680 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



yield than the very largest ears for that locality. This must be evi- 

 dent from the fact that the largest corn of any locality does not always 

 properly mature. In this connection it will be well for us to remember 

 that one of the greatest mistakes that we have made in selecting our 

 corn for the field and selecting our corn for the show has been the 

 selection of a type too large for the locality in which it is grown. The 

 farmer likes to see the large ear because it is that kind that fills up 

 the wagon and in his judgment the kind that produces the yield, and 

 the judge likes to place the ribbon upon such a sample because he has 

 more corn. We will need to give special heed to this in the northern 

 part of the corn belt. The careful corn grower will select the largest 

 ear of corn that he is certain will mature in his locality every year. 



In shape the ear should be rather cylindrical, slightly tapering from 

 butt to tip. Experiments indicate that the highest-producing ears of corn 

 are those which conform to this type. The ears should carry out full and 

 strong in the middle, and should have their greatest circumference about 

 one-third the distance from the butt to the tip. The circumference here 

 is often called constitution, and, while we like to see ears which are full 

 and strong in this respect, this is not always a characteristic of corn which 

 is strong. If this were true, short, stubby ears with a large circum- 

 ference would be the strongest producers. Long ears are objectionable 

 because they are generally weak in the center, although they might not 

 necessarily be weak in constitution. It has been found by repeated ex- 

 periments that ears which are slightly above the average in length are 

 the heaviest yielders. However, extremely long ears usually have poor 

 butts and tips, shallow kernels, and hence a low per cent of grain to 

 the ear. Short, thick ears, on the other hand, are objectionable not only 

 because they are poor in yielding qualities, but because they lack quality, 

 and are late maturing and hence inclined to be weak in vitality. 



The butt of the ear should be well filled out, and not club shaped nor 

 too small, and should have a shank of medium size. Large open butts 

 with large shanks indicate lack of breeding and late maturing. Such 

 ears are hard to break off in husking. Small butts, very closely filled 

 with irregular kernels and having a small, weak shank, show a lack 

 of strength and frequently blow off the stalk before maturity. Corn of 

 this type will not be the heaviest producer. In medium varieties of 

 corn, the shank should be about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. 

 The cavity in the butt of the ear should be slightly larger. This should 

 be smooth and should blend nicely into the kernels, which should be of 

 uniform shape and arranged in straight rows from the butt to the tip 

 of the ear. The tip of the ear should be well filled with deep, well- 

 dented kernels and the rows should run well out on the end. It is not 

 at all necessary that the tip should be completely covered. In fact, this 

 is a "fancy" point and is usually correlated with short, stubby, late- 

 maturing ears. We find that this characteristic is developed at the 

 expense of other desirable characteristics in our corn. Because such ears 

 have a nice appearance it is not infrequent to find very inferior ears 

 which are filled over the tips at our corn shows. Of course, if we can 

 find corn having every characteristic which we desire and at the same 

 time well filled at the tip, such corn will be given preference. But it 



