384 



Junior Naturalist AIonthly. 



Fig. 2. — This is a good looking car of 

 corn. The tip is well filled out. 



some plates, these are good. Fill the 

 boxes or plates with sand. Now take 

 five or ten grains from each ear and 

 place them in rows in the sand. Each 

 row should bear a number corre- 

 sponding to a number on the ear from 

 which the grain was taken. The 

 boxes or plates should be moistened, 

 covered, and then placed near the 

 kitchen stove, especially at night. 

 This work is worth while, for it will 



not take long and the children can do it, and it 'may save several days 



of replanting and this is work that only grown up people can do well. 



If less than four grains out of five, or eight out of ten sprout, the ear 



should be thrown out. 



Study of an Ear of Corn 



1. Is the color of the grain always the same as the color of the cob? 



2. Count the rows of grains on a cob. Are there always the same 

 number on different cobs? Is the number of rows always even, or some- 

 times odd? 



3. What is the proportion of circumference to the length of the 

 good ears which you have selected? 



4. What is the relation of space occupied by shelled corn to the space 

 occupied by the whole ear from which it came? (To find this, wrap the 

 ear in a piece of writing paper so that the butt comes even with the paper. 

 Twist the paper around the tip. Pin or glue the paper so that it will keep 

 its shape. Shell the corn and pour it in the paper wrapper.) 



5. What is the percentage of grain on a good ear? 



6. Toward which end of the ear is the germ of the grain placed? 



7. Can you devise any other way for sprouting the grains? 



8. Here is a suggestion for a special lesson on corn. Ask ten pupils 

 in your class to bring an ear of corn. Have the ears numbered and 



placed in a row on a table. It might 

 be well to ask the \)\\\)\\ who brought 

 the corn to put his name on the label 

 with the number. 



(a) Look at the ears of corn care- 

 fully. How many good looking ears 

 arc there?' Wliy are they good? Sprout 

 in the schoolroom some of the grains 

 Fig. 3. — A medium sized cob is better from each of the ears of corn. After 

 than a large cob. ^.^^^ j^^^,^ ^^^^^ ^j^j^ experiment, tell 



Uncle John who brought the best ear of corn. 



