CORNELL 



IReabingsCourse for ^farmers 



Published Monthly by the New York State College of Agriculture 

 AT Cornell University from November to March, and Entered at 

 Ithaca as Second-Class Matter under Act op Congress July i6, 1894. 

 J-.. H. Bailey, Director. Charles H. Tuck, Supervisor. 



SERIES IX 

 BREEDING 



ITHACA, N. Y. 

 DECEMBER, 1908 



No. 42 



IMPROVING CORN BY 



SEED SELECTION 



IMPROVING CORN BY SEED SELECTION 

 H. J. Webber 

 Professor of Experimental Plant-Breeding 



II. CORN 



While corn is extensively grown in New York and is one of our most 



important agricultural crops, as a whole it seems to the writer that it is 



a much neglected crop. It is grown largely for ensilage purposes, but 



only to a limited extent for the grain. New York produces an abundance 



Fig. I. — Typical ears of Pride-of-the-North corn, one of the best 

 early varieties. Crop of igv/, New York. 



of hay and roughage but has a shortage of concentrates. If more atten- 

 tion was given to the improvement of corn it is probable that its culti- 

 vation for grain would become more general. We greatly need earlier dent 

 varieties of higher yielding capacity (Fig. i). In the majority of cases 



563 



