l88 THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



seed maize breeding by detasseling alternate rows.^ Webbei 

 reports several instances of the injurious effect of inbreeding 

 maize with pollen from the same plant, of which the following 

 is an example : One hundred stalks of Hickory King grown 

 from seed inbred with pollen from the same stalk yielded forty- 

 six ears weighing nine and three-tenths pounds, while seed of 

 the same race produced by crossing different seedlings yielded 

 from the same number of stalks eight}'^-two ears weighing t^venty- 

 seven and a half pounds. In another instance hybrids of the 

 second generation, where seed was inbred, showed great loss of 

 vigor, being small in structure and almost sterile.^ McCluer^ 

 found that plants grown from self-fertilized seed, besides pro- 

 ducing smaller ears, produced a greater proportion of barren 

 stalks and were subject to numerous deformities. 



255. Detasseling. — Detasseling alternate rows of maize has 

 been tried as a means of increasing the yield of grain, on the 

 theory that plant food that goes to maturing the tassel and the 

 production of pollen may be diverted to the grain. Ten stations 

 have published results as shown in table on opposite page.^ 



In one instance the Cornell Station found an increase of fifty 

 per cent in the detasseled rows, but ordinarily the increases and 

 decreases found have fallen within twenty per cent. It should 

 be noted that these percentages apply to only half the field. 

 While the evidence is not entirely clear, the inference of experi- 

 ments so far reported seems to be that increase from detasseling 

 is most likely to occur on poor soil or in dry seasons. In dis- 

 cussing these results the Cornell Station says : 



" The tassels were removed by hand by pulling them out as soon as they 

 appeared. This operation was performed quite rapidly as comparatively little force 

 was necessary to cause the stalk to break just above the upper joint and without 



1 111. BuL 82 (1902), pp. 535-536. 



2 Science, N. S., Vol. XIII, No. 320 (1901), pp. 257-258. 

 8 111. Bui. 21, p. 96. 



4 Ohio Rpt. 1897, p. 64. 



