March 16, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



249 



stand of corn silk at its point of attachment is reduced 

 to the diameter of a fine human hair. How wonderful 

 is a well filled ear of corn, when yo\: consider that no 

 corn flower can develop into a perfect kernel, unless 

 pollen from the male flowers comes in contact with its 

 own particular strand of silk, extending its life-giving 

 force down the whole length, a distance of several inches 

 in the case of the lower flowers. 



Figure 5 shows a group of female flowers, each witli 

 its strand of silk. In Figure 6 some strands have been 

 removed, to show more distinctly in others the hair-like 

 narrowing at the base. Another curious feature is that 

 the first strands to emerge from the husk have the 

 longest distance to travel, as they belong to the flowers 

 near the base of the cob. We see then that as all the 

 fibres of silk do not come out of the husk at the same 

 period they are not simultaneously ready to receive the 

 pollen. This is the reason for so 

 many male flowers, and why they 

 open and shed pollen over a consid- 

 erable amount of time. Corn jiollen 

 is usually sul|iluir ye!low iu the sweet- 

 est kinds. This color contrasting 

 with that of the silk enables us to 

 see it when they come in contact, if 



many charms when 

 "good and dead" if 

 examined with this 

 instrument. When 

 the male flowers 

 reach the stage 

 shown in Figure 1 

 liend over the stalks, 

 shaking the pollen 

 into a paper and 

 spilling it onto the 

 silk of the plants se- 

 lected as females, 

 ^ever let a feeble 

 plant open its flow- 

 ers, and never save 

 seed from a feeble 



Figure C 



Figure 5 



we use a hand magni- 

 fier. Its "subsequent 

 proceedings" while 

 most interesting, tan 

 only be followed by 

 using a microscope. 

 They are now so good 

 and cheap, open such 

 a world of beauty and 

 are so easy to handle 

 that a gardener who 

 does not employ one 

 loses much pleasure. 

 Even the hateful bugs, 

 fungi and bacteria, 

 that makes gardening 

 one long battle, have Boston. 



Figure 4 



plant. In deciding which of the fer- 

 tilized ears to save for seed, strip 

 back the husk when the corn is in the 

 milk, and with a small and sharp 

 gouge remove a few unimportant 

 kernels, carefully placing the husk 

 and making it weather ]iroof by a 

 light rubber band. The scientific way 

 to test for sweetness would be by the methods used with 

 sugar beets, but this would tell nothing of flavor, there- 

 tore test for both by carefully chewing the raw kernels. 

 Mark each tested ear that seems promising and keep a 

 record. If you happen to get a variety to suit you and 

 live in Northern New England, you may find "there 

 comes a killing frost, and when you think, good easy 

 nuiii, your greatness is a ripening, nips your root." 

 Then you can have your fuu all over again, trying to 

 combine quality with extreme earliness. I wish j'ou 

 luck, and however scientifically a plant breeding experi- 

 ment is conducted with garden varieties, their ancestry 

 is so complicated and unknown that luck will play a 

 groat jiart. 



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