156 



ored graius were planted in 1889 in such a way that the plants were out 

 of the reach of the pollen from other varieties. Ears were produced 

 which proved that the Black Mexican corn had fertilized dark-colored 

 grains on the ears of Flint the previous year. Besides the Yellow Flint 

 and the Black Sweet grains, there were Yellow Sweet, Black Flint, 

 White Sweet, and White Flint grains on nearly every ear. The up- 

 pearance of White Sweet grains is exi)lained on the assumption that 

 the Black sweet-corn had at some previous time been mixed with a very 

 light-colored variety of sweet-corn, while the White Flint grains may 

 have come from a previous ancestor of White Flint, or even White Sweet. 

 Moreover, the fact that on several of the ears were grains of sweet-corn 

 of a reddish or flesh-colored tint, peculiar to a variety of sweet-corn 

 called Early Narragansett, may indicate that this variety was among 

 the ancestors of the Black Mexican Sweet. 



"The i)raetical lesson taught by the example of an ear with the six 

 or seven kinds of corn shown is that we must ' breed' our corn for a 

 number of years pure, aud carefully select the seed, according to some 

 type, if we would have distinct varieties. The principles of heredity 

 may find as practical application in breeding corn as in breeding cattle. 



* * * Here both parents probably had recently been crossed with 

 difl'ereut varieties, and the different ancestral characteristics reappeared 

 and determined the form or color, or both, of some ot these kernels. 



* * * So, in corn growing, it pays to keep seed pure. Retain one 

 intelligently selected type, and by cultivation aud selection, and even 

 by cross-fertilization, improve and ^lix' the desired type. * * * 

 Farmers in every corn-growing locality should develop varieties of 

 corn suited to the existing conditions and raise seed for sale." Practical 

 suggestions as to the ways for doing this are given. 



Peas, beans, flax, and other crops, W. M. Hays, B. S. A. 

 (pp. 95-98). — Under this head are given brief notes ou tests of 3 varie- 

 ties of horse beans, 7 of cow-peas, G of field pears, 2 of garden peas, 

 oats and peas sowed together, 3 varieties of buckwheat, and 3 of millet. 



Eesults of seeding rusted, frosted, and frozen wheat op 

 1888, D. X. Harper, Ph. D. (pp. 99-llG).*— The object of the observa- 

 tions aud experiments reported in this article was to study the charac- 

 teristics of " poor wheat," so called, and the efifect^s of frost, rust, and 

 other injurious agencies upon its value for milling and for sowing. The 

 smoother the hull of wheat the more easily and economically can it be 

 milled, and if for any reason the hull has been seriously injured the 

 ^ value of the wheat for making "patent" flour is decreased. Injuries 

 to the hull may not affect the germ or the interior of the grain, so that 

 wheat which grades low for milling may be of good quality for seed. 

 In 1888 much of the wheat failed to grade high for milling, and was, 



*For previous reports ou this same general subject, see Bulletins Nos. 5, 6, and 7 of 

 this station, abstracts of which uiay be fouud in Experiment Station Record, Vol. 1^ 

 pp. 91-100. 



