FIELD, ORCHARD, AND GARDEN CROPS 153 



of growth and especially their seed heads. Select good varieties and 

 try to make them better by good cultivation and careful seed selec- 

 tion. 



3. Plant in one row small, shrunken grains of wheat and in the row 

 next to it large, plump grains. Is there any difference in plants and yield 

 in the two rows? 



4. Obtain from your state Agricultural Experiment Station the score 

 cards which it uses in judging corn, wheat, and other grains. Get 

 from farmers or raise for yourself some of the varieties most popular 

 in your neighborhood. Select five or ten of the best ears of each variety, 

 and mark the points on a score card. 



5. Select an ear of corn that has short grains and one of about the 

 same size that has long wedge-shaped grains. Shell each and measure 

 the grain to see which yields most. Weigh grain and cob of each 

 separately. What per cent of each is corn and what per cent is cob? 

 Good seed corn gives eighty-five per cent grain. 



COTTON AND OTHER FIBER PLANTS 



Fiber Materials. There are four great staples which provide 

 us materials for the fabrics which we use for so many purposes. 

 Two of these, silk and wool, are animal products; two, cotton and 

 flax, are vegetable ones. The United States imports three of these 

 staples, silk, wool, and flax, usually manufactured into fabrics; 

 the fourth, cotton, is our chief export and furnishes material for 

 one of our most valuable manufacturing industries. 



Uses of Cotton. While the cotton plant is raised primarily 

 for its fiber, other parts are useful, also. The seed furnishes an 

 oil valuable for illuminating, cooking, and other purposes; the 

 hulls and meal left from the manufacture of oil are used for stock 

 feed and fertilizer. The root bark is used as a medicine, and the 

 stalk fiber is woven into coarse cloth for bagging. Recently, 

 machinery has been perfected to make paper out of the stalks; 



