116 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



of the plant, the position of the ear on the stalk, the way it hangs, 

 early maturity, and all the other desirable characteristics which make 

 the ear a desirable one, under growing conditions, may be taken into 

 consideration. When corn is selected from the crib none of the fac- 

 tors which enter into the growth vmder field conditions are known. 

 One must be guided by external characteristics, and these are not 

 sufficient. Never buy seed corn shelled which you expect to improve. 

 In this condition even the kind of ear that produced the corn is not 

 known. Let the corn become perfectly mature in the field before har- 

 vesting. 



Much of what might otherwise have been good seed corn is ruined 

 in storing and cui-ing. When taken from the field ear corn contains 

 25 per cent to 35 per cent moisture. If allowed to freeze while con- 

 taining this amount of moisture the vitaUty will be greatly lessened, 

 if not entirely ruined. Therefore the corn must be thoroughly dried 

 before freezing. 



After it is properly dried it should be stored in a dry place, and no 

 natural temperature will harm it. It should be either placed in racks 

 or hung up in small traces. Do not shell or place in boxes or barrels. 

 Considerable more corn should be saved early in the fall than will be 

 needed, in order that more careful selection may be made later. 



While the external characteristics of an ear may be used for the 

 preliminary work of selection, these are not sufficient to determine 

 whether corn is fit for planting or not. In other words, the first prize 

 ear in a corn show may be no better and often not so good as some 

 other good ear. An ear of corn to be used for seed should be required 

 to answer for itself the following questions: Will it grow? Will it 

 mature? Has it constitution? Has it breeding characteristics? 

 None of these important questions can be answered without at least 

 testing the ear in two ways. 



First, the simple germination test maj^ be applied. Where quite 

 a number of ears are to be tested a box 20 inches by 20 inches and 3 

 inches deep can conveniently be used. Mark off the box, with strings, 

 into squares 2 inches on a side. Fill the box level full of sawdust or 

 sand. Number each ear and each square of the germinating box. 

 Place five or six kernels from ear No. 1 in space No. 1, and a similiar 

 number of kernels from the other ears in corresponding spaces. Place 

 the germinating box in a temperature of about 70° to 75° F. Keep 

 the sand or sawdust moist. As germination takes place you will no 

 doubt find many ears showing weakness or poor germinating power, 

 and they should be discarded at once. 



Sometimes corn that will germinate will not grow well under field 

 conditions. So in any effort to improve corn the desirable ears 

 retained from the germination test should be tested in the field. The 

 most convenient method is by what is called the "ear row test." 

 This consists in planting row No. 1 with corn taken from ear No. 1, 

 row No, 2 with corn from ear No. 2, etc. Plots of any desired size 



