98 



FIELD CROn 



to become dry before frocziiip; wcailier. For lliis reason it 

 is veiy advisable, if one does not have suitable storage, 

 to select corn just as soon as it is well ripened. 



Another important factor in favor of early selection, es- 

 pecially in the North, is that one may choose the ears from 



plants that have a tend- 

 ency to ripen early. Al- 

 most universally, some 

 ears and plants mature 

 from a few days to two 

 or three weeks earlier 

 than some of the other 

 ears and plants. If the 

 seed is selected from these 

 plants, there is a tend- 

 ency to fix the character 

 of early maturity. If the 

 corn is not selected until 

 all the plants are mature 

 or until they have all been 

 killed by frost, it is not 

 possible to tell the early 

 maturing ears from those 

 that matured later. If 

 selection is deferred and 

 the season happened to ])e favorable, so that the corn con- 

 tinued to grow for a week or more after the date of the first 

 killing frost, ears might be selected that matured eight or ten 

 days after that date. Corn planted from such seed the follow- 

 ing year is likely to be killed by frost before the main part 

 of the crop is matured. 



Another advantage of early selection, while the plants 

 are all in their normal condition, is that it is possible at that 

 time to give attention to the character of the plant on which 

 the ear grew, which is an important factor in gettmg the 



Figure .37. — The kind of corn which should 

 not be used for spcd. 



