The Bulletin. 15 



purity as shown by the color of the ear. 



'No place will the mixing of two varieties of com show quicker than 

 in the kernel. Especially is this true of their coloring; and for this 

 reason any lack of uniformity in the coloring of the corn is enough to 

 justify the judge in throwing the exhibit out of the contest, or, if 

 selecting for seed, to justify the farmer in discarding it. If any ear is 

 off in coloring it is pretty surely off in uniformity, trueness to type, and 

 other points as well. Therefore, in selecting for exhibition or for seed, 

 <;are should be taken to see that every kernel in every ear is of the color 

 true to that particular type or variety. For instance, if it is a yellow 

 variety see that every kernel is yellow and that none of them show any 

 indication of being mixed with white. If it is a white variety vice 

 versa. There are a few varieties of com that are legitimately mixed in 

 <;olor, but these occur more in sweet corn and only one or two varieties 

 of field com ; but wherever they occur they are not the types of corn the 

 average farmer wants to grow. We are all familiar with the "speckled 

 €ar" and the "red ear" of "com shucking" fame, but they are fast losing 

 their popularity because those who prized them most are being drawn 

 away from the corn crib and its unpurchasable pleasure by the glamour 

 of the city and its money-bought pleasures. These variously colored 

 ■ears, while they had a place in the social life of the farm, were excusable, 

 but since they have been relegated to the past by the young people, the 

 farmers should shun them doubly as much. 



Eemember this in your selection : that the ear or collection of ears 

 that has any kemels showing the least trace of coloring which is not 

 true to type is regarded with disfavor by the best com judges and by 

 those who pride themselves on growing the best com, and that there is 

 no characteristic which shows the effects of cross breeding quicker than 

 the color of the ears. 



BUTTS OF THE EARS. 



In selecting an ideal butt there are several important points to be 

 considered. The rows of kemels should extend in regular order over 

 the butt and around the shank of the ear. The kemels should resemble 

 very closely in size, shape, and indentation, the kernels in the center of 

 the ear. Of course, the extreme outside circle of kernels will be some- 

 what rounded by the pressure of the husks, but this should not be too 

 pronounced. The per cent of shelled com that an ear will yield depends 

 largely on the amount of cob left exposed; so you can readily see the 

 importance of having the cob fully and evenly filled out at the butt. 

 When the shank is broken off, the butt should present a decided depres- 

 sion. If the kemels are not well filled out about the shank it is usually 

 developed very large and strong. This seriously interferes with harvest- 

 ing as it is diificult to break off the shank. You want a shank that is 

 strong enough to support the ear in a curved position, one that is 

 strongly enough attached to the ear to prevent its being broken off by 

 the wind, but not so large as to hold the ear in an upright position. 

 When the ear is held on a curved shank so that the tip is below the butt 



