56 



FOR BETTER CROPS 



one produced a good ear. l^ote how weak and sickly the non- 

 productive stalks are compared with the productive one. Barren- 

 ness is one of the greatest sources of loss in corn growing. To 

 the farmer who grows corn for the grain alone these barren 



Plate No. 9 



Product of a single hill 



If M-e could locate all the stalks in the field -w'hich spring from the 

 brothers of the kernel that produced No. 2 we i^hould find that the 

 ftreat majority of them -^vere ears, on an average, as good as it is. The 

 same thing would hold true in the case of the parents of Nos. 3 and 1. 

 This would lead us to the conclusion that the difference in these 

 three ears is due to the difference in the producing power of their 

 parents. 



stalks are worse than a complete loss. They not only deprive 

 the productive stalks of food, moisture and light, but they 

 produce pollen which fertilizes the silks of the good stalks and 



