28 VALUE OF FIKST-GENEEATION HYBRIDS IN CORN. 



HYBRID MH 16, ARRIBENO BY HAIRY MEXICAN. 



Female parent. — Similar to the female parent of Mhl5, but a larger 

 variety. Average height, 9 feet. The 15 plants grown produced 10 

 ears and 7 nubbins, weighing 5.8 pounds. 



Male imrent. — Same as the male parent of hybrid Mhl5. 



Hyhrid. — Plants similar to hybrid Mhl5, but more robust and uni- 

 form. A striking characteristic of this cross was that the leaf blades, 

 though slightly shorter, were much broader than those of either 

 parent. The fifth blade of the hybrid averaged 31.3 by 5.6 inches. 

 The corresponding blade of the female parent averaged 35.4 by 4.1 

 and the male 31.5 by 4.7 inches. Average height, 9 feet. The 14 

 plants grown produced 9 ears and 7 nubbins, weighing 6.6 pounds. 



HYBRID MH 17, HAIRY MEXICAN BY CHINESE. 



Female parent. — The same as the male parent of hybrid Mill 5. 



Male parent. — The same as the male parent of hybrid Dhl. 



Hybrid. — Plants and ears fairly uniform. One difference between 

 the parent strains is that in the female parent when more than one 

 ear is produced at a node the secondary ear is borne directly in the 

 axil of the prophyllum. The male parent resembles the United States 

 varieties in havmg the first secondary ear borne in the axil of the first 

 husk. Of the hybrid plants that produce secondary ears one-half 

 resembled the male and one-half the female in this respect. The only 

 abnormalities noted were a tendency in a number of plants to have the 

 leaves on the upper part of the plant crowded and one ear with a 

 staminate spike at the tip. Average height, 7 feet 4 inches. The 16 

 plants grown produced 18 ears and 4 nubbins, w^eighing 9.8 pounds. 



HYBRID MH 25, MEXICAN DENT BY TOM THUMB. 



Female parent. — A large Mexican variety with a pronounced tend- 

 ency to produce large secondary ears. One interrupted ear was pro- 

 duced. Average height, 11 feet 7 inches. The 15 plants grown 

 produced 10 ears and 15 nubbms, weighing 7.8 pounds. 



Male parent. — The same as the female parent of hybrid Gh2, 

 Hyhrid. — Plants resembling the female parent in most particulars. 

 About one-half the ears exceeded the husks. Average height, 6 feet 

 7 inches. The 16 plants grown produced 22 ears and 13 nubbins, 

 weighing 8.6 pounds. Though this cross would seem to have been 

 quite as violent as Gh2, no pronounced abnormalities were found. 



YIELDS OF FIRST-GENERATION HYBRIDS. 



The following table shows the behavior of the 16 crosses and their 

 parents. The yields are given as yield per plant and were calculated 



191 



