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AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



RESULTS OF GERMINATION TESTS. 

 Indiana Experiment Station No. 110. 



I have a chart here which shows the results of a large num- 

 ber of tests that the Indiana Experiment Station made to deter- 

 mine the vitality or prepotency of individual ears of corn. I 

 took this experiment rather than one from some other experi- 

 ment station because of the large number of ears under test. 

 For instance, they took five kernels from near the middle of 

 each ear, and in taking 1,231 ears they found that only 22.7 per 

 •cent of the 1,231 ears would germinate all the kernels. 28.7 

 per cent germinated four out of five. Let us glance at the chart. 

 We will take, for instance, lot number 17; 223 ears of the test 

 ^ave 91.9 per cent which would germinate. In lot number 20, 

 of the 302 ears in that test, 98.3 per cent would germinate all 

 of the kernels under test. That represents, as well as I have 

 ever seen it, the individuality or the vitality of the single ear. 



The first thing to do is to test out these ears of corn. We 

 have some good traces of corn here, and if a man were to 

 select ears to plant he could not do it entirely with his eye. He 

 ought to take five kernels from each ear and germinate them, 

 and notice the strength of the sprout. Perhaps some would 

 germinate but would not have the strength to maintain the 

 sprout. The method is easy and it pays many, many times. 

 We take a box about two feet long and one foot wide inside 



