Corn Growers' Association. 325 



by the better care of seed corn and by better cultivation, increases 

 his yields very materially. 



Great is environment in the animal world. A few months of 

 "home comforts" in the Mississippi valley will so transform the 

 semi-wild razor-back hog of the forests of the south land that his 

 own mother cannot recognize him! 



A change of environment is as potent in the other direction. 

 Turn your lordly challenger of the International over to the tender 

 mercies of the average farmer, and he will deteriorate into some- 

 thing that looks very like the real scrub. 



Great is environment! Sometimes it seems as though it was 

 everything! But no. In a stable, with which I am familiar, are a 

 half dozen cows. They belong to the same breed. Their ancestry 

 is much the same — color almost identical. They have been fed the 

 same kind of feed, differing by nothing in quality, and in amount 

 by not so much as one-fourth of one cent's worth per day in the 

 last 365 days. All working under the same controlled environ- 

 ment, and yet one has produced 400 pounds of butter the past year, 

 while another has produced but 200 pounds. 



To what is this difference attributable? Certainly to some- 

 thing inherent in the individual. This something existed, in part, 

 before the appearance of this particular individual; it will be 

 handed down, in part, to the descendants of this individual. This 

 heritable something is what we know as heredity. 



The individuality of each animal on this earth today stands 

 out apart from all other animals and the wonderful improvement 

 which we observe when we compare the record-breaking dairy cow 

 of today with the cow of 100 years ago ; the record-breaking Ameri- 

 can trotting horse of today with the trotter of the days of Dexter, 

 has been brought about by selecting the exceptional individual 

 from the mass and perpetuating his good qualities, in part, in his 

 descendants. 



The hereditary differences which have long been observed and 

 taken advantage of in the animal world, exist also in the plant 

 world. Assuming, then, that the proposition is accepted by you 

 that ears of corn looking very much alike and nominally of the 

 same variety, when grown under conditions as nearly identical as 

 can be made, may vary widely in their productive ability, three 

 very important questions present themselves, viz : 



1. How can we best lay hands upon the superior individuals? 



2. What methods are best adapted to the perpetuation of 

 their superior qualities? 



