EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT. 409 



ill pairs and in from four to eleven rows, bj replacement, tlie 

 grains consequently are in double rows, which is clear so far as 

 the straight-rowed ears are concerned. In the zigzag ears, when 

 the kernels are removed, the cob shows that bv a slight displace- 

 ment the young gTains are developed out of line, and, liy pressure, 

 the mature kernels may tak(3. on the i-rregular ("shoepeg") form. 

 If this view be the true one, the zigzag tjq^e is in a degTce acci- 

 dental and might be expected, as it is found occasionally in many 

 kinds of corn, but that, by selection, it can be fixed as a varietal 

 characteristic is not in violation of a general rule. 



The stud}^ of com blends is not without its points of interest. 

 There is a Avide difference in varieties as to the influence had upon 

 the cross. In some instances the plants are not widely different, 

 to begin with, and the results are accordingly meager. It goes 

 without saying, in other words, that in order to have an interesting 

 cross, there needs to be two or more characteristics that are not in 

 common. The crossing, for example, of the "Black Mexican" and 

 the ''Egyptian," which, while differing in minor points (as shape 

 of ears, rows upon the cob, &c.), were very unlike in the color of 

 the grain, and the result is a kernel of a dark red' color, which is 

 entirely unlike either parent. It seems to be a creation in the 

 cros=, and, in time, it is hoped to demonstrate what effect the 

 "Voorhees" will exert upon white and other sorts of sweet and 

 field corns. It is possible that, in breeding, its crosses may not 

 show the same red color, but, instead, possibly the black of the 

 "Mexican." 



The breeding of the "Golden Bantam" upon the "Banana" has 

 been interesting in that it furnished a block of very variable plants, 

 in height, time of maturity, form and size of ears and the dispo- 

 sition of the grains upon the cob. A large number of the small, 

 early plants can best be understood by accepting the view that they 

 were from grains of pure* "Golden Bantam," that for some reason, 

 not yet explained, were mixed with the crossed kernels. With 

 those eliminated, there still remains a gi-eat diversity of plants. 

 The few late ones, gTcen after all others were mature, had large, 

 zigzag ears, in striking contrast with the mass of straight-rowed 

 ears, but all alike in the three-quarters of yellow grains. 



This cross, in its blend generation, where similarity is looked 

 for, is a good illustration of the greater size of the product than 

 obtains with either parent. The "Golden-Bantam" is, as said, a 



