Plaxt-Breklixg fur Farmers. 



149 



selections to the earliest plants. The field should be gone over slowly 

 and carefully, row by row, and the b:st productive early plants marked 

 for seed. The grower should select an ideal type so far as the variety he 

 is selecting is concerned and adhere as near as possible to this type. 

 The aim should be to select a hundred or more of the best ears from the 

 earliest and most desirable stalks. Always select about twice as many 

 ears as desired so that some of them may be discarded when examined in 

 detail later. \\dicn the plants have been selected the ears should be 

 husked and taken into a dry room for preservation or the stalks should be 

 cut and placed in a dry room where they will dry quickly and without 

 injury from freezing. If the ears are pretty thoroughly ripened the best 

 policy is doubtless to husk them immediately and if rather immature 



Fig. 140. — Typical ears, Pride of North corn. Crop of 1907, Ke'w York. 



when selected and there is danger of freezes it may be well to cut the 

 stalks and allow them to dry and ripen on the stalks by placing these in a 

 sheltered, warm place. In general seed corn should be dried quickly 

 and thoroughly and to do this the ears should be hung over wires in a 

 warm room or placed loosely on open shelves where the air can circulate 

 freely around them. If a stove can be placed in the seed room it is desir- 

 able to use some artificial heat. 



In the winter when there is no rush of farm work to interrupt, place 

 the seed ears selected in rows on a table with the tips of the ears pointing 

 in the same direction. Then examine every ear critically as to type, 

 shape, depth of kernel, and other desirable characters. A few kernels 

 taken out from near the tip, butt and middle of any ear will show the 

 general character of that ear. If the kernels of any ear are too short or 



