82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tip end of the lowest root to the topmost flower in the spreading 

 tassel, and thron^rh all the stages of growth from the planted 

 grain to the full ear, the corn-plant is truly "every inch a 

 king." 



The Chairman. I presume that Dr. Halsted will answer 

 any questions that any one wishes to ask him. 



Mr. Ware of Marblehead. There are one or two ques- 

 tions that occur to my mind that I would like to ask the 

 gentleman. He stated, as is familiar to us all, that if two 

 varieties of corn, say one yellow and one white, are planted 

 side by side, the cars of either variety will be filled with 

 kernels, some yellow and some white. Now, what I want 

 to ask is, do you call that corn where there are difli'orent 

 kernels in the same ear a hybrid ? 



Dr. Halsted. That term needs explanation, I think. We 

 can have a number of different kinds of hybrids. We have 

 plants divided into species, and then those species are classi- 

 fied and arranged under different groups, called genera. 

 Now, if we take the pistillate or female flower of one plant, 

 that belongs to one genus — rhododendron, we will say — and 

 the male flower of another plant of another genus — azalia, 

 we will say — the product of the union of those two will be 

 called in botany a genus hybrid. It is a cross between plants 

 of two different genera. If we make a cross between the 

 male and female flowers of the] same species, then we will 

 have a species hybrid. 



Then, again, the cross may be between varieties. Take it 

 in the case of the apple. Suppose you take a Baldwin apple 

 flower (which is a perfect flower, possessing both male and 

 female organs) and open it before the leaf portion of the 

 flower opens, and take out the stamens, or take out the little 

 sacks that hold the pollen ; if, when the stigma, or female 

 portion, is ready to receive the pollen, you put on that the 

 pollen of the stamens of the Northern Spy, then, in the seed 

 which you get from that female flower that develops, you 

 will have a hybrid between two varieties. 



When you come to corn, a variety is a very difiicult thing 

 to make out. You grow the same corn for half a dozen 

 years on A^our farm, and you can tell the difference between 



