Show RAG DOLLS GOOD AS SEED TESTE TESTER R various kinds of apparatus are for sale by different commercial firms SIMPLE MPLE MATERIAL NEEDED NEEDE bleached muslin la Is cheapest and has given entire satisfaction kir nels nele should be sprouted So routed in five days A young lady a very young lady judy in union county kentucky is believed to have done at least as much as tiny any elcan of tier her years in ili helping to m me ae e food production in this county y she gave all tier her clothes for use in making rag doll testers of the germinating mina ting power of seed corn and tier her years are only two her father a county agent of the united states department of agriculture and the kentucky extension organization used up all the spare cloth around the house in making testers for the farmers in his territory unit and then lie turned to the babas wardrobe the need for testers was acute and baby need as many clothes clot lna as a 9 formerly fui fur merly the result was that the baby had to wear a tub until her moth er could prepare tier her raiment the seed corn situation in the spring of 1018 1918 was serious it is not expected to be so serious la ili 1910 1010 but in anany sections of the country farmers will have need for rag doll testers or other apparatus in finding what seed will produce corn and what will not T they aey ma may not havo have to use the babas clothes but they should be ready with testers how to make rag hag doll testers various vailous kinds of apparatus for test ire sale uy ny commercial alerc lul firm others may inny bo be manu I 1 fractured lit at horne home with simple mate eals some of these testers such us as lie he sandbox sand box tester and the sawdust box tester are described in various publications of the department of u ag and tho the state agricultural ex ut stations the rag doll seed tester has proved to be one of the most lent and satisfactory forms oa as well lis as one of tile least fx ex pens lv the cheapest material which has alven iven entire satisfaction Is bleached blen ched muslin the muslin should be eat cut into strips 10 inches wide and from 3 to 5 feet along with a u pencil or crayon draw a line down the tha center of tile the strip leaving at least 4 inches idelles tit at tho the ends mark the strip crosswise very every 4 inches numbering the sec riona using tit tho rag dolls moisten the tester before putting the kernels upon it number the curs cars and place them in definite order from dif different terent places on ear no 1 I take out ten tea kernels and place them in section no 1 similarly take ten kernels from ear no 2 place them in section no 2 and continue in this manner until very overy section of the lie tester lifts has been filled failed care should bo be taken to place the kernels some distance from the dividing lines so that slight displace mants caused by handling the testers will not mix the samples fold each side ildo of the tester over so BO that tant it alie it I 1 edges meet in the middle press the doth cloth down firmly over the kernels end and using a cob or r some other cylindrical object as a core roll the tester tie a cord or slip a rubber band around the middle wid and the doll Is complete the testing process the dolls should he be thoroughly lilt im mersed water from Froni two to four hours have been found sufficient tor for tile iho soaking find nd it Is best not to son for more than ten hours remove the dolls from the water a allow thern to dratin and place them they may be kept and moist itt olst during the period the dolls dolla not be subjected to a temperature higher than degrees or lower loer than CO 00 degrees F A temperature pera ture between SO 80 degrees and degrees F during tho the day and 50 60 degrees nna and GO degrees during the night will give good results it Is not advisable vl able to give ghe the dolls a second soaking A good way to prevent drying out Is to wrap them up in a piece ot wet sacking or put them upright in an ordinary water bucket et and cover them with a i wet cloth in 1 either ease cose provision must bo be in made title for draining oft off excess moisture at the end of fiva days with temperatures approximating those recommended the kernels should lie ho sprouted to show their fitness for seed if any sample has a n noticeably weak germination or lias has more than two dead kernels the car front from which tho the sample was taken should be discarded there may be times such as the spring of 1018 when the supply of good seed corn Is extremely in ili such seasons it Is if well to retain all ears showing a germination of CO 60 per cent or more the poorer germinating ears cars will have to be used it if the supply of seed germinating 80 per cent or better Is not sufficient keep the poorer seed separate and if tt it must bo be used plant it thicker than the rest when to use rag dolls of course the testing of the germination mi nation of each ear la Is some trouble however to obtain a successful corn crop it Is work that must be done by those who have not retained seed corn of good germination from a crop the holding over of good sed corn from a crop that matured thoroughly makes it possible to continue the improvement and adaptation of a strain without losing sead and Is less troublesome than the making of separate ear germination tests tile uso use of the rag doll the therefore Is not recommended as the alie best practice possible r but as the most satisfactory way of getting suitable home grown seed when a supply lifts has not been cieli bield over from a good crop end and fall freezes have occurred so early as to injure the germinating s mina tIng power of tile croy cro |