408 NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



good and sweet." ''Tlie -Voiji-hecs Red' sweet corn did well this 

 season ; the stalks were from five and a half to six feet, bearing 

 from- two to three ears to a stalk; ears full, of medium size and 

 delieiously sweet." "The quality is not changed, unless it is more 

 tender; it is the very best sweet com in existence and you should 

 be proud of producing such a variety." "The choicest corn I 

 ever ate." "Sweet and delicious in flavor." "The 'Voorhees Red' 

 sweet corn was valued highly." 



GENERAL NOTES UPON CORN. 



When the straight-rowed varieties are bred with those of the 

 zigzag type, as has been done in many instances, the blend plants 

 produce eai-s that show a strong preponderance of the straight 

 rows. In some cases there may be only an occasional ear that is 

 entirely zigzag, but as a rule there are many with the upper third 

 of the ear with the grains irregularly disposed. Whether the rela- 

 tion l)etween the two types of grain-arrangement can be expressed 

 in any fractional form or ratio remains to be seen. It would seem 

 that the straight-rowed type is the primary one and the zigzag is a 

 later development, that in crosses between the two, in some 

 cases, persists in the ear tips. The possibility of obtaining by 

 selection a variety Avith the double type constantly present is not, 

 jierhaps, without hope, even if it is without manifest profit. The 

 origin of the ear is a natural subject for inquiry in the face of 

 these commingling types. 



Mr. Montgomery, of the University of l^ebraska,* has recently 

 presented an opinion that the modern corn ear has developed from 

 tlie central spike of a tassel. This view presumes that "the pro- 

 genitor of the er»rn was a large, much-branched grass, each branch 

 l>eing termiruited by a tassel-like structure, bearing hermaphrodite 

 flowers. * * * As evolution progressed the central tassel 

 came to produce ouly staminate flowers * * ^ and the lateral 

 branches cauic lo produce only pistillate flowers." Several en- 

 gravings are given ..f "sucker" ears, in which stages in the develop- 

 ment of th(^ central spike of the tassel into an ear of com are 

 given, stage** that in a genei-al way are familiar to all wdio have 

 knowledge of corn in the field. As the male flowers are borne 



• "What is II ri Kar of Corn?"— ropular Science Monthly, .January, 190G. 



