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STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



CORN IMPROVEMENT THROUGH INTENSIFIED SELECTION 



THE EAR ROW TEST AND REMNANT SYSTEM 



Corn is an extremely adaptable plant in the hands of the experienced 

 breeder. Only a few hundred years ago this crop was grown only by 

 the ADierican Indian. Judged by specimens preserved in burial mounds, 

 and by varieties found in the hands of the Indians by incoming set- 

 tlers, corn, as the Indians knew it, was much smaller eared and of in- 

 ferior types as compared to present standards. In the hands of the 

 white man, hundreds of varieties have been created to suit new condi- 

 tions and uses. 



Possibilities in corn improvement have by no means been fully realiz- 

 ed, in spite of the great strides which have been made in corn develop- 

 ment by careful field selection. It has long been known that individual 



28. Ear row test of Duncan corn, 100 ear unit. (M. A. C. Experiment Station 1919.) 



