30 A UNIT IN AGRICULTURE 



be practically the same diameter from end to end ; that is, it should 

 not be distinctly tapering. The rows of kernels should be straight 

 and the kernels should be of such a shape that they will fit tightly 

 together with no furrows left between the rows. The butts should be 

 well rounded out with kernels evenly arranged around a cup shaped 

 cavity about one inch across. The tips should be well filled out to the 

 cud with deep, even kernels. The kernels of the ear should all be 

 very nearly the same size and shape. They should be wedge shaped, 

 lint not pointed; they should have large, smooth hearts or germs, not 

 blistered or discolored. The length of the kernel should be about l 1 /^ 

 times as great as its width at the widest part, and it should be of the 

 same thickness from one end to the other. The kernels should show 

 no mixture with corn of the opposite color. The cob should be of 

 medium size, neither very large nor very small. 



Secure a number of ears of corn and notice the faults of each. 

 Pick out the ones that are most nearly perfect. Take an ear and 

 write a description of it, telling in what points it is good and in what 

 points it is imperfect. 



Lay five ears of corn on the table and try to pick out the one hav- 

 ing the least number of faults. Go over the various points of the 

 ear as given in Lesson 4, in the description of a good ear, and place 

 that ear which is most nearly perfect on the left. Put the next best 

 one second, the third best third, and so on. In what ways is No. 1 

 better than No. 2 ? Give the good and bad points of each ear. 



Ex. 5. Corn Judging Use of Score Card. 



At fairs and other places where corn is shown for premiums, it is 

 customary to show ten ears together as a sample. Consequently, in 

 judging such samples, ten ears must be considered instead of a single 

 ear. To help in this judging, a card giving a scale of points arranged 

 to represent the different characters of the ears is used. This is called 

 a score card, and the one that is used in Missouri is as follows: 



Scale of Points 



Maturity and soundness 10 



Uniformity of ears 10 



