The Bulletin. 25 



three or four geographic divisions of the State to develop and require 

 varieties and strains of corn suited to their own peculiar conditions of 

 soil and climate. 



There are hundreds of different commercial varieties and strains of 

 corn in the United States to-day. A number of these commercial varie- 

 ties have distinguishing characteristics, while many of them have not, 

 but are the same variety listed under different trade names for com- 

 mercial purposes only. This is, of course, unfortunate, as it serves 

 only to confuse the farmer and causes him, many times, to buy seed corn 

 that he otherwise would not have bought had he known just what the 

 would-be new variety represented. There are, however, a number of 

 good and distinct varieties of corn in l^orth Carolina grown by men of 

 the highest integrity and put on the market under such trade names as 

 will not confuse the buyer. Among these are Biggs' Seven-ear, Good- 

 man's Prolific, Cocke's Prolific, Weekley's Improved, Hickory King, 

 Farmer's Pavorite, and a number of others. 



In the case of live stock, each breed or strain is developed to meet 

 some special need or demand; so, also, in plants, in general, a variety 

 is the result of a definite set of environmental conditions that have 

 combined to produce the variations that go to make the new strain. The 

 variety, then, is the result either of changed natural conditions or of 

 effect along lines carefully laid with a view to adapt and adjust strains 

 of plants to new environmental conditions. The variety thus developed 

 is, in the nature of the case, adapted to the surroundings where it has 

 been making its best yields. 



In the case of corn the mere existence of corn varieties carries with 

 it the suggestion that they are not all equally well suited to all climatic 

 and soil conditions, and that each one has, doubtless, proven to be the 

 best variety tested in its native locality. We are to assume, then, that 

 these are all good corns when grown under favorable soil and climatic 

 conditions. Again, since varieties of plants are generally developed in 

 a given locality under given soil and climatic conditions, it follows that 

 they will make as good, if not better, yields when propagated under soil 

 and climatic conditions similar to those under which they have been 

 developed. ISTow, if there be a probability that varieties of corn will 

 make better yields in their native environments than elsewhere, it 

 follows that the adaptability of the many different varieties put on the 

 market should be tested. If any of them are well suited to the climate 

 and soils of our State it is worth our while to know it. Should they 

 not be adapted to our conditions, such knowledge is a necessary pro- 

 tection against loss. The only way to gain this knowledge is to subject 

 these corns to a rigid test on our soils. The recommendations of the 

 seedmen are frequently unreliable, since they never know whether the 

 environment in which the variety has been developed is similar to the 

 one in which it will be forced to grow. 



