THE SELECTION OF SEED 



255 



The cloths are then unrolled, and the sprouted and unsprouted 

 grains carefully examined. An ear is discarded if all the six kernels 

 do not show strong germination. The numbers of ears, of course, 

 must be recorded in some convenient way. 



(6) Yield. The average corn yield of the United States 

 is nearly 30 bushels per acre. A boy in South Carolina 

 grew 228 bushels of dry shelled corn to the acre. It is 

 needful to consider, however, not only the number of 



REMOVING SEED FOR TESTING. 



bushels of corn to the acre, but also the cost of producing 

 them. The southern boy grew his corn at an enormous 

 expense. A slight expense will commonly do much to 

 increase the yield. 



If one counts the stalks in one hundred hills as they 

 come in an average cornfield, he will probably find that 

 the stand represents less than 75 per cent of the seed ; 

 and if he subtracts the number of barren stalks from his 

 count, this per cent would be reduced still more. Much 



