69 



Q. It has been advised by some of the speakers to butt and tip seed 

 corn before planting. What would be the result of planting some butt and 

 tip seeds, would there be any harm? 



PRESIDENT MANN: I should say the butt grains, if you have them 

 distributed over the plant evenly, would make better plants as a rule than 

 the moderate size grains. The more food that is available to the plant, not 

 only the amount stored but the condition in which it is, so the plant can 

 use it more freely and readily, the more growth it will make. The first 

 step, and one which largely controls the whole performance of grain pro- 

 duction, is the formation first of the stalks, just as the doctor told you, 

 the germ and endosperm cells, their proper mating so as to form some 

 progeny. The plant has some motive in storing food. Sexual reproduction 

 is a. strong draft on the vitality of plants as well as of animals, and only 

 the plant which has a strong start is able to get past that serious draft on 

 its system. So frequently your crop depends upon that immediate step, 

 just as Dr. Holbert showed you in his very first picture. Now in the 

 smaller grain you have less food for various reasons. You are very likely 

 to have an exposed tip and the grains have colds and adverse weather condi- 

 tions to contend with. So I don't think it is safe as a rule to depend on 

 using the tip kernels for seed production. That is my view of it. 



Mr. CAMPBELL: Isn't it because of the peculiar shape of the butts 

 and ends? 



PRESIDENT MANN: That is what I would say if you get them evenly 

 distributed, but they are uneven in shape, uneven in size, and do not go 

 through a planter evenly and readily. You want a planter to drop two at 

 a time, don't you? 



Mr. CAMPBELL: Two and three. 



PRESIDENT MANN: An end-drop planter won't usually handle ker- 

 nels which are larger one way than a quarter of an inch. If they are larger 

 than a quarter of an inch in one diameter, in one measure, they do not go 

 through an end-drop planter. When you run them through a quarter inch 

 sieve you have got nothing left but what will go through the common corn 

 planter. 



I will tell you another trick worth trying, too. The corn plant loves its 

 offspring just as any animal loves her offspring and the plant will store 

 more food and give more food to the stronger of the offspring. You take 

 any ear of corn and there are large kernels in the middle of the ear and 

 smaller kernels in the middle of the ear. You take out the larger ones 

 and the smaller ones and plant them separately and see what they do. 

 The plant loves the offspring. They grow better, not only better inherently 

 but because they have more food to grow with. Try that once as well as 

 your tips and butts. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING SESSION. 



February 22, 1922, 7:30 o'Clock P. M. 



PRESIDENT MANN: The Chamber of Commerce of the city invites 

 any and all visitors to the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, to make 

 free use of their rest rooms and other conveniences. They had planned to 

 give visitors here a free ride in an airplane, but the weather and soil condi- 

 tions are not very favorable at present. If they should become favorable 

 then their invitation will hold. They invite the people to visit the factories 

 in the city and will provide free transportation to anyone who wants to 

 visit any of the factories. Leave your names at either the Chamber of 

 Commerce rooms, or the Y. M. C. A. building and you will be provided with 

 facilities for visiting the various factories^ 



