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in breeding a corn adapted to the hot and dry conditions of the 

 Southwest. The plants raised in the test averaged less than 6 

 feet in height, with an average of 12 green leaves at the time of 

 tasseling. The ears averaged 5^^ inches in length and 4^ inches 

 in greatest circumference, with 16 to 18 rows of small grains. 

 On the upper part of the plant the leaves are all on one side of 

 the stalk, instead of being arranged in two rows on opposite 

 sides. Besides this, the upper leaves stand erect, instead of 

 drooping, and the tips of the leaves are therefore above the top 

 of the tassel. The silks of the ear are produced at the point where 

 the leaf blade is joined to the leaf sheath, and they appear before 

 there is any sign of an ear except a slight swelling. 



"This corn is very different from any that is now produced in 

 America. Its peculiar value is that the erect arrangement of 

 the leaves on one side of the stalk and the appearance of the 

 silks in the angle where the leaf blade joins the sheath offer a 

 protected place in which pollen can settle and fertilize the silks 

 before the latter are ever exposed to the air. This is an excellent 

 arrangement for preventing the drying out of the silks before 

 pollination. While this corn may be of little value-itself, it is 

 likely that, by cross-breeding, these desirable qualities can be 

 imparted to a larger corn, which will thus be better adapted to 

 the Southwest, 



"The discovery of this peculiar corn in China suggests anew 

 the idea that, although America is the original home of corn, 

 yet it may by some means have been taken to the Eastern 

 Hemisphere long before the discovery of America by Columbus. 

 From descriptions in Chinese literature corn is known to have 

 been established in China within less than a century after the 

 voyage of Columbus. But this seems a short time for any plant 

 to have become widely known and used. Besides, this particular 

 corn is so different from anything in the New World that it must 

 have been developed in the Old World, and for that to happen in a 

 natural way would take a very long time. These ideas are 

 brought out in Bulletin 161 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 which gives also an account of some cross-breeding experiments 

 with the new corn and the changes which crossing produces in the 

 grains the same season." 



