THE TYPE OF EAR TO SELECT 115 



the corn is husked, so that whenever a desirable ear is found 

 it may be put into this small box and kept separate for seed. 



145. The Type To Select. One of the laws of breeding 

 which is recognized by everyone familiar with either plants 

 or animals is that like produces like. If one wishes to grow 

 corn of any particular type or quality, he can expect to do 

 this only by planting seed of that type and quality. Nearly 

 everyone desires to grow corn that yields well and is of good 

 quality. To accomplish this result it is necessary to select 

 seed ears of the type known to give satisfactory yields of the 

 quality desired. 



If one has a variety of corn that is larger than he deems 

 it desirable to produce in his community, the variety may be 

 made smaller by selecting ears of the desired size. On the 

 other hand, if it is thought advisable to increase the size of 

 the corn, this may be done by selecting larger ears. Like- 

 wise, any character that is desired may be fixed by per- 

 sistently selecting every year ears of corn having that char- 

 acter. 



146. Fixing the Type in Mind. One needs but to examine 

 an ordinary wagon box full of corn as it is picked to be con- 

 vinced of the fact that there are good and poor ears in every 

 field. Also, there are usually a number of good ears of dif- 

 ferent types in every lot of corn; for instance, there may be 

 good ears of corn having twenty rows of kernels and other 

 good ears having only sixteen rows of kernels, all coming 

 from the same field or variety. In selecting seed corn it is 

 highly desirable that one have the desired type pretty clearly 

 in mind and select to that type persistently. It is a good 

 plan to look over a large number of ears and pick out one 

 that is as near the ideal as possible. Keep this ear where it 

 may be examined occasionally to keep clearly in mind the 

 type being selected. 



