IMPROVING FARM CROPS 29 



If one does not care to select corn so carefully, he 

 may at least select the best ears and make a germination 

 test. If corn is husked from the field, a box may be tied 

 on the wagon into which the best ears are put. 



27. Cotton may be improved in the same manner. 

 Seed is saved from the best plants in the field. Rows 

 are planted from each plant, and in each case half of the 

 seed is saved. The yield from the different rows deter- 

 mines which of the original plants were best able to trans- 

 mit their good qualities. The remaining seed from the 

 best original plants is then planted together, to grow 

 seed for field use. 



28. Other Cross-fertilized Plants may be improved in 

 the same way: 



(1) Select the best. 



(2) Test the yielding power, saving a part of the seed 

 from each plant. 



(3) Plant the remnants of seed from the best plants. 

 Tobacco, rye and timothy are cross-fertilized plants. 



29. Oats. Oats are commonly self-fertilized, so that a 

 poor row beside a good one will not harm it. The third 

 step can, therefore, be omitted. 



Save seed from the best plants from a field of oats, 

 or, if the individual plants cannot be distinguished, save 

 the best heads. The seed from each plant will need to 

 be tested, to see whether it produces well. The plant may 

 have been good because the soil where it grew was good. 



The seed may be planted in rows six to ten inches 

 apart, and a rod or more long. If twenty-five heads were 

 saved, rows 1 and 26 may be planted from head 1 ; rows 

 2 and 27 from head 2, etc. The best-yielding rows are 



