No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 487 



ihe progeny of the best five years. Select the best of what is left 

 for planting the field crop. 



The advantages of this method over that of ordinary field selec- 

 tion lies in the fact that yon test the hereditary or breeding power 

 of the ears selected. Under field selection with promiscuous mix- 

 ing of seed from different ears you have no knowledge of the ances- 

 tors of your progeny. On the other hand field selection has the 

 advantage of giving you a larger number of plants from which to 

 select. Great care, also, must be exercised with the breeding plat 

 lest too close breeding results. 



Before leaving this matter of corn improvement, I wish to em- 

 phasize the importance of a factor in corn production a little apart 

 from that of breeding. Probably the most direct means of increas- 

 ing the yield of corn open to every grower is the obtaining of a 

 uniform and vigorous stand of plants. This is, seemingly, a very 

 simple matter, yet the lack of it cost the farmers of the United 

 States probably millions of dollars annually. Seed corn should not 

 only germinate but it should germinate vigorously. If it can possi- 

 bly be avoided, corn with less than 95 per cent, germination should 

 never be used. Using additional seed to make up for loss of 

 germination will not answer. 



It is of the utmost importance that the stand should be uniform 

 as well as uniformily vigorous. If a corn planter is used this means 

 that the grains of corn should be of uniform size and shape. For this 

 reason corn of uniform type should be employed. It is desirable to 

 reject tip and butt grains to obtain uniformity of size and shape. 

 It pays to select your corn with this point in view and to work with 

 your corn planter on the barn floor until it will plant the desired 

 number of grains at least 90 times out of 100. 



The experimental evidence clearly shows that it is better to err 

 by using too much seed than too little. This remark applies in fact 

 to all cereals. 



IKe Importance of Small Grains : There is only time for a word 

 concerning methods of improving the small grains. Starting with 

 a good variety something may be accomplished by carefully grading 

 the seed and using only the larger ones. This should be done 

 through the use of screens rather than by the use of wind, since it 

 is the size of the seed rather than the specific gravity or relative 

 density that is desired. This method of selection is only partially 

 successful since large seeds do not necessarily come from large 

 yielding plants or small seeds from low yielding plants, but it is 

 of sufficient value to pay for the expense involved and is a step in 

 the right direction even if the only value be to secure uniformity of 

 stand and germination. The next step is to maintain a small seed 

 patch from which seed for the main crop may be raised. Select the 

 best stools, preferably the best heads from the best stools and plant 

 this seed patch from seed thus obtained. Afterwards select the 

 best of the seed patch for the next year's seed patch, using the re- 

 mainder for the general crop. 



A further step is the plant nursery, in which a number of seeds, 

 say 50 or 100 from each selected plant, are planted separately, in 

 order that the hereditary power of each separate individual may be 

 observed and selections made from those which show the best re- 



