86 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



85. Number of ears. The number of ears to a plant 

 varies greatly, according to the race of corn, the variety, 

 the soil and fertilization, and the character of the season. 

 In the ordinary or dent varieties, the number seldom ex- 

 ceeds seven and is more frequently one or two ears for each 

 plant. 



Many experiments at the Alabama and North Carolina 

 Experiment Stations have indicated that in the South 

 those varieties of dent corn are most productive of grain 

 that ordinarily bear two ears to the plant. 



86. Position of the ear. Large yields of corn are made 

 from varieties bearing ears at a medium height from the 

 ground, while equally large yields are made from other 

 varieties, the ears of which are borne at a greater distance 

 above the ground. Other things being equal, a moderate 

 height of ear is preferable, say, four feet above the ground 

 in the case of a tall plant, or even less in the case of a low 

 plant (Fig. 35) . The chief advantages of a low or medium 

 position of ear are the following : (1) a decreased tend- 

 ency for the ear to pull the plant down, and (2) greater 

 ease in harvesting the ear in the lower position. A low 

 ear is also apt to accompany a stalk of only medium size, 

 which is desirable. A low ear, also, usually implies earlier 

 maturity. 



The shank of the ear should be of such size and length 

 as to let the ear droop, or bend straight down, so as to 

 protect the tip of the ear from rain and to avoid the tend- 

 ency exerted by an outward-pointing ear to pull down the 

 stalk. This means that the shank should be of medium 

 diameter. It should not be very long. 



87. Tassel. The tassel consists of a panicle, or spread- 



