THE FARM 315 



Corn is a good example of plants bearing two kinds of 

 flowers. Those of the " tassel" at the top of the plant have 

 stamens in whose anthers an abundance of pollen is produced. 

 Lacking the part of the flower known as the pistil they are 

 staminate flowers. The "silk" of the corn consists of unusu- 

 ally long styles of pistillate flowers at whose outer ends 

 are the stigmas. At the inner end of each style is an 

 ovule, which develops * in to a! grain (kernel) of corn. The 

 corn ear is a mass of seeds securely enveloped by leaves 

 (husks) closely crowded together upon a much shortened 

 stem. 



The development of the ear and the consequent production 

 of a crop of corn depends upon the fertilization of the ovules 

 by the pollen cells that fall upon the stigmas. Any complete 

 discussion of the fertilization of flowers, and of the fascinat- 

 ing teachings of plant growth and reproduction, requires a 

 study of Botany. There are many examples of pistillate 

 flowers on one plant and staminate flowers on another. This 

 is true of the cottonwood, poplar, willow, and box-elder 

 trees. When a union of the parts from the pollen and the 

 ovule has occurred, there results a new cell capable of 

 development under favorable conditions into a new plant of 

 the same species. The seed consists of this new plant as an 

 embryo, together with a store of food for it when germination 

 occurs and a protective covering for both. 



The corn depends upon the wind to scatter its pollen so that 

 every ovule may be fertilized, and the ear of corn have no 

 missing kernels. That this is commonly accomplished is 

 illustration of the lavish provision of nature in the supply 

 of pollen. A large amount of it must inevitably be 

 wasted. Unfavorable weather conditions at the time when 

 the pollen is being shed, either very dry and hot, or a long 

 continued rainy period, may seriously cut short the crop of 

 corn. 



