S82 Rural School Leaflet. 



represent an individual exhibit. Ask one of the best farmers in the com- 

 munity to be the corn judge, or have a committee of three, and have them 

 decide which are the best samples in each class. Have as many varieties 

 of dent, flint, sweet, and pop corn as the children can find. Encourage 

 the boys and girls to offer prizes such as home made medals and the like. 

 Have the girls make good things to eat from corn and corn products 

 and serve them as refreshments at your meeting, either Friday afternoon 

 or Friday evening. (See recipes in Leaflet for Boys and Girls this month.) 



We are going to have another Corn Show at Cornell this year, during 

 Farmers' Week, February 7-12. Encourage the children to send samples 

 of the best com to compete for prizes at this big show. 



It is not too early to begin to make Corn Day plans. Make them as 

 unique and original in your school as you can. We will send other 

 directions in the January number of the Leaflet. 



What constitutes a good ear of corn 



When selecting ears of corn for breeding or exhibition purposes, one 

 should have in mind a well defined ideal type of ear. Li general this 

 type of ear should be one which will giv? the greatest yield of mature corn. 

 The following suggestions apply primarily to dent com, but they may be 

 made to apply to flint or sweet corn as well: 



1. Shape of ears. — A perfect ear of corn should be full and strong in the 

 middle portion indicating a strong constitution. It should retain this 

 size to near the tip and butt, thus forming as nearly as possible a cylin- 

 drical ear. 



2. Butts of ears. — The rows of kernels should extend well down over 

 the butts of the ears, thus giving an ear of better appearance and con- 

 taining a higher yield of grain. The shank or the portion of the stalk 

 which is attached to the ear should not be too large and coarse. Swelled, 

 open, or badly compressed butts, as well as those having kernels of irreg- 

 ular size are objectionable. 



3. Tips of ears. — Tips of the ears should be well filled out, indicating 

 a type of com which will easily mature. The rows of corn should extend 

 in a regular line to extreme tip of the ear. 



4. Shape of kernels. — Th6 shape of the kernels is very important. 

 They should broaden gradually from tip to cro\vn with edges straight so 

 that they will touch the full length and should be wedge-shaped without 

 coming to a point. Kernels of this shape will fit closely together and 

 thus insure the highest possible yield of grain which can grow upon the 

 cob. If the kernels have this wedge-shape there will not be found such 

 wide spaces between the rows which are so objectionable in ears of corn. 



