19S STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUIIE. 



Tlie Blossominrj of Indian Corn. 



The following experiments were nuide at the suggestion of the editor of the 

 Scicntijk Farmer. I set three students to work at the proper time. Tiie first 

 one reports that the tassels on eighteen hills of three varieties of corn all hegan 

 to shed pollen hofore the silk appeared. By this he moans that the pollen of 

 a stalk begins to drop from one to three or more days before the silk appears 

 on the stalk. The pollen continues to fall from a stalk for about eight days, 

 some more, some less. The pollen first ripens on the top of the centre spike 

 of the tassel, and afterwards it ripens on the side branches, finally ripening last 

 on the lower part of the tassel. The pistils of the upper ear appear before any 

 below. The order of flowering of the ears is from above downward. The 

 second observer sa3's that the silk, especially on sweet corn, often appears after 

 all the pollen has been shed on the stalk. Of 408 consecutive stalks of dent 

 corn, only two produced silk before any pollen was ripe. Some experiments 

 indicate that the silk is generally fertilized on the first day after it appears. 

 In some cases silk remained fresh four days. From these cases it appears that 

 Indian corn is cross-fertilized with almost as much certainty as willows, poplars, 

 clematis, or any other species where the stamens and pistils are on distinct 

 plants. 



Tlie Effect of I'olkn on Corn during tlic First Year, 



In my previous report I gave the result of an experiment in which iiollen of 

 Yankee dent corn was exclusively used to fertilize some smut-nosed flint corn. 

 There was not the least effect produced on the flint corn, so far as appearance 

 •was concerned. On the second year this corn broke np into many varieties. 

 During the past year I planted near each other three hills of the following 

 kinds of corn well mixed together, vix. : Wankesham, yellow^ flint, white flint, 

 black pop corn, early Minnesota sweet. King Phillips, black sugar. Every 

 ear showed a mixture produced by pollen from one or more of the other varie- 

 ties except those of the King Phillip variety. 



New ExjJeriments in the Ajj^ile Orchard. 



The following experiments were made by Mr. E. J. Eawson of the senior 

 class, who vouches for their accuracy. For several years we have trapped the 

 coddling moths by means of paper bauds. For two or three years these bands 

 have been made of tliick carpet paper, cut in strips about six inches wide and 

 bound about the trunk of the tree. 



A man in Western New York by the name of J. Greenbaum has obtained a 

 patent on a band made of stout paper steeped in oil and lined with cotton flan- 

 nel. These bands are about three inches wide. I bought some and he sent 

 others for" trial. To compare them with the thick paper bands we placed one 

 band of each kind on two lots of nine trees each. In one lot the paper band 

 was placed above; in the other the patent band was above. I give the number 

 of moths taken on each tree for two dates : 



