ON CORN 



Anyone who has suckered a field of corn on a 

 hot June day will appreciate the importance of 

 eliminating this wild habit of the teosinte, espe- 

 cially when grown for grain rather than for food. 

 It must have taken centuries to eradicate this 

 defect, as it is even yet more or less persistent in 

 nearly all varieties of corn. 



In kernel the teosinte most resembles, though 

 not by any means very closely, our common varie- 

 ties of pop corn; but with this great difference: 

 only a pellicle protects the kernel in all our culti- 

 vated corn, while the tough, chitenous covering 

 envelops the kernels of teosinte. But the resem- 

 blance of the plant itself to the corn plant leaves 

 no question of their affinity, and the head of grain, 

 notwithstanding its insignificant size, has individ- 

 ual kernels that are suggestive of diminutive 

 kernels of corn. 



If any doubt were entertained as to the 

 relationship of this wild plant to the cultivated 

 corn, this would be dispelled by hybridizing 

 experiments, for the two cross readily. 



In Mexico it is quite common for the teosinte 

 to hybridize with the Mexican corn, through the 

 agency of the wind, and the product is well-known 

 under the name of "dog corn." 



In my own extensive experiments with teosinte, 

 no difficulty was experienced in effecting hybridi- 



