MAKING THE GERMINATION TEST 69 



To make the test, some method of numbering each indi- 

 vidual ear must be used. There are several different ways 

 of numbering the ears, among which are the following: 

 (1) The ears may be placed on a seed-corn tree (Fig. 40) and 

 a number placed on the tree near each one of the nails. (2) 

 If the corn is hung up by the double-string method (Fig. 41) 

 the ears may be numbered without taking them out of the 

 strings by numbering one string 1, the next string 11, the 

 next 21, and so on, assuming that there are ten ears in each 

 string and that the ears in the string are counted from 1 to 10. 

 If there are 13 ears in each string, for example, the second 

 string is marked 14, the third 27, and so on. (3) Another 

 method of numbering is to lay the ears side by side on a 

 plank and drive a tenpenny nail between each two ears. 

 In this way each ear of corn will be separated from the next 

 by a nail, and the number may be written just beneath each 

 ear with a piece of lead or a pencil. 



76. The Germination Box. The germination box may 

 be made of any desired size. A convenient size is 2 feet 

 square, which will provide ample room for testing 100 ears 

 of corn. The box, which should be from 3 to 5 inches deep, 

 is filled to within an inch or so of the top with sand or saw- 

 dust, preferably sawdust, and this material is then thoroughly 

 packed. A piece of white cloth 2 feet square marked off 

 with a lead pencil into 2-inch squares is placed over the saw- 

 dust and tacked into position. By leaving the outside row 

 of squares vacant clear around the box, there will remain 100 

 squares. These should be numbered from 1 to 100, or enough 

 of the squares numbered so that the number of any one can 

 be determined easily. It is desirable to leave the outer row 

 of squares vacant, for the box is likely to dry out along the 

 edges, making the test unreliable. 



77. Placing the Kernels. When the box is ready and 

 the ears are numbered, it is only necessary to take a definite 



