KING CORN 149 
manufactured. The stalk should be of medium size, 
strong at the base and tapering gradually to the tassel. 
It should stand up well and bear its ears at a convenient 
height for husking. The shank should be of medium 
length and strength. A short shank holds the ear too 
erect, while a long shank allows it to hang over too far. 
Ears on long shanks or high up on the stalk are more 
likely to pull down the stalk during a wind storm, be- 
sides being inconvenient to husk. The ears selected 
should be strong and well developed, with straight rows 
of regular sized kernels. The kernels should be rather 
deeply dented. The smoother kernels are generally shal- 
low and will not produce so well. The seed ears should 
always be a little rougher than the average of the crop, 
otherwise the variety will become smoother each year 
and the kernels shallower. The dent, however, should 
run squarely across the kernel, and there should be no 
sharp or pointed margins. 
“Seed corn should never be picked before it is mature. 
An immature kernel has not had time to store up all 
the food it wanted, and consequently will be more or less 
weak in vitality. Early picked corn, if well preserved, 
may germinate well under favorable conditions, but its 
constitution has been weakened, and the yield will be 
correspondingly lessened. Nature should be allowed to 
ripen the seed in her own way. 
“Selecting seed corn from the crib is always objec- 
tionable. The vitality has generally been more or less 
injured, and, while the ears selected may have a good 
appearance, one can tell nothing as to the character of 
the stalks which produced them. Numerous experi- 
