27S XEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



and this sIioav? that the flintiuess of the seed planted is not re 

 produced in full in the crop under the conditions named. 



A study of the whole set of ears leads one to feel that in soiue 

 instances the tiintiness or its absence seems to indicate a plant 

 character, for in some ears tlie sweet gi'ains are the rare ex- 

 ception and in others the flinty ones are scarce. Sometimes an 

 ear will have all its g7'ains in a semi-flinty condition, as shown 

 in tJie middle ear of the "sweet'' set. Again one may be led to 

 the opinion that the grain in its starch unum acts quite inde- 

 pendently of it? neighboi'S, for among a large number of smooth 

 ones will be a strongly wi-inkled one, as shown in the flinty ears of 

 the plate. 



In connection with this directing force of the ear as a whole, 

 or better, the whole plant (for when there are twin ears both are 

 practically alike in shaping power upon the grains), and the self- 

 centered energy- of the kernel itself there is the possibility of 

 xenia being active among these grains that othei'wise would be 

 much more uniform. It is probable that the drifting of the orig- 

 inal sweet corn has gone far enough toward a true flint corn. 

 so that starch forming quality becomes a Mendelian factor when 

 bred with those grains that are more sweet than flinty ; in short, 

 the flinty grains in an otherwise sweetish ear may be due to ferti- 

 lization, by pollen bearing the starch forming power. 



"black mexicax with 



For the purpose of aiding home breeding of truck crops a quan- 

 tity' of "'Black ^lexican" and ''StowelFs Evergreen" sweet com 

 was distributed to those who requested it, along with directions 

 for the proposed trials. The stock of seed was obtained with 

 special request for purity, from one of the leading seed houses, 

 with a high reputation acquired tlirough a century or more of 

 square dealing. That the Department might keep closely ac- 

 quainted with the work as it progi*essed, an isolated block was 

 grown upon the Experiment Station grounds in parallel rows of the 

 two soi-ts, kc, as outlined in the bulletin.* 



*BnlI. 21S^-Veeetable — Fruit Seed Distribution for 1909. 



