SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETING. 261 



Let US turn to the second opportunity, the production of seed. 

 While I have not at hand the figures for the present year's pack 

 we are safe in assuming that Maine stands at least third in the 

 amount of sweet corn packed, among all the states in the coun- 

 try. This industry creates a great demand for seed. Now one 

 of the most important principles brought out by recent scientific 

 studies on corn breeding is the great importance of what is called 

 local adjustment in seed corn. What this means is that on the 

 average and in the long run corn planted from seed grown in the 

 same locality and acclimated or adjusted to the conditions of 

 that locality will yield more ears, larger ears and finer ears than 

 will corn grown from seed brought in from somewhere else. 

 This principle has been shown to hold true for yellow corn, 

 and the work of the Station during the past four years v^rith 

 sweet corn shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that it applies 

 to this crop as well. On the average the best sweet corn grown 

 in Maine today is produced from Maine grozvn seed. Many of 

 the packers have known this for a long time, but would not say 

 so because they have not been able, try as they would, to get any- 

 thing like enough Maine grown seed of high quality to plant 

 their acreage. Does not this mean an opportunity for corn 

 breeding in Maine? For high quality sweet corn seed the 

 grower can get $4.00 per bushel at any time. The only extra 

 cost of producing this is involved in two items : 



1. The extra brain zuork which goes into breeding a high 

 grade product, rather than merely groiving an ordinary one. 

 This you can capitalize at what you will. 



2. The extra cost of curing, plus the shrinkage in value of 

 the stover if it stands in the field till the ears are matured for 

 seed. 



A similar opportunity lies open in the breeding of yellow corn 

 for seed. That the native flint corn of New England has de- 

 teriorated during the last 75 years owing to lack of attention to 

 its breeding no one doubts who has taken pains to acqaint him- 

 self with the facts. At the beginning of last century agricul- 

 tural fairs in New England were such in fact as well as in the- 

 ory, and did much to stimulate the farmer to improve his crops. 

 A regular feature of the fairs in those days was competition as 

 to yields of crops, the land being measured and the yields deter- 

 mined by disinterested judges. If one will take the trouble to 



