242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of corn, we must have seed which is capable of yielding that 

 crop under the usual treatment. If we take a seed which 

 is not capable of yielding the maximum crop, then all the 

 culture we may give that crop will not bring it up to the 

 maximum crop of the better seed. There is the firot jioint 

 that I want to make. 



The second point which I will make is this, that it is 

 almost impossible to tell what is the best seed-corn, because, 

 unfortunatel^s the nomenclature of seed-corn is so confused 

 that if I said a certain variety was good, I should not be 

 surprised to have several people step up and say that that 

 variety is poor. I will mention a case in point. ]\lost of 

 you are acquainted with Mr. Cheever, the agricultural edi- 

 tor of the " New England Farmer," a man whose powers of 

 observation cannot be questioned, neither can his honesty of 

 purpose. We were conversing some time ago upon a variety 

 of corn, and we found that our experience was directly con- 

 trary. I told him that the Learning corn was unworthy of 

 any attention in the latitude in which we live, as being a late 

 corn, belonging to a more southern locality, and which 

 would not ripen its crop in this section. On the other h:uid, 

 he told me that the Leaminsf was one of the earliest and best 

 of the Dent corns ; that he had grown it in Eastern Massa- 

 chusetts, and that it ripened at about the same time with the 

 Waushakum. Now, Mr. Cheever was undoubtedly right, 

 and I have no question that I was right ; but, when we come 

 to look into the })robabilities, the probability is that we were 

 ofrowinir two different kinds of corn under the same name, 

 and he reported the facts concerning the variety he grew 

 under the name of the Leaming, while I reported my expe- 

 rience with a variety that I grew under the name of the 

 Learning. In order to test this question, I have lately been 

 selecting the seed-corns named in our seed catalogues, — over 

 one hundred in number, — and identifying them. I once sent 

 to nine of the leading seedsmen in this country for samples 

 of King Philip corn, which is one of the best known and 

 most easily recognized of all our varieties of corn. It has 

 the color, the shape of ear and habit of growth which mtd^o 

 it a very distinct vatiety. What was my surprise on finding 

 that I got seven ditfL>rent kinds of corn sent to mo by nine 



