Rural School Leaflet 



947 



o-< Iwrvv 



But above all, Corn Day should be a time when fathers and mothers 

 and friends shall come to the school and strengthen their friendship with 

 the teacher and learn what the young persons are doing. Often a school 

 will send out to the grown folk attractive invitations on which there 

 is a drawing or picture of corn. Indeed, there are 

 any number of things that come out spontaneously 

 in each school in which plans are made for a good 

 Corn Day. 



In selecting the samples of corn for the exhibit, 

 ten ears are usually considered a unit sample. 

 These ten ears should be all of the same kind of 

 corn, and they should be as nearly alike as to size, 

 shape, and color as it is possible to get them. 

 Arrange each set of ten ears by itself and label it 

 carefully. A very good plan is to ask a farmer 

 in the neighborhood to judge the corn brought 

 into the school on Corn Day. This will give an 

 opportunity to study the differences between good 

 corn and poor corn. 



Although we have printed many times before 

 the following description of a good ear of corn, 

 written by Professor Gilbert, we feel that it cannot 

 be read too often and that if kept constantly in 

 mind it will serve as an ideal to strive for. While 

 the description applies primarily to dent corn, it 

 may be made to apply to flint corn as well. 



i. Shape of ears. — A perfect ear of corn should 

 be full and strong in the middle part, indicating 

 a strong constitution. It should retain this size 

 to near the tip and butt, thus forming as nearly 

 as possible a cylindrical ear. 



2. Butts of ears. — The rows of kernels should 

 extend well down over the butts of the ears, 

 thus giving an ear of better appearance and con- 

 taining a higher yield of grain. The shank, or 

 the part of the stalk that is attached to the ear, 

 should not be too large and coarse. Swelled, open, 

 or badly compressed butts, as well as those having kernels of irregular 

 size, are objectionable. 



3. Tips of ears. — The tips of the ears should be well filled out, indi- 

 cating a type of corn that will mature easily. The rows of kernels should 

 extend in a regular line to the extreme tip of the ear. 



my- ; 



A good ear of corn 



