Variety Name Uniformity of Exhibit. The ears in an exhibit should be similar in RULES FOR JUDGING EXHIBITS OF CORN cut the exhibit one point. size, shape, color, and indentation. For each ear deficient in these respects Shape of Ears.-The ears should conform to variety type, usually Uniformity of Exhibit. Color of Kernels. Butts of Ears Uniformity of Kernels. Space Between Kernels.. Student Corrected Student Corrected Student Corrected Proportion of Corn on Ear. 15 cylindrical, tapering slowly from butt to tip. Cut each ear one point that does not meet requirements. Color of Cob.-Should be uniformly red for yellow corn and usually uniformly white for white corn. For each white cob in an exhibit of yelolw corn cut exhibit one-half point. Do same for each red cob in an exhibit of white corn, unless variety type has red cob; then cut for white cobs. For other colors of corn cut one-half point for each cob that is off from predominating color. Color of Kernels. For each white crowned kernel in a red or yellow variety, cut one-tenth point. For each yellow cast kernel beneath the crown in white corn cut one-tenth point. Market Condition.-Ripe, sound, bright ears, firm and well matured. For each ear deficient in these respects cut the exhibit one point. Tips of Ears.-Not too tapering; well filled with regular uniform kernels. Add together the length of protruding cobs on tips of all ears in exhibit and cut at the rate of one-half point for each inch. Butts of Ears.-Rows of kernels should extend in regular order over the butts. Cut the exhibit one-half point for each poorly and irregularly filled butt, and one-fourth point for each flat butt. Kernel Uniformity.-Uniform in shape and size and conforming to va riety type. Remove two kernels from adjoining rows near the middle of each ear, and place before the ear with germ side up. Cut the exhibit one point for each ear failing in above points, shown by pairs of kernels. Kernel Shape.-Should be medium wedge shape, straight edge, large germ. Use pairs of kernels removed for scoring last point (uniformity). Cut each ear one point for failing in above points, shown by pairs of kernels. Space. Furrow between rows small, not over one thirty-second of an inch; and one-half point for space greater than one-sixteenth of an inch. Proportion of Corn on Ear.-Is determined by weight, should not be less than 85 per cent. For every per cent below that cut exhibit one point, and for every per cent above add one point. To get the per cent weigh ear, shell corn, weigh shelled corn, divide weight of shelled corn by weight of ear. Weight of Grain.-Get the average length of ears in exhibit, use weight of grain found in last point. For each ounce below number required by ears of given length, cut the exhibit one point, and for each ounce above add one point. The weight of grain on an average ear should come up to the following requirements: Length of Ear 12 inches and over, weight of grain 17 ounces. ALFALFA SEEDING AND GROWING Press Bulletin No. 161, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Stillwater, Oklahoma, August, 1908. Alfalfa is gaining popularity as a forage crop in Oklahoma. A few years ago this legume was grown on limited areas; but it has ceased to be an unknown hay plant and enterprising farmers are extending the culture of this money maker in sections where only slight attention has been directed to its uses. At this season of the year the grower is making preparation to test this crop, perchance for the first time; or he is planning to increase the area under cultivation and he therefore wishes to follow methods which will give the most satisfactory results. A few suggestions may prove helpful in such cases. The Seedbed.—The seed bed should receive careful preparation. Although a good set may be secured on land which receives a minimum amount of cultivation, provided climatic conditions are normal, careful observations will reveal the fact that it pays and pays well to sow seed on soil where the physical structure is ideal. The reasons for advocating such a practice are obvious. In the first place, the seeds under consideration are small in size and if the particles of soil are coarse, the surface layer of earth is likely to be deficient in moisture; thus in the average season a low germination will be the result. Secondly, the small alfalfa plants are very tender during the early stages of growth; hence should soil conditions prove to be undesirable, a portion or perhaps the entire stand dies and the crop is pronounced a failure. The soil must be fine enough to allow the particles to come directly in contact with the seed and the surface should be firm enough to facilitate the capillary rise of moisture. The young plants are thereby supplied with moisture and plant food. Where autumn seeding is followed, the land should be plowed early in June and the subsequent treatment ought to be frequent enough to level the surface and maintain a dust mulch. The latter will assist materially in the retention of the soil moisture. Good tilth can be secured by plowing the surface thoroughly and by using a float or subsurface packer to firm the loose soil. These implements may be supplemented with the smoothing harrow and the surface of the field can be stirred at intervals of ten days throughout the summer. These cultivations will break the crust which always forms after a shower and they will assist in keeping the soil in excellent form. Cultivation also hastens the germination of weed seeds; thus injurious plants can be destroyed with efficient summer tillage. If the soil is plowed late in the season the advantages which have been mentioned cannot be gained. The Time of Seeding.-In central Oklahoma autumn seeding has given very satisfactory results. Sowing the seed during the latter part of August or early in September gives the young plants an opportunity to produce a strong growth in advance of weeds and grass; and as a matter of course, the alfalfa will not be checked or smothered out the succeeding season by foreign plants. Crabb grass is a serious pest in Oklahoma. It makes its best growth during the warm summer months and unless the necessary steps are taken to eradicate this weed, more particularly on those types of soil where alfalfa makes a medium growth, some difficulty will be experienced in keeping the fields free from this grass. There is another good reason for advocating autumn seeding. The young alfalfa plants develope fairly extensive root systems in the autumn and early winter and having made fair growth by spring time, three and sometimes four moderate cuttings can be harvested the first season. The spring seedings will not make very much for the grower the first season. Furthermore, our maximum precipitation occurs in May and if a field which has been set aside for alfalfa is somewhat rolling and had been seeded just a short time prior to the date in question portions of the field are liable to be washed and an uneven stand may be the outcome. Alfalfa fields which are well established are not subjected to such severe erosion or washing. Seed Selection. The selection of good seed is an important factor in the production of Indian corn, cotton, or wheat, if maximum yields are to be secured; however, the real value of making a special study of insignificant seeds like alfalfa is frequently overlooked, and yet this crop is one of the most profitable crops in our farm system. If a good stand is obtained, the field continues to produce excellent crops for ten or fifteen years in succession. When one considers the fact that many samples of alfalfa fail to give a germination test of more than 50 or 60 per cent, and some run as low as 30, and when one notes as well that some of these samples contain large numbers of noxious weed seeds, we are certainly justified in making the assertion that alfalfa seeds should be studied carefully from the standpoint of vitality and purity before they are scattered broadcast over the field. During the first six months of this year the station examined about 150 samples of alfalfa seed. In most cases the vitality was good and apart from a few minor weed seeds, the samples made a splendid showing with regard to purity. Samples were examined, however, which proved to be very objectionable. In one instance a five-gram lot of alfalfa seed contained 80 Russian thistle seeds; the alfalfa seeds in this sample also gave a low germination test. The most common weed seeds found in these samples were green and yellow fox tail, plantain or rib grass, pigweed, lambs quarter, and crabgrass. In sending seed to the Experiment Station at Stillwater, at least two ounces of seed should be included in the sample and if the material is mailed to the above address, it will receive prompt attention. It requires from 8 to 10 days to make a germination test. Rate of Seeding.-Alfalfa seed is sown at the rate of fifteen to eighteen pounds per acre. Some growers recommend a larger amount than this, using as high as twenty pounds of seed per acre, while others claim that ten to twelve pounds per acre, is sufficient. It is certain that in cases where the soil is placed in first class condition and the seed purchased has a high germinative power good results can be obtained by using fifteen to sixteen pounds of seed per acre, but if these conditions are not met then a larger amount of seed will be required. The method of seeding varies in different sections of the state; but whatever the method may be one should always aim to secure a uniform distribution of the seed. Any up-to-date grass seeder will accomplish this object, or an ordinary shoe drill can be used advantageously. Some drills are built with a grass seeder attachment from which the seed can be scattered in front of the drill and the shoes or disc in passing over the surface will give sufficient covering. Plac ing the seed at a depth of more than one iņch is not advisable. The amount of plant food which is stored up for the young embryo is limited, and when the seed is placed in the soil with a layer of earth to the depth of one or two inches above it, the amount of food is insufficient to carry the little plant above the surface, hence large numbers perish. As soon as the plant reaches the sunlight it is able to collect new supplies of food from the soil and atmosphere. It has not been our practice to use a nurse crop with alfalfa. A Common Sense Chapter on Oklahoma Grasses "Prospective settlers coming from sections of the country where red clover, timothy, and blue grass thrive are always solicitious concerning these crops, or something in lieu of them, before casting their fortunes among us in Oklahoma. It is quite amusing at times to hear the stories of the real estate man which he conjures up to leave the enquirer in doubt, or to assure him that these same crops will thrive abundantly once the "wild nature" is removed from our soil through a few years cultivation. Sometimes the enquirer is put off with the statement that the great crop of alfalfa more than meets the demand for grasses of all kinds in Oklahoma. One sometimes hears. that red clover and timothy can both be grown with impunity on any of our soils, but that alfalfa being so far superior to either of them is grown in their stead. Real estate dealers swell up with pride when they point out a blue grass lawn, but fail to detail the nursing, watering, etc., necessary to keep such lawn in a presentable shape. It is indeed to be deplored that our average real estate dealer in Oklahoma seems to be unable to keep up with the procession along the line of agricultural knowledge and development, to the extent at least, that he would learn once for all that red clover, timothy and blue grass do not now thrive, and never will thrive as profitable crops on Oklahoma soil under natural conditions; that they have been abundantly tried on many soils which have been in cultivation for ten to fifteen years, and from which the so-called "wild nature" has long since departed. They should learn once for all too, that alfalfa is a satisfactory crop only on bottom and sub-irrigated lands that when grown on upland a constant battle with crabgrass makes the growing of alfalfa unsatisfactory and unprofitable. The greatest lesson to be learned, however, is the one which tells of substitutes for these crops which are not only as good but fifty to one hundred per cent better, and may all be grown on any of our soil with perfect success and with profits reaching far beyond those realized by the growing of red clover, timothy and blue grass in any country. The relating of this lesson by the real estate agent would enable him to confine his remarks to the truth and result in much good and less harm being done to the country. This is the lesson: Cowpas will effectually displace clover for any purpose for which the latter is grown. They will grow on any of |