FROM GRAIN TO EAR. 75 



that they may be broken off easily in hnskinir. The hnska 

 should be soft, and loose when ripe, with the rows well 

 filled out at the tip of the cob. The plant needs to be early 

 enough to complete its growth during the short season, and 

 not be cut down in the fidness of vigorous growth by the 

 frosts of autumn. The stalks that have been selected to 

 bear the seed-ears should have abundant space given them 

 that they may make a perfect growth. Anything that 

 increases the vitality of the grain will help in bringing a 

 better crop. At present there are too many barren or 

 earless stalks in every field of corn, and all such should 

 be topped or cut out before they have time to shed their 

 pollen and reproduce their kind. 



The person who would improve his corn must keep in 

 mind the leading law so closely observed l)y the breeders of 

 domestic animals : "Like produces like." But along with, 

 this, there is a tendency to vaiy ; and it is imperative that 

 another rule in improvement be strictly adhered to, namely : 

 Always select the best. Many trustworthy experiments 

 show that, under the same conditions, one variety of corn 

 yields more than double the crop produced by an inferior 

 sort. These experiments teach, in the strongest langunge,. 

 the importance of planting only the best kinds of corn — those 

 that through careful selection have developed strongly-fixed, 

 thoroughbred characteristics, that specially fit them to suc- 

 ceed under the conditions with which they are surrounded. 



Indian corn is a comparatively certain crop, and the 

 farmer is almost sure of a moderate yield. In this certainty 

 rests the danger of neglecting the means by which a nuich 

 greater yield may be obtained. The farmer reposes in the 

 confidence of foity bushels, when a little attention to improved 

 sorts might I)riiig an increase that is nearly all ])rofit. 



The introduction of new varieties of corn by crossing or 

 by hybridizing is of great im[)()rtance. By this means the 

 better qualities of two varieties may be so blended in the 

 joint ollspring as to form a third sort that is su[)erior to both 

 of its parents. A hybrid, as the term is here used, is the 

 result of the crossing or breeding together of two distinct 

 varieties of corn. 



" To hybridize this cereal successfully does not require i 



