THE SEED CORN PLAT 129 



corn plat is to be one acre in size, the proper method is to 

 select the necessary number of ears, which is about twenty, 

 to plant this plat, using extra care to select absolutely the 

 best ears that can be obtained. After the ears are selected 

 and tested, the plat is planted in the same way as the ordi- 

 nary field; in fact, it is preferably a part of the regular corn 

 field. If possible, it should be on either the south or the west 

 side of the field, or on the side toward the prevailing winds, 

 so that the pollen from the main portion will be less likely 

 to fertilize the stalks in this seed plat. Care must be taken, 

 however, that the plat is not near a neighbor's corn field, 

 because the neighbor may not have as carefully selected corn 

 as that grown on the plat. It is better to have the seed corn 

 plat near the middle of the main field than to have it near a 

 neighbor's corn of a different variety or of inferior quality. 

 A seed corn plat planted in this way may be cultivated with 

 the rest of the field, so that very little extra work is entailed. 



The best seed is planted on this plat and extra care is 

 taken while it is growing to see that all weak and barren 

 stalks are removed or detasseled, so that all ears produced 

 on it will be fertilized from strong stalks that bear ears of 

 corn. When the time comes to select seed, all of the best 

 corn produced in the seed plat is selected. The following 

 spring the twenty best ears are selected and planted in 

 another seed corn plat, and the balance is used for the seed 

 of the main crop. On a small plat of this kind, one can 

 afford to use more care in selecting seed and in weeding out 

 or detasseling the weak stalks than is practical on the large 

 fields. 



JUDGING CORN 



165. Object of Judging. The judging of corn, while it 

 calls for sound judgment, is not nearly so difficult as it at 

 first seems. When one first looks at an exhibit of corn con- 



