WHEN CORN IS FOX-EARED 45 



"Here is one, is it not? " said Joe. "Look at it ; 

 the leaves are standing up almost straight. What 

 is the matter with it?" 



Their father asked them to walk over the field 

 with him to find out whether there were many 

 plants like it. As they were walking over the hill, 

 they saw very few, but when they arrived in the 

 bottoms they saw many with straight leaves. 



"Now/' said 

 the father, "all 

 the plants that 

 you see with the 

 leaves standing 

 up and not drop- 

 ping like the big 

 tail feathers of our 

 white rooster, I 



Call fox-eared, and FIG. 23. "They remind me of the big 



feathers in our white rooster's tail." 



they will never 



produce corn ; we might as well replant them now." 



"They surely have their leaves standing up like 

 the ears of a fox/' Freddie remarked. "What makes 

 them fox-eared?" he asked. 



"Worms down in the bottom of the stalk," their 

 father replied. 



"If we replant them now, won't the worms get 

 into the young plants that come from the replanted 

 seed?" the boys asked. 



