILE sccanex 335-344
Manures, see Fertilizers.
Marketing—Chapter XIII. .228-244
Marketing, methods of....... 229
Markets:
Home market the best..... 229
Selling on ’change...... aie 233
Speculative .........+- 234
Maturity, influence upon feed
MANUS! ua cevevatis-ao:elexevolinier'viore - 145
Mexico, crop of........... 55938)

Milling, improvement of corn. 317

Monoecious character of plant 5
Movement ten years of United
States crop ...... escuorssre-s* BOS)
New England:
Culture 10 sees < ee ee

Early growth best in.

Flint varieties in.

Varieties adapted to.
New uses of corn—Chapter
agavanists'd ¥.xceseteveyer'a\ sg lOsg 21

Nitrogen:
Amount required . 102
Corn as a gatherer of...... 345
Methods ‘of obtaining. 4I
Value as fertilizer.....--.- 30

Nurse crops:

Barley ...-eeeeeeeeereeere 46
Harvesting .... eines. 40
oe dial svananolasbis wiaistetete ss Ee
ye se oi arasakaservbessis
Wheat be Raretarteistes, GO

Nutrients digestible:
Amount of ..+eese++++196, 366
Distribution Of .eeeeevereee 215

371

PAGE
Oil, importance of eorn...... ase
Origin, present theories.
Paris green ......
Phosphoric acid,

sn eeaes ese:
amount re-

QUITEd —suieinne scares see TOD
Plant food:
Elements necessary ..... eae 37
Forms of atmospheric ..... 38
Supplied through root system 37
Plant breeding, possibilities of 10
Plant growth, condition of.... 37
Platter, sé Of.iacsa sSaietaeiere S22
Planting:
Checkrow and drill systems. 182
Depth Of eee ccrresan econo ee 115,
Labor required in......... . 311
Time of ... eee TFS
Planting and cultivating —-Chap-
ter’ VIIE scnsese es «eee TI§-127
Plowing:
Condition of soil for....... 65
COSt, 108 sts ooen are sahetiow + 308
Depth of 24 ¢icccicevscces . 87
‘ Spring or fall............. 90
Under stalks ........... ss 93
PO COTE sirsscccsitess seca: 00S S 7
Pollen, production of........ §
Pollenization, corn cross-pol-
Linateds ~wesscaccases.cve« siensrstenn: OF
Potash:
Amount required ......... - 104
Muriate’ of ....... s-amipaedtes ¥ 252.
Value as fertilizer.......... 40
Popcorn:
Cultivation of ....... stsienad: 2332
Marketing - * 333
Varieties of .........2seeee 33

Poultry, experiments in feeding 212

Preparing the seedbed-—Chap
fer OVD weenie scans = 87-95
FE, tg thirty years at ‘Chi-
sea etemeanateched eee NS 4.
Plane aod chapter Dd cosiea 37-56
Protein, experiment showing
per cent Of. vicccecreses a2)
Pruning of roots..........-+ . 124
Ripeness, determining aeee 84
Root, characteristics of...... . 6
Roumania, crop of........ ves 344
Russia, crop Of......+..-++++ 343
Score card:
Example of .......eeeeeeee 79
Uses Of cssccccsaccccsesee 75
Seed corn:
Selection .......+e0- ee eA)
Shipping .......seseeee +270, 71
Testing .....2++06- 71
Storehouse for ..... 68
Sorting for planter 73
Selection, effect of... 12

372 INDEX
Shape: PAGE
Grades of ...eseeuee 8 oe ai
Be pee Cee a ee a tee
Shocking, difference in south- | -Reediaes ea, Bayes Oe
SrA euethod. Feeding with timothy and
Slitedden, aise of aw. Clover ....-.sceaes esis 22
Shrinkage of ear apie eepere i value of.,.. Beene BiG
i iments in ...... ncreasing th rs
Silage sae, Oe + 164 Utilization oe oe — ee =.
And field-cured fodder...... 222| Weight of northern and °
And roots eesnete od 1224 southern ....... f 68
Ca of putting “wp. oe Subsoiling, advantage sepees =
Gattng oss 140 Supply, Weihe ae United States
eee eee : = an anada
edie ance 139 : ateie, 3 eseavataleveasy B05
Loading ee eae aes sconditi
Silos, location, construction and ee For eee es ae
Sige ling—Chapter IX....128-143] For the family garden. an 6
‘ ames 22
NO oe Harvesting ..........-
Aa preerer of fedenevs tar] Baing and iting $38,
Capacity of cylindrical. ree eC BOE Here tox sees :
Ceneat lintig ine... : 133 Varieties Ge eee
‘ Classes of penne a3 Taxation, influences cost
joors of : ae Teams, cost of maintenance 0.
Location: coc + 131)Teosinte, similari ee
Putti setae ewes 128/ 7; , jlarity to corn... 2
Babeae aS eee er: 136 a UT OE vow waste Seiad are 81
: : tansportation, m a
Size of : ia Uniformity: eee Ree a3e,
Stone “130 Of Kem Z
With studdi 735/Uni gree
Sore ding ....... ennsie 432 RES a ee position in :
Chemical compositi Use Paden ae
Puce the ery one ae atae oe eae eels: SS aoe
Su ela pr eae gaa VosieHcee ’ nerease.... 199
pre Upon animal fe. a ‘Cae baie 6
Bet aeabiel UEP Se 400) ceacdand be pekicedem: |<
Habits 2 anitty from oF er ine of perfection...... 3G
aa wisiare ais est
pores, products of Public grain .........-
SO a sta Type of English....
DOLE BOERS Epa apple et aes and dry matter
Bringing up wor: Giuttes
Conservation of eat re... ere ileal gcshaeys oe
Tae ure Cultivator, kni as z
erent types of. Di g MME: sachin be setae
Food available in. 1 Tae ded aoe Bet DS nate Oe vs 2b
teens on development... 63 Weeds, chet a8
5 . r es
paration in breeding.... 61 Weight Tasca Nth ee ete sn
97|Wild plant, never indenti fed...
: > tif
Senne adaptability of corn. to se ee es eet
Space between rows gti VeniOUs. Bia ge tits
undesirabl 9 ie
Specialties in corn aaa 85| How to grow heav ee reo
Chapter XVII ..... Fen bushels: to the acre... ae
Starch, production of.. sae Tea sry ee ae ot teee / 8
aoe growing surplus Zea eilyer soceiarets 8
teers, experiments te fetta ninewaee ae everta ...e. eee wees
Stoves: g 20 pee indurata sins sees g
oe valuable heads eed, 216 Zea ee ween. ots S
pared with ti a Z charata ....... A
timothy.215, 217/Zea tunicata ...ssssscssseeee
ADVERTISEMENTS

“APPLETON QUALITY ”

is a pair of words which has come to havea
fixed use as a standard of measurement,
arising from comparing agricultural imple-
ments made by other eoncerns with those
made by the Appleton Mig. Co., of Batavia,
ML, U.S.A. In the long list of goods made
by this concern there are
none which better show
the pre-eminent worth of
Appleton Quality than the

this page. ?

CORN HUSKER Véely guar-
————— anteed,

under the same conditions
a of operation, to do more
and better work, and to require less power for successful operation, than
any other machine of like character and corresponding size on the market,
and it is sold at a price which fits the purse.
— 9a
THE NEW HERO FORCE never becomes
FEED CORN SHELLER Clogged, fouled or
———_—————— disabled, but al-
ways delivers ine corn to the picker

corn may be, and is unexcelled for good,
clean, rapid work.

Ore:

TiE NEW HERO ENSILAGE
AND FODDER CUTTERS

are justly celebrated for
simplicity of construc-
tion, strength and dura-
bility, ease of operation,
rapid and effective
work, and are made,
with or without self
feed tables, in sizes car-
rying from 9-in. up to
| Our space admits of merely a men- 26-in. knives,
; tion of the extensive line of feed
‘_ grinders, hand and power corn
shellers, wood saws, tread powers,
vindmills, etc., made by this concern
«nd everywhere recognized as stand-
ard articles of their kind, buta postal
card addressed to the company, men-
tioning THE BOOK OF CORN, will
bring you a large illustrated catalog,
‘fully describing all the goods, and
| without cost to you.

APPLETON MFG. CO.

55 Fargo St., Batavia, Ill., U. S.A.

three machines shown on _

z=. THE APPLETON is positi-

wheels, no matter in what condition the |

ADVERTISEMENTS

RECORD CROPS GROWN WITH THE

MAPES MANURES

“American Agriculturist” Prize Potato-Growing Contest. Yields from one meas-
ured acre. All records surpassed by the Mape. Potato Manure. “ New secrets in
Nature's Laboratory.” The two largest crops of Potatoes ever grown with ferti-
lizers or farm manure grown with the Mapes Potato Manure alone.

The following were the Largest Crops of potatoes grown. in each state—and ali these
crops were grown exclusively with the Mapes Potato Manure:

Maine, Aroostook County . ° . . . . . 745 bushels
The ligeest crop ever grown in Maine. Second largest ever grown
fertilizers.
Colorado hen ee Sa dail . ‘, 847 bushels
“The largest crop ever grown with fertilizers or manure.’
Massachusetts . ° ° . . . . o 55 bushels
Connecticut. ‘ . i : . ‘ ' i As 390 bushels
The largest crops grown in Massachusetts and Connecticut in sea-
son 1889 (280 and 340 bushels) were also grown with the Mapes
Potato Manure.
Minnesota . . . . . . . ° 325 bushels
Idaho . . . < . = 479 bushels

The largest crops in each state grown with other fertilizers and farm
manures, season 1890, were as follows :—595, 522, 506, 851, 825, 819 and 807 bushels

per acre.
SUMMING UP THE POTATO CONTESTS

In seventeen states in which the largest crop was grown with fertilizers, 1889 and
1890, ten crops were grown exclusively with the Mapes Potato Manure; 847, 745, 669, 532,
479, 460, 428, 893 and 324 bushels per acre.

i Average yield per acre, 522 bushels. fn,
* In the seven statesin which the largest crop was grown with fertilizers other than
the Mapes, the yields were as follows: , 454, 444, 401, 325, 319 and 307 bushels per acre.

Average yield per acre, 394 bushels.

The Great Corn Contest of the American Agriculturist

Crops 213, 119 and 95 Bushels Each; Grown on One Measured Acre
Exclusively with the Mapes Corn Manure.

Of this great crop, 213 bushels shelled corn, grown in Yates County, N. Y., with the
Mapes Corn Manure (800 pounds per acre) exclusively, the American Agriculturist says:
“If we allow only $15 as the value of the tops for fodder, and make no account of
bottom stalks, the cost comes within twenty cents a bushel (shelled corn)."”

The largest crop grown, with fertilizers other than the Mapes (45 crops in all) was 84
bushels (chemically dried, 60 bushels).

Some Large Crops Grown with the Mapes Corn Manure and Reported in

the Agricultural Press.

Season of 1888—1040 bushels of corn—ears—on less than 41-2 acres, equal to 233 1-2
bushels, or 116 3-4 bushels shelled corn per acre, grown on farm of Rural New Yorker,
with the Mapes Corn Manure.

Ninety bushels—shelled—with 500 pounds peracre. 150 bushels—shelled—with 600
pounds peracre. Value of the grain alone over five times as much as the cost of the

ertilizer.—American Agriculturist.

Eight hundred and fifty-six bushels—ears—on fouracres. 159.37 bushels on one acre.
125.37 bushels on one acre. Nothing used but the Mapes.—Rural New Yorker.

On two acres 600 pounds of Mapes alone, broadcast, 198 bushels shelled corn. On
three acres, same fertilizers, same quantity. Four hundred and eighty-nine bushele—
ears—grown by Dr. Henry Stewart.—New England Homestead.

One hundred and eighty bushels of ears per acre; shelled, 98.45 bushels. 2058
bnshele ears 00) sixteen acres, Only Mapes, 800 pounds per acre, used.—Connecticut

‘armer.

The Mapes Formula & Peruvian Guano Co.,
143 Liberty St., New York.

ADVERTISEMENTS

How to Make Poor Farms

Good Dividend Payers

In Rural New-Yorker, November 22d, 1899, Mr. H. W. Collingwood, in his
account of bringing up a poor farm, by Mr. Newton Osborn, Newington, Ct.,
says: ‘Mr. Osborn thought at that time that the ability to feed a soil was
measured by the supply of animal manure. He first proved that a high-
grade complete fertilizer will fully take the place of manure. That point
settled, he had the key to the situation, and applied it. Instead of being a
soil loafer, that field began at once to paya profit. It was so poor that it
had never paid even the interest on the taxes. In six years it was paying
} dividends of 5 per cent. on a valuation of over $4000. Where can one find,
outside of a gold mine, an instance where poor soil has gained proportion-
ately greater earning capacity in six years?” ‘Corn the ‘key’ crop.”

HEADS THE LIST—150 Fertilizers—FOR CHEAP-
NESS TO THE FARMER. The Mapes
Seeding-Down Manure

For seeding down Spring and Fall, also for Apple, Peach and all Fruit
Orchards, Grapes, Small Fruits, ete. A land strengthener.

Ammonia, Phos. Acid. Potash.

Guaranteed analysis, per cent . . - 8.00 18,00 10.00
Average of analysis by the Conn, Agricultural
Station for 12 YEARS . . ° ~ 8.22 17.89 11.60

Heads the list in the Official Report 1901 of the Con-
necticut Agricultural Experiment Station as showing
the least difference between cost to the farmer and
the calculated market value of plant food contained.

See Official Report, 1901, for Official Analyses (150 different
brands) October 81, 190L

Send for descriptive pamphlets. Orange groves 800 acres, Strawberries
280 acres, Asparagus 165 acres, Potatoes 100 acres, etc.

The Mapes Formula & Peruvian Guano Co.,
143 Liberty St., New York.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Complete Line Hand Corn Huskers.

NoB. Nickel Plated Steel. Best Calf Strap. Buckle Adjustment
HUSKING PINS

These round steel pins are known the world over. Have~been on
the market since 1888 and thousands of huskers give testimonials of

their value.
HOOK HUSKERS

Hooks have come into use
during the last five years. Some
farmers say they can husk twice
as much with a Hook. This
comes on the thumb and leaves
fingers free to grasp the ear.
The cut represents a Hook com- -
bined with a wrist supporter to
strengthen the wrist.

HUSKING MITTENS

Have been in general use
for years, but not considered
so much a necessity as now—
made in all weights and sizes
of Canton Flannel, Duck and
Ticking.

We manufacture a com- §
plete line of Husking Godds
for hand use:

GLOVES and MITTENS, WRIST SUPPORTERS, PINS, COTS,
PROTECTIONS tor thumb, finger or whole hand—above comprises
some 50 Styles and Lot Nos.

‘We manufacture also full line—some 100 Styles and Lot Nos—of
COTTON GLOVES and MITTENS used in general work, as well as
corn husking.

All our goods are sold only through the Jobbing Trade,
but while we do not visit or sell retail trade we should
be pleased to advise any consumer or retailer where he
can find our line.

THE BOSS MANUFACTURING CO, Kewanee, itt

ADVERTISEMENTS

To Properly Prepare Cornstalks for Feed—Use

RO § FEED SAVING
IMPLEMENTS

Namely: Ensilage Cutters, Fodder Cutters
and Shredders, and Corn Huskers

Furnished with Blower or Carrier as desired
With or Without Traveling Feed Table —

The Ross Machines are known the world over for
their Strength, Capacity, ete.

Write to us for Catalog and Feed Saving Literature
and send Ten Cents for Prof Woll’s Book on Silage

Address THE E, W. ROSS CO, Springfield, Ohio

ADVERTISEMENTS

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oy} Aesnoeid sop 71 pue yom ut of skenye pue adeys poog Ayretsedsa ue yo ere sjaaoys oy], ‘asve ywoid
YA SuTpuey pue YOM ayy oj uMop 7811 yINq dulaq ‘sa.t} apIM YIM s[eayA [eURISqns sj} ‘are SeInyeaz OAT)
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Ayreau Ataa spueys puesoyjo Lue wor yuarayp yonut Area st

ADVERTISEMENTS

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