342 
nounced identical with that buried with the ancient Peruvians, and 
this corn, so far as we have seen it, is Zea amylacea, the most diver- 
gent of our species from the primitive form; but Zea everia, rice 
form, is the least divergent and is also found among the relics of 
the tombs. So the indefinitiveness of mention, even by such an 
eminent observer as Darwin, leaves uncertainty. 
X. 
The environmental relationships of maize seem to have been 
_ but little studied, and are very obscure. Seed sown on the sur- 
face, through the property of regermination, will frequently vege 
tate, as will also seed sown at a depth of eight inches or more. 
When the seed is planted in ground of a low temperature, although 
the germination process will go on at 42° or 43° F., yet the pro- 
gress is so slow that mould often destroys vitality before vegeta” 
tion can occur, while at a high temperature progress is $0 rapid 
that this danger is escaped. Inthe Scéentific Farmer, October, 
1878, I called attention to the embryo ears on a cornstalk, and 
gave a figure. These embryo ears usually all butone remain dor- 
mant when the crop is close planted, but are inclined to develop 
as openness of planting increases. ‘By mutilating the plant in 
various ways these dormant ears may be stimulated into develop- 
ment, the lower ones especially, into branches with a terminal eat. 
Compressing the upper portion of the stalk is often followed by 
kernel formations on the tassels, and a ligature applied to an gs 
has been followed by the development of a tassel on the extremity- 
Suckering in the corn plant is the development of dormant buds, 
and is furthered greatly by openness of planting and fertility of 
soil, although in some varieties, like 'the Wyandotte soft and the 
Japanese striped flint, it becomes a characteristic which can 
scarcely be checked. The relation of the plant to climate '§ 
difficult to define. The influences often ascribed to climate seem 
usually to be the result of a variety characteristic, OF change 
induced by unconscious selection. Some Mexican Ind 
was represented to me by Dr. Palmer as growing to about 
the height of a man, and as being early maturing. Plan 
in New York in May, the plants were about eleven feet tall 
and just approaching bloom in October when cut down by from: 
jan corm | 
