290 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



find 12,000 to the acre. The average is not far from 85 to 90. 

 If we can only get an 8-inch ear on every stalk, we have a 

 yield of fairly good proportion, but we are seeking for more 

 than that. 



The Professor speaks of corn weig'hing 22 to 24 ounces to 

 the ear. Who has tried the weight Oif flint corn? A loinch 

 ear sihould give you 8 ounces ; 12-inch ear, 10 ouuces. A 6-inch 

 ear will have from 320 to 328 kernels; 8-inch ear, 416 to 460; 

 lo-inioh ear, 464 to 480; 12-inch ear, 512 to 540. 



We must have corn that will ripen in 100 days. In the years 

 I have been experimenting witih corn, we have been unable to 

 get 100 days. I want corn beginning to show glazing at 90 

 days, and begin to cut it at 100 days. On this basis I consider 

 it one of the safest crops in the State of Maine. 



I am not in favor of an ear which is so prominent. I w!ant 

 it symmetrical, I want the length, and I want a wide, bright 

 kernel, broad at the top, space on the top completely filled. I do 

 not like those with tapering kernels. The maximum amount of 

 corn on the ear is what we must be seeking, and to get it we 

 must have it well filled, with clos'e fitting rows. The location 

 of the ear on the istalk has mudh to do with the time of ripen - 

 ing. If an ear comes out 18 inches from the ground and is for 

 seed it will ,very soon give you a variety w'hiich needs less time 

 for maturity. If yoit select one three feet from the ground, 

 you are getting corn that will not ripen before frost comes. 

 When we select one one and one-half feet from the ground, and 

 another three feet from the ground, ^ou are injecting into the 

 problems of the coming years a problem of unequal ripening of 

 the stalk. 



I like to have the stalk taper, with abundance of corrugated 

 leaves, and an ear that sits close to the stalk, about two feet 

 from tlie ground. I mean to select my seed when the corn is 

 about eight inches high. When I find a nice, vigorous stalk, I 

 stake it and follow it through the season. When the husks 

 have dried one-third back from the tip. I break it; I do not 

 wait until it is fully matured. J. J. H. Gregory, years ago, 

 was at some of our meetings here in Maine, and afterwards I 

 talked with him. He said that ihe always broke his seed when 

 it was green rather than wlhen it was ripe, and got better ger- 

 mination than when it was allowed to arrive at full maturity. I 



