94 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



loose floury material indicates a high percentage of starch. 

 Unusual thickness of the horny layer implies a relatively 

 high percentage of protein; this is because this compact 

 layer, though composed chiefly of starch, is also rich in 

 protein. In the selection of seed corn practical use can 

 be made of the facts just mentioned. 

 In spite of these differences in appearance, accompanied 



by differences in com- 

 position, in the differ- 

 ent grains of the same 

 FIG. 39. TRANSVERSE SECTION THROUGH variety, analysis shows 

 CORN GRAIN ; LARGE GERMS IN 2 KER- little difference be- 



NELS ON THE LEFT AND SMALL GERMS i-jv 



IN 2 KERNELS ON THE RIGHT. tween <erent varie- 



ties, even when they 



differ considerably in the appearance of cross-sections of 

 their grains. 



There is probably no necessity for the Southern farmer 

 to select corn with special reference to increasing the yield 

 of protein or of fat. For it is easy for him to grow 

 legumes for feeding with corn to counteract its deficiency 

 in protein. The manufacture of corn oil is not important 

 in the South. 



95. Location of the color in the corn kernel. It is im- 

 portant to learn in what layer the color is located in the 

 different classes of corn, so that one may understand that 

 part of corn breeding which relates to the heredity of the 

 color of the grain. 



The hull, or bran, of the grain of white and yellow 

 varieties of dent corn is colorless or translucent; hence 

 the color of white or yellow grains lies deeper, namely, 

 in the endosperm. The pollen from a yellow variety may 



