406 NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



when the ear was freshly picked and the grains were plump. Na^ 

 4 differs from the preceding only in being from a white grain of the- 

 mixed corn, and nearly all the ear is of the same color. 



There were seventeen separate stalks placed in " tents'' at differ- 

 ent dates, and a majority of them produced ears, while others failed^ 

 probably because a mould attacked the pollen during a wet spell. 

 So bad was this upon some stalks that it is a wonder that any ears 

 formed, The " tents" might be improved by being extended a foot 

 or more above the tassel and a larger diameter of the whole would 

 add needed space. 



The conclusion seems to be that inbred corn reproduces the pecu- 

 liarities of the stock ; that is, a pink grain from a mixed ear pro- 

 duces a mixed ear, but at the same time a black grain from the same 

 mixed ear shows an increase in the black and a white grain an in- 

 crease of the white. The immediate parent, while having an influence,. 

 does not control the offspring. 



Wide Pollination in Crossed Corn. 



As opposed to the tests in inbreeding, at the same time that stalks- 

 were placed in "tents," certain others in the same plots and closely- 

 comparable with them were detasseled, and therefore the possibility 

 of inbreeding destroyed. 



Ears Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8, in Plate VII. , are from such castrated stalks 

 from four different plots. In this instance it seems evident that the 

 removal of the tassel at a time Avhen it is issuing from its coil of leaves 

 is injurious to the plant. With the exception of No. 6, none of the 

 ears shown are first-class. The cut stalks seemed to brown at the 

 top and cease growing, and, of course, they lost some leaf surface by 

 the decapitation. None of the ears filled out well and were not even, 

 in breadth, as is evident in Nos. .7 and 8. All four ears shown were 

 from the same stock of pink grains and they do not differ in percent- 

 age of pink and white grains from those grown normally around 

 them. No. 6 is somewhat lighter than the average and the other 

 three are perhaps a trifle darker, so that a fair average is maintained. 



Nothing in this test goes counter to the generally accepted belief 

 that pollination between different plants is the rule with corn, for 

 which there is ample provision in the nigh position of the tassel, the 

 great abundance of dust-like pollen and the silks of any given planfe 

 maturing somewhat later than its own tassel. 



