Improving Corn by Seed Selection. 



565 



narily, however, the dent varieties and large eared flint sorts have 

 difficulty in maturing in the greater part of the State, and early ma- 

 turity is thus one of the necessary characters for a successful corn for 

 New York conditions. Large eared sorts are uniformly late in season, 

 requiring considerable time to dry out and mature. What we appar-- 

 ently desire, therefore, is 

 a variety giving a rather 

 smaller ear than is se- 

 lected in the corn States 

 of the middle west. 



If the field of corn is 

 standing from which se- 

 lections of ears are to be 

 made, the work should 

 be done shortly after the 

 first light frosts. The 

 grower can pass slowly 

 along row after row, strip- 

 ping down the husks and 

 examining each ear that 

 from outside appearances 

 looks promising. A con- 

 siderable number of ver\^ 

 good, fully matured ears 

 should be selected in this 

 way and from these 'the 

 best twenty-five can be 

 selected for the seed im- 

 provement work. 



If the corn, from which 

 selections are to be made has been cut, it should be husked before any 

 severely cold weather has occurred, as no opportunity should be allowed 

 for the seed to freeze before it is thoroughly dried. After husking, the 

 twenty-five best ears can be selected as before, the early maturing ears 

 being judged by the solidity of the kernels on the cob. 



By whichever method the twenty-five ears are selected when once 

 they are selected, which should have been done before any freezes have 

 occurred, they should be hung up in a warm drs^ room, preferably in a 

 room where a fire is maintained for a portion of the day at least. It is 

 important that the ears dry quickly as this improves the germinability 

 and vigor of the ensuing crop. 



Fig. 2. — Kernels short and undesirable on left-hand 

 ear; kernels long and well-shaped on right-hand 

 ear. Pride-of-the-N orth corn. 



