FROM GRAIN TO EAR. 71 



"kernels through the silk, after which the fertilized grain be- 

 gins to enlarge, while the silk, having finished its work in 

 the plant economy, turns brown and withers away, though 

 still held in place by the husks that closely envelop the 

 growing ear. 



The close relationship of the two kinds of flowers in the 

 maize is sometimes very strikingly shown by what are known 

 as freaks in the ear and tassel. These arc of two kinds ; 

 namely, ear-bearing tassels, and tassel-bearing ears. In the 

 first al)normal form the central spike of the tassel is devel- 

 oped as an ear, with its kernels, silk, and all that belongs to a 

 true ear, excepting the covering husks. Sprouts or " suckers" 

 often bear these at the ends of the stalks. In the tassel-bearing 

 «ars the opposite takes place, and spikes of male flowers are 

 produced within the husks and close by the side of tlie ear of 

 female flowers. Those abnormal growths may be explained 

 as follows : In most plants the stamens and pistils are found 

 in the same flower. In the corn there is only one., caused by 

 the suppression of the other. Thus in the normal staminate 

 flower the rudiment of the pistil is found, and in the pistillate 

 flowers the undeveloped stamens are frequently present. It 

 would seem that in the abnormal cases, so often met with by 

 the oljserving farmer, the pistillate part of the flower is 

 developed when naturally the stamens only should have be- 

 come perfect, and in that way an ear with well develoi)ed 

 grain is produced in the tassel, while on the other hand some 

 of the flowers that ordinarily develop into grains in the silk 

 have given rise to spikes of male or pollen-bearing flowers. 

 Unnatural growths are frequently the key to the true nature 

 of a plant structure — just as a moderate state of intoxica- 

 tion may reveal the peculiar characteristics of the unfortimate 

 inebriate. 



The separation of the two kinds of flowers in the maize- 

 plant renders what is known as crosj^ing or hybridizing ex- 

 tremely easy — that is, in a field of corn the grains ot one ear 

 are very likely to be fertilized by the i)ollen showered down 

 from the tas.sel of a neighboring plant. The truth of this is 

 fully demonstrated when two varieties, as white and yellow 

 <;orn, are grown side by side. There will be a mixture of 

 the two sorts in nearly every ear along the boi'der line. 



