438 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



the law that " like produces like," the sterile father exerts an influence 

 tending to the production from the offspring of plants like himself — sterile. 



I believe that this influence of sterile males has more to do with the 

 decrease in product of a variety at first prolific than any other one cause. 



There is but one way to eradicate this evil, and that is to go through the 

 corn at blossoming time and remove the tassels from all plants bearing no 

 ears, before the shedding of pollen commences. We can thus insure the 

 transmission of a tendency to productiveness from both parents, and having 

 done this, we can look forward to a certain reward for our attention to the 

 other details. 



AN AVERAGE BUSHEL OF CORN". 



In order to make an approximate estimate of the degree of barrenness in 

 an average cornfield, and to possess myself of a tangible starting point for 

 a comparison of what we harvest, and what, by due attention to the seed, 

 we ought to harvest, I obtained from a farmer a basket of corn on the cob. 

 It was taken from the top of a well sheltered crib (January 5, 1889), and 

 was a fair sample of the crop from an 18 acre field, which measured out 82 

 baskets or 41 bushels of shelled corn to the acre, a yield rather above the 

 average as indicated in the State farm statistics for the year 1886, which 

 give an average for the State of 29.1 bushels, and for Jackson county of 

 35.3 bushels. 



My sample weighed exactly 35 pounds — one-half bushel. I counted the 

 ears, and divided them, according to their appearance, into three classes. 

 There were of fair ears, 13 ; of medium ears, 56 ; of poor ears and nubbins, 

 39 ; 108 in all. There was not a really good ear in the lot, none that I 

 would care to use as seed. The color varied greatly; the kernels varied in 

 shape all the way from narrow and deeply dented, to the broad rounded 

 ones, characteristic of the flint varieties. The number of rows of kernels 

 varied from 8 to 20. It was very evident that no attempt to breed to a type 

 or to keep a variety pure had, in this case, been made. Taking each ear by 

 itself, I weighed it, ascertained the weight of grain, the weight of cob, the 

 length, and the number of rows of kernels. The results were tabulated, 

 and from them I have drawn certain averages. The average weight of grain 

 to the ear in the three classes was: For the 13 fair ears, 6.08 ounces; for 

 the 56 medium ears, 4.22 ounces; and for the poor ears, 2.34 ounces. These 

 averages are quite low. The New York Experiment Station, from many 

 trials, takes seven ounces as an average. This is nearly an ounce more than 

 the average of our 13 best ears, and nearly double the average of our total of 

 108 ears, which is 3.77 ounces. 



BARREN CORN" STALKS. 



Now let us examine the degree of prolificacy as indicated by our sample. 

 Doubling the number of ears in each class, and. multiplying by 41, the yield 

 in bushels per acre, we have as the product of one acre 1,066 fair ears, 4,592 

 medium ears and 3,196 poor ears, or a total of 8,856 ears. The corn was 

 planted 4x4 feet and averaged four stalks to the hill, giving us 10,890 

 stalks on an acre. 



Now suppose we allow one ear to a stalk ; you will observe that we have 

 not enough ears to go round, but have left 2,034 stalks, or 18 per cent, that 



