FIELD CROPS 437 



unless the rows all have an equal chance the results of the test 

 become unreliable. 



The breeding plat should be located on land of the same nature 

 and degree of fertility as the farm or the soil in general on which 

 the seed produced in the breeding plat is to be planted. It is a mis- 

 take to give the seed plat extra care in the way of heavy fertiliza- 

 tion or irrigation. The object of the breeding plat is to increase in 

 a strain of corn the property of producing heavily under the natural 

 conditions of the locality. This property is transmitted by selecting 

 seed from the progeny of ears that give heaviest yields, not because 

 of having grown on rich soil, but because of possessing an inherent 

 tendency to great production. By locating the seed plat on soil 

 similar to that of the neighborhood the strain of corn from year to 

 year becomes better adapted to soil of that nature. 



In all corn-breeding work isolation is essential. The breeding 

 plat should be separated from other kinds of corn, and even from 

 inferior strains of the same kind, by at least 40 rods. A greater 

 distance is safer, though if strips of timber or hills intervene there 

 is less likelihood of the winds carrying to the breeding plat pollen 

 grains from inferior corns. The tasseling of volunteer corn stalks 

 near the breeding plat must be prevented. 



The size of the breeding plat can be suited to the size of the 

 farm and to the labor available for the work. From 40 to 60 corn 

 rows of exactly the same length from 500 to 600 feet long would 

 form a plat of very desirable size. If the work be with a small- 

 eared corn it will be necessary to have the rows shorter. A very 

 email breeding plat should not be used. The results of the yields 

 are not so trustworthy, and in planting but a few ears there is less 

 chance of finding one possessing especially high producing power. 



PLANTING THE BREEDING PLAT. 



It is better to drill the corn in the breeding plat rather than to 

 plant it in hills. If planted in hills it is impossible in some cases 

 to distinguish suckers from the main stalks. The grower should 

 use the utmost care to get a uniform stand of stalks in all the rows. 

 The fertility of the soil and the available moisture will decide how 

 thick the stand of stalks should be, but it should be the same as for 

 other cornfields planted on similar soil. For convenience in label- 

 ing the seed selected from the various rows, it is best to number the 

 rows by means of stakes at one end. 



In order that all the rows may be similarly situated, a few 

 border rows should be planted entirely around the breeding plat. 

 Such border rows will often protect the breeding rows from depre- 

 dations of crows, squirrels, chinch bugs, etc. 



The seed used in planting the border rows should of course be 

 from^very select ears. Usually enough is left of the ears used in 

 planting the breeding rows to plant the border rows. 



The breeding plat should be given the same good cultivation 

 that other cornfields require. 



DETASSELING TO PREVENT SELF-POLLINATION. 



Before the com comes into tassel, or even earlier, a few rows 



