IMPROVEMENT OF MAIZE 



195 



(3) From these 100 ears select forty nearest the ideal 

 sought, giving due importance to weight of ear, but not neglect 

 ing other qualities. 



(4) Next shell each ear separately, weigh cobs and determine 

 total weight and per cent of shelled grain to ear. The total 

 weight of grain is more important than the per cent. There is 

 no necessary relation between 



J ROWS I --25 



per cent of grain to ear and 

 yield. Large cobs may, how- 

 ever, be objectionable for other 

 reasons, as, for example, their 

 influence upon maturity and 

 preservation of the ear. With 

 the information obtained, select 

 twenty-five out of the forty ears 

 and number ears i to 25, mak- 

 ing the best ear No. 13, the 

 next best ears 12 and 14 and 

 the poorest ears i and 25. 



(5) Lay off a piece of uni- 

 form land fifty hills square and 

 plant rows i and 26 to ear i ; 

 rows 2 and 27 to ear 2, until 

 ear 25 is planted on rows 25 

 and 50. Place five grains in 

 each hill, and when plants are 

 three to four inches high, thin 

 so that each row has 150 plants. If this plat of maize is planted 

 by itself, four rows should be planted clear around the plat from 

 what is left of the twenty-five selected ears. In many cases the 

 most practical way will be to plant the plat in the body of a field 

 containing the ordinary crop, which will be the same variety. 

 The breeding plat should not be within twenty rods of neighbor- 

 ing maize fields, especially if the variety is different. 



Diagram showing the influence of heredity and 

 environment upon yield of maize. Curves 

 show yield per row in pounds of field cured 

 grain of fifty rows grown from twenty-five 

 different ears of the same variety. Rows 

 No. I and No. 26 grown from seed of ear 

 No. I ; rows No. 2 and No. 27 from ear No. 

 2, etc. The rows were each fifty hills long, 

 and each hill, with very few exceptions, had 

 exactly three stalks per hill. Grown in Fay. 

 ette county, Ohio, by L. H. Goddard. 



