28 



FLINT CORN CROSSED WITH DENT CORN. 



Experiment Ji/:i, Oilman Flint 9 X Learning Yellov) $ . — The plants 

 were grown and crossed at Washington in the summer and fall of 

 1898. A small ear resulted, all of the kernels of which resem])led the 

 seed of the mother parent, showing no indication of xenia. 



In the smnmer of 1899 these were grown at Lincoln, and the major- 

 ity, if not all of them, proved to be true hybrids. The plants were 

 intermediate in size between the two parents, in general being larger 

 and less inclined to stool and branch than the Oilman Flint. In all 

 ears the kernels w^ere yellow, but varied somewhat in the intensit}" of 

 the color, some being light-yellow and others orange-yellow\ Some 

 kernels showed a slight dent at the apex wdiile others were lilled out 

 like the mother parent. The majority had an opa(|ue, starchy area at 

 the apex, evidently derived from the male parent. In an examination 

 of a numl)or of ears of this hy))rid it was found that amono- those ears 

 which had kernels resembling mainly the flint parent, but more orange 

 yellow, there were 11 ears with red cobs and 5 ears with white cobs. 

 Among those ears which had kernels more plainly dented and did not 

 show the flint characters so plainly, there were 9 ears with red cobs 

 and 3 ears with white cobs. The red cob thus predominated in the 

 hybrids, though the mother parent had a white cob. 



Experiment 5a ^ Gilman Flint 9 X Hickory King $ . — The plants 

 were grown and crossed at Washington, D. C, in the summer of 1898. 

 Only eight kernels matured, all of which were pure orange yellow 

 like the seed of the mother parent, showing no signs of xenia. 



In the season of 1899 these eight kernels were grown and all proved 

 to be true hybrids. The hybrid plants were intermediate in size 

 between the two parents and stooled from the base considerably, as in 

 the mother parent (PI. Ill, fig. 1), three or four stalks developing from 

 each kernel. These grew much taller and less bushy than the Gilman 

 Flint. The ears, of which six were inbred, matured considerably 

 earlier than Hickory King, but not so earl}' as the Gilman Flint. The 

 cobs of all the ears examined were white. The kernels Avere all slightly 

 dented, smaller than in the Hickor}' King, and more flinty and hard, 

 with a much larger proportion of clear, horny, or corneous endosperm. 

 In color they were yellow or white, kernels of the same color being 

 irregularly mixed in the same ear. 



In neither of the above cases was any indication of xenia shown, but 

 the races used in experiment 4a w^ere unfavorable for the recognition 

 of any effect of this sort, and in experiment 5a only eight kernels were 

 developed. In Kellerman and Swingle's experiments five ears of j^el- 

 low or ])rownish races of flint crossed with white dent gfave no indi- 

 cation of xenia, while one ear of a white flint crossed with yellow dent 

 showed xenia in the production of yellow kernels. 



