SEED CORN. 37 



8-rowed cob ? It appears to us not, although we admit that 

 a good 12-rowed seed is preferable to a poor 8-rowed seed. 

 We can offer for argument, that as we go northward, the 

 number of rows of corn appears to lessen ; that 8-rowed 

 seed is used more frequently in New England than the 12- 

 rowed ; that 8-rowed corn moved south tends to increase in 

 rows, and that 12-rowed seed under unfavorable conditions 

 tends to form an 8-rowed variety, as we have been informed. 

 Moreover, the yield of grain from a good 8-rowed cob, is as 

 large as the yield of an equivalent length of a 12-rowed ear, 

 because the corn of a good 8-rowed variety is deeper in the 

 kernel than the 12-rowed. Additionally, the 8-rowed tends 

 to a smaller cob, to a more uniform kernel, and to an earlier 

 maturity, while we have no evidence to show that its fruitful- 

 ness is less. 



Should a long or short ear be taken ? We believe that it 

 is best to use the long ears of the variety selected, but we 

 ourselves generally estimate the length by the number of 

 kernels in a row, in connection with the length of cob. The 

 number of the ovules is determined by heredity — the length 

 of the cob as well by the expansion of the kernels as by the 

 completeness of the fertilization in the individual ear. A 

 perfect fertilization and plenty of plant food, usuallj^ produce 

 a fat, plump kernel, which, together with the reciprocal 

 influence of the pollen on the cob, tends towards elongation. 

 It is easier through culture to plump our kernels, than to 

 increase their number, hence the importance of considering 

 the number as well as using the foot rule. This question 

 must be deemed unsettled. We think, however, that the 

 length is governed by climate, and that it is not well to 

 attempt to secure a larger ear than our locality warrants, 

 through the tendency to coarseness and looseness which may 

 be thereby produced. Of one fact we are certain, that the 

 length of the ear is no indication of the amount of crop which 

 the variety yields, for we have before us two ears, both very 

 fine and perfect, the one 12 inches long from a 45 bushel 

 crop, the other 6 inches long from a 100 bushel crop. 



