Co7'n Growers' Association. 329 



stand how the selection of seed from such rows would fail to pro- 

 duce the results. In other words, it is our desire to save seed from 

 the progeny of individuals that produce well because of their in- 

 herited tendency to do so, rather than because conditions have been 

 favorable for good production. In this connection I wish also to 

 state that it has been my privilege during the past fall to examine a 

 field, strips of which were plowed with two different kinds of break- 

 ing plows, and at harvest time it was very evident that the strips 

 broken with one plow had produced, without exaggeration, fully 

 twice as much corn as the strips broken with the other plow. This 

 serves to illustrate the great need of uniformity in connection with 

 all our work on a plat to be used for corn breeding purposes. 



We occasionally find a man who has made a feeble attempt at 

 breeding corn who, failing to have the seed ears uniformly pre- 

 served, and all other conditions uniform, has failed to demonstrate 

 that seed from the most productive rows will produce best, and is 

 ready to discredit the ear-to-row method of breeding. He can as 

 correctly assert that it is immaterial whether we use, for breed- 

 ing purposes, the best or the poorest cows in a dairy herd. We can 

 rest assured that nature will do her part if we but do our part 

 correctly. 



If accurately performed, great differences regarding production 

 and appearances of the rows will appear. In many breeding plats 

 this difference frequently amounts to 60 or 80 per cent — that is, one 

 row will produce 60 or 80 per cent more corn than the adjoining 

 row. Differences in appearance between the rows are very striking 

 and are hardly credible to one who has not seen breeding plats 

 planted in this way. Figure 1 shows the appearance of two adjoin- 

 ing rows in one of our breeding plats as photographed in October, 

 1906. 



It often happens that the most productive rows stand adjacent 

 to rows of poor production. In such cases the detasseled portion 

 of the good row has naturally been pollenated mostly with pollen 

 from the poor rows adjacent. This is a very undesirable state of 

 affairs, since both parents have equal influence in determining the 

 characters of the progeny. This state of affairs can be overcome 

 by testing the producing power of the ears the first year by planting 

 about one-half the seed from each ear. The next year the remaining 

 seed from only those ears that produced best can be planted in a 

 small plat. We will then know that all the stalks in this small plat 

 are the progeny of high yielding ears. 



The production of suckers or tillers is very objectionable, since 



