Corn Growers' Association. 327 



sadly disappointed in their purchase of seed corn for this reason. 

 What they needed was not seed from the one hundred-bushel-to-the- 

 acre field of some prominent seed grower, but rather the field itself 

 and its environment. Seed corn excellence which rests mainly 

 upon environment is not very valuable. What we want is excellence 

 which is hereditary. By selecting seed corn upon the plant as it 

 is ripening, one stands a much better chance to secure the latter. 



PLANT SELECTION. 



With this thought in view, the writer conducted tests in 1906 

 and 1907, in which ears selected from plants growing under normal 

 conditions of stand, and as nearly normal in other environment as 

 it was possible to judge, were compared with other ears of the 

 same variety and selected from the same field, but selected from the 

 wagon, no attention being given to environment. As might be 

 expected, the ears selected from the wagon were superior in size 

 and general appearance. 



In 1906 eight tenth-acre plots were planted from the two 

 selections, four plots of the plant selected seed, and four of the seed 

 selected in the ordinary way. The average yield of the four plant 



selection plots was 72 . 49 bushels per acre. 



Of the ordinary selection plots 69 . 26 



Gain for plant selection 3 . 23 



In 1907 twenty tenth-acre plots were used in this work, 

 ten being planted from the plant selected seed, and ten 

 from the ordinary. The average yield of the ten plant selec- 

 tion plots was 89 . 04 bushels per acre. 



Of the ten ordinary selection plots 84 . 64 



Gain for plant selection 4.40 



In connection with the matter of seed selection, permit me to 

 call your attention to some characters in plant and ear which, I be- 

 lieve, deserve the consideration of the corn grower. 



MATURITY. 



I cannot speak for conditions in your State, Missouri, but 

 many Ohio farmers are growing corn that is too late in maturing. 

 In seasons like the present the loss from this source is quite serious. 

 It is not wise to grow a variety which will only mature in seasons 

 of extreme length. The habit of completing growth before killing 

 frosts are to be expected should be well fixed. The variation in 

 the time of maturing existing between individual plants of a given 



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