Books and Current LiTERAtaRE. 30^^ 



Corn pollen in abundance has been obtained from the plumage 

 of a blackbird, which must have flown between four and six 

 miles from the last field of com visited, and doubtless others of 

 the lar<;"e flock to which the bird belonj^ed carried equal quantities 

 of pollen, more or less of which they must have scattered in the 

 field of seed sweet com in which they alighted. 



Experience shows that neither a distance less than several 

 miles nor anv varietal dift'erence can be relied upon as a certain 

 protection against a mixture of pollen. In most farming regions 

 it is impracticable to locate a field of corn seed so as to guarantee 

 that there shall be no mixture through pollen, though much can 

 be done to lessen the probability of a mixture. Usually the most 

 practicable way is to plant each lot of seed as far as possible from 

 any other corn, and also to have as much difference as possible 

 in the dates of ripening of the seed corn and of the corn in the 

 nearest field. In sorting before shelling, if kernels of hybrid 

 com are found in a given ear, it is well to throw out the whole 

 ear rather than to pick out the mixed grain, because crossing 

 does not always change the appearance of the grain the first 

 season, and there is a strong probability that on an ear on which 

 crossed grains are visible there are other crossed grains which 

 show no external sign of mixture. 



The direction for growing stock seed are of both practical 

 and theoretical interest and are reproduced in detail. 



First, formulate a very clear conception of precisely what an 

 ideal plant of the sort to be grown should be, not only as to grain 

 and ear, but as to stalk, leaf, husk, silk, and tassel, for this is 

 essential to raising the best seed of the sort. With this concep- 

 tion in mind, or what is far better, clearly written out and illus- 

 trated by photograph, go into a field of the sort at the time the 

 plants are coming into silk, and mark with a string or a bit of 

 cloth, or in some way a number of stalks. It is wise to select at 

 least a hundred plants which are as nearly alike and typical of 

 the sort as can be found. 



When the grain is in the dough state, assemble the marked 

 stalks and, after stripping down the husks, very carefully select 

 and tag those in which the ear and the grain are nearest to the 

 ideal. The ears from each of these selected plants should be 

 carefully numbered, dried and stored. The next spring mark out 

 near the center of the largest available field of the sort a block of 



