EX.^EKnrKXT STATION KEPOKT. 43;; 



"Oemtleman" upon "Mexican" CWhite Seed Grains). 



By far the most satisfactory block of the four in this set of double 

 reciprocal crosses i. the one from which the set of cars is shown in 

 the lower right-hand corner of Plate I. Considering the unfavorable 

 season the yield was fine, and the busliel of ears are of two leading 

 types, namely, those witli the rows distinct and those having the grains 

 placed zigzag. The three ears to the left show the former charac- 

 teristic, while the other three are manifestly "Gentleman" in type. 

 Several of the ears show solid white grains and none of them show 

 more than the few in five of the ears in the set in question, excepting 

 six, which were strongly marked with black, a^ shown in ear No. 4 

 in the set. The explanation for this seems to be that these ears 

 came from grains that carried the "Mexican" blood, but so obscured 

 as to escape detection at the time when the grains were selected for 

 seed. If this be true, it is reasonable to presume that all the dark 

 grains in the whole block came from these few sources of contami- 

 nation. Had the seed grains all been truly white, it is safe to predict 

 that the whole block would have been white and the variety estab- 

 lished, so far as the color of the grains is concerned. A count of the 

 grains upon an average of the mixed ears showed 220 black and 210 

 white grains. If the seed planted was half white and half black, it 

 follows, owing to tlie dominant quality of the black color in mixed 

 grains, that it would require that all the pollen of the whole block of 

 stalks should \ye. of pure white blood to bring the ear in question to 

 a mixture of half and half. The small percentage of mixed stalks 

 that produced mixed pollen is enough to account for the slight excess 

 of dark or light grains upon the ears in question. 



Out of this lot of ears it is possible to select, with reasonable hojie 

 of securing a (1) "White-Mexican" and a (2) "White-Gentleman." 

 The former would have plump twelve to fourteen-rowed ears of a very 

 desirable size and shape and quality, with the grains long and tlie cob 

 correspondingly small. The latter might result in a zigzag variety, 

 with earlier plants and finer ears than the original "Gentleman." The 

 possibility of fixing a type with only the upjx^r end of the ear zigzag, 

 as shown by Xo. 3, is not l>eyond consideration, should such a form 

 seem desirable. 



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