CHAPTER XIV 

 CORN JUDGING 



CORN judging is the art of selecting an ear or exhibit of ears, ac- 

 cording to a standard of perfection. With well-established breeds of 

 live stock, recognized types are accepted for each breed. In judging 

 corn, the attempt was made to establish a standard for each variety 

 to be judged. This plan has not succeeded with corn so well as 

 with live stock, due to the influence of soil and climate on the type. 

 In fact, it was soon recognized that some change in type was desir- 

 able if the variety was to have a wide adaptation. However, certain 

 type characters should be permanent, such as color, and within rea- 

 sonable limits other characters, such as shape of grain or indentation, 

 should be fairly constant. 



While judges do not pay strict attention to variety standards, yet 

 certain characters have come to be recognized as essential in all good 

 samples of corn. 



These characters may be classed in two groups, as those pertain- 

 ing to soundness and maturity, and those pertaining to fancy points. 

 Maturity and soundness have to do with the selection of all seed corn, 

 but the fancy points do not necessarily have to do with seed selection. 



PRACTICAL CHARACTERS 



Maturity. It is important that corn should fully mature before 

 frost comes. Immature corn does not keep well, and quickly loses 

 its germinating qualities. The immature ears are usually loose, so 

 the ear may be twisted. The kernels are also likely to be shrunken, 

 especially toward the tip. 



Soundness. This quality has to do with any injury that may 

 have occurred to the corn, through the action of fungus diseases, 

 decomposition, or loss of germination. Loss of germination is most 

 important, as it has such an important bearing on yield. The in- 

 spection of corn for germination has been discussed heretofore 

 (p. 63). 



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