382 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



2. An ear of medium size. One important thing to bear in mind is 

 that the very large ears of corn are not, on most soils, the best to plant 

 for seed. The larger the ear the greater the amount of fertilizing matter 

 and the longer the growing season required to produce it. If a large 

 eared variety or strain of corn is planted and either of these factors are 

 deficient the result is a smaller yield of grain than if a medium sized ear 

 had been used. It is, however, desirable to have the largest possible 

 amount of grain on an ear of medium length. 



3. A moderately deep kernel. It is obvious that as between two ears 

 otherwise simiilar the one with the shallower kernels will have the less 

 grain. A good illustration of this may be had by finding two ears, one 

 with deep (Fig. 358, B) and one with shallow kernels (Fig. 358, A), but 

 with the same number of rows of kernels and with cobs of the same length, 

 shelling them and weighing the grain. Note the difference in the weight 

 of grain. 



A deep kernel is almost always rough on the cap, and a shallow 

 kernel is smooth. Hence a desirable ear of seed corn will be somewhat 

 rough on the surface. 



A deep, rough kernel requires a longer growing season than does a 

 shallow, smooth one. There is, therefore, a limit to the depth of the 

 kernel that can be grown in any locality. The shorter and cooler the 

 growing season the shallower the kernel that it is possible to produce. 

 In selecting seed, do not take an ear with kernels so deep that they are 

 chaffy. Such an ear will not sprout well, giving a poor stand of corn, 

 and it will produce grain that will not fully mature. Avoid, on the one 

 hand, a very shallow kernel, and on the other a chaffy one. If the cob 

 can be twisted in the hands or if the kernels are quite loose on the cob 

 the ear has not ripened fully. 



4. Tip well filled out. It is desirable to have the kernels run well 

 to the tip of the corn. The extent to which the ears are filled out will 

 depend to some extent, on the season and the soil as well as upon the 

 inherited qualities of the plants, but in order to be sure that you are not 

 selecting ears from plants with an inherent tendency to produce poor tips 

 it is well to discard such ears, and to take only ears that are at least 

 moderately well filled out. (Fig. 359, A, B, F.) 



5. Butt well rounded out. The butt should be well filled with good 

 sized kernels. (Fig. 359, E.) The shank, which holds the ear on the 

 stalk should not be excessively large (Fig. 350, F)), as such an ear dries 

 out slowly and is more apt to be injured by the frost than one with a 

 smaller shank. On the other hand a very small shank is apt to break off 

 during a very heavy wind, and the ear is then lost. (Fig. 359, C.) 



6. Properly shaped kernels. The shape of the kernel should be taken 

 into consideration, and to facilitate the consideration of this character, a, 



