204 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



Mr. FooTE. I didn't know, but if, for any reason, by 

 dampness or by accident, the bag should be broken it should 

 be repaired. 



Mr. Shamel. It is necessary, of course, to cover the seed 

 in order to prevent cross-fertiHzation, 



Mr. Hale. In speaking of corn breeding, I v^'ould like to 

 ask Mr. Shamel if he knows anything of the method pursued 

 by Col. Wood. 



Mr. Shamel. No, sir; I do not. 



Mr. Hale. I was telling a party of his method of selec- 

 tion. Mr. Collingwood in the Rural New Yorker has had 

 considerable to say about it. His method of selection is this: 

 To select the strongest stalk in the field, and the stalk having 

 the greatest number of ears, and to always get the small ear. 

 He has shown that by pursuing this method he gets a very 

 strong, vigorous stalk, and by breeding it up he is able to get 

 a variety having quite a large number of ears. Ordinarily 

 I think we usually have varieties that bear only two or three 

 ears to a stalk, but in this variety he gets from five to eight 

 ears from the stalk. 



Mr. Shamel. I have no reply to make. I should think 

 that the greater number of ears that can be grown on the 

 stalk the more it would vary. I have no doubt of that, and in 

 fact I have seen varieties which naturally have grown from five 

 to eight ears of corn, but for feeding purposes I think that one 

 ear to the stalk, perhaps, gives the best results in the quality 

 of the corn. As indicated by Mr. Hale here, it would be more 

 beneficial if we could secure a greater number that were up to 

 the standard, but so far we have not been able to secure more 

 than one good ear to the stalk. 



Secretary Brown. I should like to ask Dr. Britton to say 

 a few words along the lines of his work during the past year. 

 What he will say may have an important bearing upon the 

 insect pests of tobacco, and incidentally throw light upon the 

 subject of the discussion here. 



