EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT. 393 



EXPERIMENTS WITH VARIOUS FLINT CORNS. 



Dnrino- 1905 a list of thirty-one (NTos. 10G-13Gj popcorns made 

 up a breeding block, in connection with which the "Black Mexi- 

 can" was grown in order to secure crosses with a characteristic 

 dark sweet com. From the above plot a long list of crosses was 

 obtained, and for the study of these space was given upon the 

 Home Grounds for only five. 



"Queens Golden-White Rice" (114/129). — A set of five ears 

 from a cross of the ''Queen's Golden" (114) upon "Wliite Rice" 

 (129) is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Plate IV. This 

 cross produced strong, leafy plants with medium-sized stems that 

 grew eight or more feet high and bore the ears fully five feet above 

 the ground. The tassels were particularly noted as being of un- 

 usually large size, and drooped throughout the blooming period. 

 In size of plant, large leaf surface and small stalks for the height, 

 tliis cross seems to possess value as a forage crop. The ears ma- 

 tured fairly early and were of good size, although the situation was 

 not favorable for a good crop, the plants being near a row of maple 

 trees and, besides, the soil was poor. 



Many of the ears harvested were with round-tipped grains in- 

 stead of being of the "Rice" type, that is, with the free end sharp- 

 pointed, sometimes disagreeably so when the ear is drawn tip fore- 

 most through the hand. Ears 1, 3 and 5 in the engraving are with 

 the grains smooth, while the alternating ones are of the genuine 

 ^*Rice" type, with the one at 4 having the kernels much larger than 

 in the other at 2. This character of the grain tip is one that per- 

 tains to the whole ear. Of twenty-seven ears taken at random, 

 f?eventeen had smooth-tipped grains, seven of the "Rice" type, and 

 three somewhat intermediate. It is possible that several strains of 

 ]iopcorn, varying in color and shape of grain, may be olitained from 

 the cross in question. 



"Adams-Blaclc Mexican" (3/99). — The second cross, figured in 

 the upper right-hand corner of Plate IV., is of the "Adams" upon 

 tlip '"Black Mexican." The color of the "Mexican" is clearly domi- 

 nant, and gives to all the ears a heavy percentage of dark grains, 

 l)ur with some range of variation, as instanced in ears 2 and 3. 

 The shapes of the ears vary greatly, some of them being short and 

 small in diameter, like the "Mexican," as shown at 1, while others 



