AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



Seeds not fully ripened, if they grow at all, produce imper- 

 fect plants. Good seeds, therefore, are the first things 

 necessary for a good crop. The seed of only perfect 

 plants should be saved. 



By judicious and persistent selection, made in the field 

 before the crop is fully matured, corn can be improved to an 

 almost unlimited extent in size and 

 early maturity. Gather only ears 

 from the most productive plants, and 

 save only the largest and most perfect 

 kernels. 



I am sure that you have seen the 

 common American blackbirds that 

 usually migrate and feed in such large 

 numbers. They all look alike in every 

 way. Now has it ever occurred to you 

 to ask why all blackbirds are black? 

 The blackbirds are black simply 

 because their parents are black. 



Now in the same way that the young 

 blackbirds resemble their parents, corn 

 FIG. 53. THE KIND OF w m res emble its parent stock. How 



EAR TO SELECT f -. r i 



many ears of corn do you find on a 

 stalk ? One, two, sometimes three or four. You find two 

 ears of corn on a stalk because it is the nature of that 

 particular stalk to produce two ears. In the same way the 

 nature of some stalks is to produce but one ear, while some- 

 times it is the nature of others to produce three. 



This resemblance of offspring to parent is known to 

 scientists as heredity, or as "like producing like." . 



We can take advantage of this law in improving our 



