124 GRASSES OF IO"WA. 



by selecting and planting only the smallest seeds from the 

 least developed specimens of sunflower, corn and other plants, 

 obtained in two years very small plants. The corn was 

 reduced in size to about eight inches high. As the height 

 diminished the number of seed decreased, and the final result 

 was absolute sterility. " 



In the case of corn, farmers have done a great deal towards 

 selection by saving the best for seed. There has been much 

 discussion as to whether the kernels found at the base are bet- 

 ter than those at the tip. Tests made at the Kansas Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station* show: "Considering all the facts 

 shown in this experiment and in the experiment with corn 

 planted at different distances, the inference seems plain that 

 we must plant corn with the sole object of raising grain, or 

 with the sole object of raising feed. " The average of three 

 years' trials are slightly in favor of the butt kernels, according 

 to Georgeson, Burtis and Otis, f 



Cereals. 



The importance of cereals as a crop in Iowa merits a separate 

 consideration. This is especially necessary in the case of the 

 more important. The term cereal is applied to all members of 

 the grass family in which the grains are used for food. Some 

 of the more important works which consider cereals and cereal 

 culture are as follows: 



KoernickeJ, Metzger§, Seringel, Hackell, Darwin**, DeCan- 

 dolleft, BealJJ, Wallace§§, Brewer|l||, EmmonsH, Klippart***, 



*Bull. Kansas Agrl. Exp. Station. 30: 1891. 



tBulI. Kansas Agrl. Exp. Station. 45: 143. 1893. 



tKoernicke-Werner. Ilandbueh des Getreidebaues. Koernlcke Die Arten u Varl- 

 etaten d. Getreides 1: 470. pl.lo. 1S85. Werner, Die Sorten u. d. Anbau d. Getreldes 

 2: 1010. 1885. 



SEuropaische Cerealien. In botanischer und landwirthschaftUcher Hinsicht bear- 

 beitet74. 20 pi. Mannheim. 1824. Heidelberg. 



llSeringe. Cereales Europennes. 1841. Monographle des Cereales de la Suisse. 

 1819. Berne and Leipzig. 



HHackel. True grasses. English Translation Lamson-Scribner and Southworth, 

 228. 110 1890.. Hackel. Gramineae In Naturllchen Pflanzenfamlllen II. Thell. 2 

 Abth. 



**DarwIn. Charles. Animals and Plants under domestication. 1 : 329-341. 



ftDeOandolle, A. Origin of cultivated plants. Eugllsh translation 468. 1892. 



«Beal, W. J. Grasses of North America. 1:457M75. 1887. (Ed. 1.) 457. 175. 1896. 

 (Ed. 2.) 



§§Wallace. India In 1887. 363. 7i pi. .5./. 7 map. 1888. 



llllBrewer. Report on the cereal production of the U. S. 10th Census of the U. S. 3: 

 173. IG map». 



nTioEmmons. Agriculture of New York in Nat. Hist. N. T. 2: 90-274. pl2G-28. 



***Kllppart. Essay on the origin, erowth, diseases, variety, etc., of the wheat 

 plant. Ann. Rep. Ohio St. Board of Agrl. 12: 562-816. 11 pi. 1857. 



