994 -- INDIAN CORN OULTURE. 
unintentionally, the purity of seed is injured 
and perhaps new varieties are accidentally 
begun. 
In crossing it is essential that the female 
parts of the plant be kept covered, so that the 
only pollen to come in contact with the pistil 
shall be of the variety it is desired to cross 
with. The following is given by McCluer as 
the method most satisfactory at the Illinois 
station :* 
‘We have found the best method to be to cover up, before 
the silks are out, both the tassel and the coming ear, with a 
closely-woven cloth bag. Covering the tassel of the stalk 
desired for a male parent insures a full supply of pollen, 
which seems to retain its vitality for several days if kept 
dry. * * * When the silks reach a length of three or 
four inches the ear is ready for fertilization. We then 
gather the pollen ona sheet of smooth paper and roll it up 
funnel-shaped. Next raise an umbrella and hold it in such 
a way as to keep all flying pollen from the ear, remove the 
bag, and apply the pollen until the silks are almost hidden, 
In favorable corn weather a single application of pollen is 
sufficient.” 
The practical results of cross fertilization to 
produce new varieties are as yet slightly felt, 
so far as experimental data goes. The results 
now published are interesting, yet contain 
much of uncertainty. Morrow and Gardner 
think, however,t that increased yields can be 
obtained by crossing two varieties, and note 
* Tllinois experiment station. Bulletin No. 21, p. 100. 
+ Ibid., No. 25, April, 1893, p. 179. 
