144 
the five years 1910 to 1914 over 1,000 
ears have been tested out in this way. 
Approximately 10 per cent. of the mother 
ears showing the best performance have 
gone into the crossing plats, the best of 
these crosses going into multiplication 
and into field trials. Some fifty-seven 
crosses have been tested out at the 
breeding stations and the progeny of 
about ten of these crosses has been 
distributed to several hundred farmers 
in the northern part of the State for 
comparison with their own corn. In 
1913 the improved Silver King out- 
yielded all varieties with which it was 
compared, an average of approximately 
five bushels per acre. 
5. Reid’s Yellow Dent Breeding Work. 
A definite project looking to the im- 
provement of the ordinary Reid’s Yellow 
Dent was begun at Ames about 1905. 
From 1905 to 1914 over 2,000 selected 
ears of Reid’s Yellow Dent corn have 
been tested out in ear to row plats. The 
ears showing the best field performance 
are carried over each year to go into the 
crossing plat. 
One very desirable strain known as 
“Towa 203”’ has been developed, which, 
in test trials, has an average of about 
twelve bushels per acre over ordinary 
Reid’s from which it came. Enough 
corn to plant one acre was supplied last 
year to each of several hundred farmers 
in central Iowa for comparison with 
their own corn. 
6. Breeding Red Dent Corn. 
The purpose of this investigation is to 
determine the prepotency of the color 
character in Reid’s Yellow Dent corn. 
This investigation was begun in 1913, 
so that it has been under way for only 
two seasons. During each of these 
seasons the per cent of red and yellow 
ears produced by different shades of 
red mother ears as well as by yellow 
ears with red parentage has been noted. 
In 1914 some 20,000 hills were included 
in the test. 
7. Correlation Studies with Corn. 
The object of this investigation is to 
determine the relation between the ear 
characteristics of seed ears and yield, 
also the relation between the stalk 
characteristics of the plant producing the 
The Journal of Heredity 
seedearand the yielding power of the ear. 
The characteristics of the various seed 
ears which have been planted in ear to 
row test plats have been noted in a 
study of the relation between the char- 
acter of the ear and yield. So far the 
work has consisted simply in securing 
the data. We propose to compile this 
data in the near future. This part of 
the work was begun in 1907. 
The study of stalk characteristics as 
related to yield was begun in 1910 when 
full and detailed notes were made on 
the characteristics of some 500 stalks 
grown under different climatic condi- 
tions. The ear produced by each stalk 
was saved and planted ina separate plat 
the second year, when the yield was 
determined. From 400 to 500 indi- 
vidual plants and an equal number of 
plats have been used in this work each 
year. While but little of this data has 
been compiled, we believe that some 
rather striking correlations between the 
character of the stalk and the yielding 
power of the ear will be found. 
8. Timothy Breeding. 
This project was begun in 1910 when 
some 3,000 plants were put out in the 
nursery. From approximately 300 
strains compared in row trials some 
twenty have been advanced to multi- 
plication plats where they are under 
further comparison. A few of the best 
of these will be placed in isolated multi- 
plication plats the coming fall. 
9. Clover Breeding. (In cooperation 
with Bureau of Plant Industry, United 
States Department of Agriculture.) 
This project was begun in 1910 when 
a large number of selections were made 
from specimens secured in the vicinity 
of Ames, Iowa. In 1912 we secured 
from the Bureau of Plant Industry of the 
United States Department of Agricul- 
ture various lots of seed coming from 
all parts of the world. These were 
planted in nursery plats where indi- 
vidual plants were seeded and the best 
individuals isolated for continued breed- 
ing and multiplication. Some fifty-five 
of the best individuals have been multi- 
plied and are being compared for vigor, 
leafiness, seed production, and resist- 
ance to winter killing and disease. 
