SUGGESTIONS 263 



HOME EXERCISES 



1. Start or maintain a corn club. No crop lends itself more 

 readily to club work than corn does. Send to Washington for 

 Fanners' Bulletin No. 415, on " Seed Corn " ; Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 617 on " School Lessons on Corn "also; circular No. 104, on "Spe- 

 cial Contests for Corn Club Work," and for the circular entitled, 

 " Organization and Instruction in Boys' Corn Club Work." With 

 the aid of the County Agent, of the Superintendent of Schools, or of 

 the local teacher, the club should easily be organized. The basis of 

 award in corn club work may be : 



(1) Greatest yield per acre 30 points 



(2) Best showing of profit on investment ... 30 points 



(3) Best exhibit of ten ears at county, district, or 



state fair 20 points 



(4) Crop report record and story of club work . 20 points 



Total Score 100 points 



2. In addition to the corn club work many simple and original 

 experiments can be worked out at home. 



In early fall a pupil may determine the number of bushels of corn 

 to the acre on his home farm as follows : Along the edge of a corn field, 

 by pacing, or using a string, measure off 209 feet, the length of a side 

 of a square acre. Then measure the same distance on the adjoining 

 side of the corn field. Count the rows included in this distance, and 

 the average number of ears in three rows. Fill a bushel measure with 

 unshelled corn, then count the ears, and assume that it takes two 

 bushels of corn on the ear to make one that is shelled. Estimate the 

 number of bushels per acre from these figures. See how nearly your 

 estimate holds out when the crop is harvested. 



SUGGESTIONS 



1. Demonstrations made directly on the corn plant in the school- 

 room make the subject real. Gather some tassels before the pollen 

 has fallen ; place them on a dark paper, and in an hour or two the 

 pollen bags will have discharged their contents. These pollen grains 

 can readily be seen with the naked eye. Blow on the paper to see 

 how easily they float in the air. 



2. Remove the husks from an ear as the silk is coming out. 

 Follow each silken thread to the grain that produced it. Are there 



