^i8 Circular Xu. i. 



and grade is in general the best ear. The cars which give this, ordinarily 

 have deep kernels set on a medium sized cob and are generally well 

 filled at the tip and butt. Length of kernel is one of the most important 

 characters as almost always, if not invariably, high yielding varieties 

 have long kernels. The best form of kernel is wedge shaped, with 

 straight sides and edges. This allows them to occupy all the space on 

 the cob and form a solid heavy ear. They should not be chaffy nor 

 have prolonged chaffy caps. 



Select of good ears, a considerable number more than will be necessary 

 to plant a crop of the size desired and then test the germination of each 

 of these ears by the following method. 



METHOD OF TESTING GERMINATION. 



The simplest way to test sufficient ears for the corn crop on the average 

 sized farm is by means of the germmating box, described byProfessor 

 Holden (Figs, i and 2). Almost any sort of a box of a depth of from 

 four to eight inches and of a size depending on the number of ears to be 

 tested can be used. Soap boxes or tomato can boxes, which can be 

 obtained at any grocery store, are perfectly satisfactory. Do not use 

 any box so large that it cannot be carried around easily by one man. 

 The box should be half filled with sand or sawdust, preferably sawdust 

 thoroughly moistened, but not saturated. This layer of sawdust should 

 be two or three inches deep, and should be packed down so that the 

 surface will be even and smooth. 



A piece of white cloth slightly larger than the size of the box should 

 be ruled off with a lead pencil, checkerboard fashion into squares ij 

 to 25 mches in size. Each square should be numbered consecutively 

 from one upward (Fig. 2). This cloth should be now placed over and 

 m close contact with the sawdust or sand, and tacked to the corners 

 and sides of the box. 



The next step is to lay out the seed ears, the germination of which 

 IS to be tested. They should be arranged in a row on the floor, a table, 

 or a shelf, in a place where they will not be disturbed (Fig. i). To avoid 

 mistakes it is well to number every ear. This can be done by writing 

 the number on a little piece of thin cardboard and insertmg it between 

 the rows of kernels (Fig. i) or the number may be written on a piece 

 of paper and this paper fastened by pushing a pin through it into the 

 butt of the cob or held by a rubber band put around the ear. If there 

 is no possibility of the position of the ears being disturbed this precau- 

 tion may not be necessary. 



Now with a pocket knife remove six kernels from each ear. Take 

 one kernel each, from near the tip, middle and butt on one side of the 



