In this circular, created by the Agricultural Extension Service at South Dakota State College, the information provided focuses on field selection for the corn crop and then also the storage of seed corn. This information is provided through the guidance of the Agriculture Department

Johnston, Ralph E.

Valentine, George H.

English

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South Dakota State UniversityOpen PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access InstitutionalRepository and Information ExchangeExtension Circulars SDSU Extension1-1923Field Selection and Storage of Seed CornRalph E. JohnstonGeorge H. ValentineFollow this and additional works at: http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_circPart of the Agriculture CommonsThis Circular is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access InstitutionalRepository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Extension Circulars by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE:Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu.Recommended CitationJohnston, Ralph E. and Valentine, George H., "Field Selection and Storage of Seed Corn" (1923). Extension Circulars. Paper 148.http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_circ/148'I '1 E;L tens ion C i r cu la r Ho . 14 9 . \ l\. � B .:i b:!, South Dakota State College and Uni t € d S t L� t E: s De J;i3.. r t r.1£ n t of Agrlc�ltu�e Cooperating. Re,lph �. Jl)hns ton c�nd Geo. E. vo.1ent ine �xtension Ag�nomistE ,-, qI-TV f-='"q'T-;:":(� 1711':i:T' T;' D Qi\i IT''UE ·:iT-L"T,D? .t1.. v •.. .J.._ . ..;��-' • _  . .l...l_, .t.�.r\, -'� •. .r.1 _ 1-�·- __ .L. • 11 Seecl Corn shculd be .sel0ctec: in ·,J1t · field from ste.lks \':ihich yielc. best in ec1u.::il compctiti:)D with others. i; ?rof. c. P. Hartl�y in F. B. 1175. 11 Seed corn should be care.fully SE:lectecl fron the field in SepteJT1"ber.1 b0fore hard freezes occu:· 1 j .  f�. D. Bulletin 181. t- Time fo Piek SeedCC.or11 r . . ··-- �- · -- -·- -,-----· .. -·�· i-. ---- � S E. P T E. M_ B _E R ---.--.--I I Sun :Mon Tues vred Thurs Pri Sat • - . -· .... - -· - ,., •. . .. . .�;i. �·� �  . 1 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 1'7:, ._., 1? 18 19 20 22 ·,i I 23 24 25 26 27 2s 29 I 30 i t----.. ----·-· - ·�···-.. -- --------- ----·-·--Ls{:; e cJ ,C' O'r n. M. a� Fr. e e -i.e t, a tel:' -· - -· ·--·-� ... --·- ...-..-..... - - · .... --�-·--�-- --�-·- -- ...... -�Cooi:-erative Extension Vlork in-Agr-icul-t-ure.a"iictHome --· . . , Economics,·\-/. F. Kurnlien, Director. Distributed in furtherc..nce of Actfj of Cong:re ss of lfay 8 & June 30, 1914. �) -2-11 For several reaEons it is veTy importa.nt that seed c,orn be se:lected in the field as the plants are matur­ing. ·The be st t ir11e is wl1.en the leaves of the plants are still green, the husks bef>inning to turn yellow, and the ears well dented. -VJhen the seed ears are selected from the })lants as they are maturing, the choice can 1Je made on a s.ound basis to :iraintain or increase the yielding power of the variety and diseased plants can be rec.ogni zecl and avoided. At the same ti :me , the c o rn i s ga the red e a r 1 y enough s o it c an re cur e d without danger of injury by freezing. To put off the selec­tion until the leaves on the nntiority of the pls.,nts are yel­low from natural ripening or from killing by frost makes efficient selection difficult". Prof. A,C.Arny, Spec. Bul. 58, Ext.Div. Univ.ofl�inn. Figure 1. - A well matured ear on a healthy shank is best for seed. ( Courtesy of Indiane, Experiment Station). B. YvHNr EARS T· 0 SF, LBC T = -. -·-11 The following pointf.) s hou 1 d b e observed in s e 1 ... ecting seed corn from the field: 1. Ears of me di um size only sho�ld be chos-en. 2. The grains should be vrn 1.1 ��d e nt e d ( co rn will n1q�ke satisfactory seed as so on as the graim are well dented.) 3. The ears should be of good shape ( as in Fig. 2 -next page), but early maturity must not be s&crified for fancy :points. 4. Ea�rn. should be chose:. which hang down be -cause they shed water (as in Fig. 1 .. ) 5. The shank should be of medium length m d di.ame ter .. ' -3-6 . . There should be two good s te-:,lks i. n the hi 11 f r ori1 ·vr hi ch a, s e c ct E. ar · is taken 11 • --- "' c J_ a .!.. .; o ·� \ .r_;;.,{}_) .. 0 l, • l, .l. l.!. • J ( c i' -.-. ".) " h \ , l. • ,._. � v ' 2:11. Agri. �he cost of obtaining [;'. GE::d cnou[;�1 by thE fi elc1 B elect ion r.1stl1od is less than U1.i rty cents .. r.c·his in L'lcle e d a very 1 ow cost for this bet tee gro..dc of s E: ed corn ob-· ts,inc d. C • ____ TEE C' TTGIAL _ GCO:C:.E� QAl"1D AND_ SEED Ehr:.§_;_ The re�uirmcnts of corn for seed ,·,,no_ shoy; are very similc.r .. r; he off i c i al s core car d i s s ho vm �1.erevvi th and the c on3ideration of these j)OintfJ will improve the q ual­i ty o:f corn selected accar ding to t:1s sc s tandard3 . . · .. · :Perfect · Points to Consider : Score . . . . . --- ·---,-- ---- ... ·-�---�- ·-·----... .. -Unif orrni ty of ears Shal) e of ear . Color of grain . Color of cob . 10 . • 10 T5.ps of ea.rs But ts of ears Leng th of ee,r s Ci::tcumference of ea.rs . Uniformity of kernE: lo Shape of kernel �3 pace be t\'1een rows . Space between kernels �t cob . SeE.d and nn rkc t condition • Proportion corn to ea? . 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 r;:· ..) 5 5 20 10 Totai score . . . . . . . :-y�-- - _, .... -._.. ------ - ---·-· ....... -· - ... --··-· -·-·-- ·--l. ) -4 -TI .  PROPER STORAGE OF SEED CORN : - .. .  - -- - --- - - -------- --1 1Extra c ar e  in  s ele c t i ng ,  cur ing , tE= st ing and grad ing the s e e d  c orn wi l l  de  much t o  impr ove th e s ta nd and · yie ld of  c 0T n 1 thus savin g  lab o r , re du ci ng c o s t  J£ r bu she l and inc rea sing ne t :i_Jr ofi t pe r bushe l .  -- ·-�--M--------� ... -·--. Me thod s of S to r i ng S e ed C orn : VJir e hanger s rri.a de fr orn f enc ing . Twine  meth od . Pat ent hanger s .  Lath rack ,  1J1i re rac k .  Nai l  sys t e111 , ( on s tudd i ng s , : r2f t e 1's , e t c . ) : 1 1 VJhe n  the s ee d  c orn has b e en car e: fu lly s e l e c ted the n ext s t ep  is t o  dry i t  pro p sr ly . The re are many co :mmer c ia l  ra cks adap t e d  to this pur ­n o se wh i ch ar e ve ry ;at �s fa c t ory . G o o d  racks c an b e  made b y  us i ng l X 4 inch lurnb ­e r  an d ma ki ng f rame s  ab out 2 by 3 f e e t  i n  .s ize with a heavy grade of  p oul try wi r e  of ev en mesh s ta:p led t a  each si d e  s o  that the ear s nay be  s tuck thro ugh . Sm.al l  , qua.nt i tie s of s e e d c orn may b e  hung up conven ient ly by us i ng d oubled s t ri ng o r  a pi e c e  o f  bindi ng twine about 6 or ? fee t l ong whe n doub le d .  ( S e e  F' ig . 3 ) . One l o op i s  he ld in each hand by the operat or and a he lper the n place s t he f i  r:2J t  e a r  a t  t h e  L1 idd l e  p o i n t  of th e double d tvrine . The o p �rat o r  h o ld s  th i s  e a r b e tween hi s f e e t  a n d  then  c r o s s e s the l o ops . The he lpE.::-c plac e s  an o th­er  ea r where the s t r i ng s  c r o s s  2. nd t he p ro c e s s. i s  ' thus c on tinu­E:d unti 1 the s t r ing i s  fl-1.l l and c an b e  hung up by one l o op . The .ma in point t o  ke E:j_:i i n  mi nd i s  tha t s e ed c o rn s:'l ov.ld n ot be pi l ­e d  up a s  t he g errn.i na t i ng p owe r  i s  v e r y l ike ly t o  bE d e s tr oye d e ve n  th ough it i s  lef t i n  p i le s f o :r  bu t a fer, hour s . Th i s  j_ s  due to h e at i ng caus ed by moi s tur e in t he co rn , No two e a rs s hou ld be al ­l ow e d  to  touch ea c h  o ther an d i t  i s  not advis able  t o  s pr e .ad the m  on  a t ight fl o o r  as  they n e e d  ai r on a ll si d e s . "  ( s . D . Bul . 181 , Agr i cul tur al  Exper ime n t  S ta ti on ) .  

Field Selection and Storage of Seed Corn

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Field Selection and Storage of Seed Corn

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