340 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



all the important cereal grains, as well as the field and pasture grasses, 

 sugar cane, sorghum and broom corn. It differs from most grasses 

 in having a solid, pithy stem, which, by the way, is one of the princi- 

 pal reasons why this crop is so much better fitted for preservation in 

 the silo than other grasses. 



The flowers of the corn plant are imperfect, male and female being 

 borne on different parts of the same plant, the former in the tassels, 

 the latter in that portion of the plant produced at one or more joints 

 which develops into the ear. If just before the corn plant comes into 

 tassel the stem be cut above either of the joints between about the 

 third and sixth, an embryo ear will be found. The ovules, arranged 

 in regular rows as the kernels will be later, can be distinctly recog- 

 nized. Connecting with the top of each of these is one of the fibers 

 which make up the silk which is later pushed up into the air. One 

 of these ovules with its connecting fiber of silk is a single female flower; 

 and, in order that the ovule, may develop into a grain of corn, it is es- 

 sential that at least one grain of pollen shall fall upon the fiber of silk 

 connected with it and germinate there. To fit the silk the better for 

 catching and holding the pollen grains, the tips are somewhat feathery. 

 The yellow dust which falls so abundantly from the tassel is the pollen, 

 and this is freely carried by currents of air and the wind, often to 

 considerable distances. As is well understood, cross-fertilization in 

 nature usually gives better results than self-fertilization, and so nature 

 has so contrived the corn plant that the pollen on any individual 

 is matured and shed before its pistils are receptive. It must therefore 

 be seen that the silk of any particular plant is usually pollinated from 

 other plants; and it is because of this peculiarity of the corn plant, and 

 because the pollen, made up of grains so minute and light, is carried 

 long distances by the wind, that different varieties of corn are likely 

 to mix more or less, although comparatively widely separated. The 

 distance which will be necessary to insure freedom from mixture will 

 vary with the character of the intervening country and with the direc- 

 tion of the prevailing winds during the time when the corn plant is in 

 flower; but to insure even comparative freedom from crossing, a separa- 

 tion of a number of hundred yards at least is essential. The statement 

 has been made that an embryo ear of corn may be found above each 

 of several of the joints of the corn plant. The question will naturally 

 arise, Why do not each of these develop into a perfect ear? Dr. E. 

 L. Sturtevant, as a result of observations and experiments, believed 

 that, by root pruning just before the period when the corn plant comes 

 into flower, he could cause the development of most of these embryo 

 ears; and he certainly obtained some remarkable results by heavy root 

 pruning from plants standing in excessively rich soil. Nothing of any 

 great practical importance, however, has followed as a result of Sturte- 

 vant 's work in this particular direction; and, indeed, it may be doubted 

 whether in the case of our field corns at least it is desirable that each 



