184 INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY 



Corn with high proteins is especially valuable as a food for 

 man and the lower animals, since the most serious fault found 

 with corn as a cereal food is its low percentage of proteins 

 compared with its oil and carbohydrates. Corn with high oil 

 value is especially desired by the glucose manufacturers, since 

 they also manufacture corn oil, which is the highest-priced 

 component of the grain. Corn with a low percentage of oil is 

 in demand for feeding hogs for bacon, especially for exporta- 

 tion. It has been found possible, at the University of Illinois 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, to breed low-protein corn 

 with an average percentage of 6.7 proteins, and high-protein 

 corn with an average percentage of 14.4 proteins. At the 

 same station the average low-oil corn contained 2.5 per cent 

 of oil, and the high-oil corn 7.0 per cent. The process of selec- 

 tion must be kept up, for the variations thus obtained are not 

 permanent varieties. 



174. Method of corn breeding. In a general way it may be 

 said that the method of breeding corn is based on the same 

 principles as those adopted for wheat and other cereals. There 

 are, however, many variations in details, some of the most im- 

 portant depending on the fact that the plants should be pol- 

 linated with pollen from other individuals, but that these 

 should, so far as possible, be all of the same stock. It is not 

 sufficient that all should be of the same variety; the most 

 rapid progress will be attained if all the parent plants are 

 descended from the same ear of corn. 



It will not be necessary to give in detail all the methods 

 followed in the selection of seed and the precautions taken 

 to prevent mixture of varieties in the growing crop. Suc- 

 cessful corn breeding demands 



1. The choice of the most desirable known variety as a 

 basis for breeding for any given purpose. 



2. The selection in the field of well-matured ears from the 

 best plants. 



3. Growing trial rows the next season from the ears men- 

 tioned in paragraph 2, each ear planted in a row by itself. 



