S^uniot IFlatutalist /ftontbl^ 



Published by the College ci Agriculture of Cornell 

 University, from October to May, and entered at 

 Ithaca as second-clas£ matter. L. H. Bailey, Director 



ALICE G. McCLOSKEY, Editor 



New Series. Vol. 2. ITHACA, N. Y., MARCH, 1906. 



No. 6 



Oh, every year hath its winter, 

 And every year hath its rain — 



But a day is always coming 



When tlie birds go North again." 



AN EAR OF CORN 



John W. Gilmore 



A good ear of corn — but what do you mean by a 

 good ear of corn? Do you mean that some ears of 

 corn are bitter and not good to eat? No, but I mean 

 an ear of corn that is good-looking. 



Show you a good looking ear of corn? Well, 

 here is one. See it has good shape ; that is, it is 

 moderately long and moderately large and it is almost 

 as large at the tip as it is at the base. If you look 

 at the base of the ear where it was broken from 

 the stalk you will see that the cob is not very large. 

 The grain at this end is rounded over (in most good 

 ears) and forms a little cup with the base of the cob. 

 Now look at the other end. Here the grains prac- 

 tically cover the cob. Some ears, though good looking 

 otherwise, have the tip of the cob exposed. Those are not the best. 



Now let us examine some of the grains. In the first place they are 

 crowded on the cob so tight that they can scarcely be moved unless they 

 be broken from the cob. Sometimes, though, when the corn is cut green 

 the grains will be looser on the cob than if the corn had been allowed to 

 ripen. The grains themselves are of good size and thickness and the 

 germ is much more than half as long as the grain. Each grain, like the 

 ear, is nearly as large at one end as it is at the other. 



The corn must not only be good looking, but it must have power to 

 grow when it is planted. Not every ear or grain that is good looking 

 has this power ; it ma}' have lost the power because it is okl, or because 

 it has not been kept well. Every boy or girl who reads this should not 

 only help his father select the seed corn this spring but should test it to 

 see whether it has the power to grow. How shall you do this ? Get some 

 shallow boxes, about two inches deep; or if your mother will let you take 



383 



