430 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ings increased yields and decreased number of suckers were obtained 

 by the furrow method. Tlie work ah)ng these lines leads to the 

 opinion that the advantages of one method of planting over another 

 are largely determined by local conditions of soil, topography, and 

 season. 



Cooperative variety tests were conducted with farmers in Louisi- 

 ana and Mississippi. Increased yields and more profitable crops are 

 resulting from closer attention to methods of planting, of cultivation, 

 and of harvesting, and to the use of better seed corn. 



Work in the South Atlantic States. — The work in the South 

 Atlantic States may be set forth in the following study headings: 

 (1) Importance of local adaptation (a systematic study of 10 local 

 varieties) ; (2) search for varieties which when crossed give first- 

 generation crosses that are more productive than either parent (14 

 local varieties involved) ; (3) relation between the specific gravity 

 and the productiveness of seed (15 varieties involved) ; (4) reasons 

 for the variations in the specific gravity of seed ; (5) relation of yield 

 to the climate in which the seed is stored; (6) relation of yield to the 

 rate of stalk growth; (7) comparison of furrow planting and level 

 planting. 



Work in the semiarid and the Eocky Mountain regions. — In 

 breeding and selecting for increased production in the semiarid and 

 Rocky Mountain regions especial attention has been given to the 

 problems of drought and heat resistance. A large number of varie- 

 ties from various localities in the United States, as well as varieties 

 introduced from Mexico, Central America, and other countries, have 

 been under observation and trial. Several of the Mexican introduc- 

 tions have shown superior adaptability for the extreme Southwest. 

 No relation has been observed between type of plant and its drought 

 or heat resisting powers. As a role, plants that have been grown 

 longest in any locality withstand best the adverse conditions found 

 there. 



Work in the Central States. — Tests of a large number of crosses 

 of various varieties have revealed one cross which has proved much 

 more productive than either parent. This First Generation Cross 

 182 is being compared in productiveness with local varieties in coop- 

 eration with about GOO farmers. In Wisconsin, South Dakota, and 

 Nebraska the growing of earlier maturing varieties and earlier fall 

 selection and proper preservation of seed have been productive of 

 most profitable results. Cooperative variety testing has shown the 

 superiority of adapted and acclimated strains. 



PLANS FOR FUTURE WORK. 



It is highly advisable that the corn-breeding and field-test work 

 be continued at each of the 24 points where it has been conducted for 

 several years in order to ascertain whether the methods which have 

 given increased yields are capa1)le of affording still greater improve- 

 ment. Experience has rendered cooperators more proficient, and the 

 profitable results obtained have aroused their ambition to do more 

 and better work. It is also advisable to extend to other localities 

 corn-improvement work along the lines which have proved so effec- 

 tive, but which will encounter local problems that the farmer can 



