64 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



Strong stalks, true to the type which we wish to raise. Then we must 

 have our corn some distance from any other field because the pollen may 

 be carried sometimes one-fourth of a mile by the wind and this accounts 

 for our getting ears in our corn containing colors and characteristics 

 which are not in the regular crop. People are at a loss to know where 

 they come from. They come from some adjoining field the character- 

 istics of which are brought by the pollen. 



This also has bearing on the question of running out. Many corn 

 growers think that they can only raise corn from a certain strain for a 

 number of years and must then go or send elsewhere for a new strain 

 because the old one has "run out." There is really no such thing as 

 "running out." It would be better to say it is carelessness in allowing 

 the corn to be pollinated by pollen from any kind of corn. If the corn 

 is selected — that is, if the tassels are weeded out before they shed their 

 pollen and care is taken to prevent mixtures from worthless kinds of 

 corn, the corn is in no danger of deteriorating or running out. In 

 this way the corn is not only kept up but improved from year to year. 



DISCUSSION. 



Col. Waters — (Holding up some ears). Here is the pure white 

 corn. Here is the detasseled corn and here is the first cross. 



Mr. Reed — It has just begun to be recognized that the character- 

 istics of both the parents are not always transmitted. We may have 

 for instance a white and a yellow corn and after allowing them to cross 

 we may get seed which is entirely white, or we may get seed which is 

 entirely yellow, or we may get a mixture of the two. Now suppose we 

 had crossed the white and yellow corn and the seed from that cross was 

 all white. We plant that corn and the corn which we raise from that 

 seed may be part white and part yellow. It is due to what is called the 

 dominance of characteristics that the white character was dominant in 

 the first generation, but it might not be dominant in the next generation, 

 that is, the next generation may resemble the grandparents without 

 resembling the immediate parents. 



Mr. Kurtz — We have a type of corn in our county but the great 

 objection to it is that the ear is too small. But when we put it on the 

 scales it is as big as anybody's. I thought that by crossing we might 

 increase the size of the ear. I planted an ear of white and an ear of 

 yellow side by side. I took the tassels out of the white and made the 

 first cross. How many crosses will we have to make to increase the 

 size of the ear without losing any of its good qualities? 



Mr. Reed — Such things occasionally come the first time as a result 



