194 



GENERAL BOTANY 



planting. It has also been found that not only can the size and 

 shape of the ear be thus improved by selection but also the 



contents of the 

 kernel, including 

 the valuable com- 

 mercial products 

 derived from corn, 

 such as starch, 

 oil, and protein. 

 In the Illinois 

 agricultural ex- 

 periment station 

 work was started 



" Showing great variability in type resulting from failure 



to select seed." Photograph furnished by the United States 



Department of Agriculture 



FIG. 103. Boon County White Corn, unselected 



in 1896 to pro- 

 duce strains of 

 corn with differ- 

 ent amounts of starch, fat, or protein as reserve food in the 

 kernels. The starch in ordinary varieties of corn forms the bulk 

 of the endosperm, the oil is located largely in the embryo, and 



FIG. 104. Boon County White Corn, selected 



Showing uniformity in type due to thirty-two years of seed selection. Photograph 

 furnished by the United States Department of Agriculture 



the protein is found in the outer portion of the endosperm next 

 to the seed coat. By sectioning kernels on the ears of different 

 plants the amount of starch, fat, or protein can be judged by 



