no AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



developed a score card to use on corn, just as for butter. It is 

 said that the late Orange Judd was the first man to make one 

 of these score cards. A number of changes have been made in 

 them. I have one here for dent corn and one for flint corn. 

 They do not differ very much except in one point. We have 

 thought best to try to increase the circumference of the ear bv 

 increasing the depth of the kernel of the flint corn. The flint 

 is much shallower than the dent. The different points of the 

 card are as follows: [Here Prof. Hurd explained the chart.] 

 First we take into account the uniformity. — whether all the ears 

 are alike in length, etc. ; then we consider the shape of the ear. 

 Of course diff'erent varieties have different variety character- 

 istics, and in the corn back here we have no standard to go by. 

 so one must judge largely from his own idea of what an ear 

 of flint corn should be. A good ear of corn should not be ve.'-y 

 much smaller at the tip than it is at the butt. In the dent varie- 

 ties it should slightly bulge through the center. An ear of corn 

 that tapers off indicates lack of strength largely ; it also indi- 

 cates that some of the rows have been lost, and you are losing 

 in the production of com. 



The length of the ears in most types should be lo or ii inches. 

 The larger amount of shelled corn that we are able to get now 

 over that obtained formerly is due to the fact that we are get- 

 ting the tips and butts well filled out. It is pretty hard to get 

 a flint variety that does not have a pretty large butt, but the dent 

 varieties have been bred until there is a small butt surface ; 

 also the tip is covered over so that the cob is entirely invisible. 

 Some experts will say that is not very desirable. They like to 

 see just the tip of the cob show, because if it is covered it shows 

 that that corn has reached its maximum production so far as 

 the tip is concerned. 



Next, the kernels should be uniform. See that the kernels 

 are uniform and that they are deep. Certain varieties have 

 certain colors. The spaces between the rows should also be 

 considered. A wide space, or as is often the case wide spaces 

 due to the shape of the kernel should receive a certain amount 

 of consideration. The ideal shape of a kernel of corn is wedge 

 shape, so that it fits closely. If the kernel is round there will 

 be a vacant space next to the cob. The maximum amount of 



