188 FIELD CROPS FOR THE COTTON-BELT 



the height of plant, height at which ear is borne, position 

 of ear, and the like, are usually given careful consideration 



in breeding corn. It 

 nevertheless remains 

 that yield is the 

 primary object in corn 

 breeding, and if each 

 year seed is carefully 

 selected and propa- 

 gated from the highest 

 yielding plants or 

 progeny rows as the 

 case may be, all other 

 characters of the plant 

 will naturally adjust 

 themselves under the 

 existing conditions in 

 such a way that ulti- 

 mately the most pro- 

 ductive type of plant 

 will follow. That no 

 visible characters of the 

 corn ear are indicative 

 of high yielding power 

 has been demonstrated 

 many times by breed- 

 ers and this fact is 

 clearly summarized by 

 Hartley as follows: 

 "A careful tabulation of yields as compared with other 

 ear characters covering six years' work with four varie- 

 ties, embracing in all more than 1000 ear-to-row tests of 

 production, indicates that no visible characters of appar- 



FIG. 36. Showing the average angle of 

 declination of corn ears after five 

 generations of breeding for erect ears. 



