No. 4.] CORN AS A GRAIN CROP. 345 



intelligence; and it will have the further advantage that the selected 

 ears may be promptly and carefully dried, which, particularly when 

 the seasons are cool and short, is a matter of the utmost importance. 

 Many ears of corn, which if promptly dried would have made excellent 

 seed, have their vitality much impaired if cured with the balance of 

 the crop in the bin. Where the work is clone upon a relatively small 

 scale, the old plan of trussing the selected ears and hanging them 

 where there will be the fullest possible circulation of air has much to 

 commend it. If the work is to be done on a larger scale, a special 

 drying room with artificial heat is desirable. 



Selection in the field has the great advantage that the character 

 of the plant, as well as the character of the ear, can be noted. If 

 selection be made in the bin, or even while husking, it may very well 

 happen that the ears which seem to be of exceptionally good quality 

 are of that character simply because they had an exceptional oppor- 

 tunity to develop in the field, — perhaps because the plants producing 

 them stood in spots more fertile than the average, perhaps because 

 they had more room for development. Such ears will not necessarily 

 transmit their qualities. From this point of view, it seems much 

 wiser to select in the field, and to take the ears which are best under 

 average field conditions from plants which exhibit the desired char- 

 acteristics as to height, size of stalk, number and size of ears, etc. 



The Vitality of the Seed. — The planting of seed which does not 

 germinate satisfactorily is not infrequently the occasion of disappoint- 

 ment and loss. Western producers of seed corn are prepared to fur- 

 nish unshelled seed corn, every ear of which has been separately tested. 

 This may seem to be a formidable undertaking; but, since the quan- 

 tity of corn required to plant a given area is relatively small, it is not, 

 after all, a very great amount of trouble. It is necessary only to 

 remove some five or six kernels from different parts of each ear, and 

 to test each lot by itself. There are many relatively easy methods of 

 determining the percentage of germination of seed corn. If the ears 

 are to be tested separately, perhaps one of the easiest methods will be 

 as follows: On a piece of canton flannel of suitable size mark off with 

 a heavy lead pencil squares about two inches on a side. Thoroughly 

 saturate the cloth with water, and then place it in the bottom of a 

 shallow tray of suitable size. The squares and the ears should be 

 correspondingly numbered. It is then an easy matter to determine 

 the germinating quality of the grain from each of the selected ears. 

 After the kernels have been placed in the squares upon the moist 

 canton flannel, they are to be covered by a second piece of the same 

 goods, which also is first thoroughly moistened. If over the whole a 

 pane of glass is then laid, it will probably be unnecessary to supply 

 additional moisture. The corn will germinate most perfectly at tem- 

 peratures ranging from about 70 to 80 degrees. If corn be tested by 

 this system, it should be the rule to reject all ears in which the selected 



