256 Maine; agricui^turai, expe:rime;nt station. 1910. 



In making the field selections earliness was taken as the char- 

 acter of primary importance. This was judged from a variety 

 of characteristics. At the time the first selections were made 

 of the Type I corn, (August 29, 1907) the silks on the earliest 

 plants were dead and thoroughly dried. On many plants in the 

 field, however, the silks were still perfectly green. The stalks 

 and leaves were in all cases still green. Only on the exception- 

 ally early plants had the husks begun to dry out at their ends. 

 All of these points, as well as the condition of the ear itself, 

 were taken into account in judging of the degree of earli- 

 ness. , All plants which appeared especially early, and not abso- 

 lutely defective in other qualities were marked with a tag bear- 

 ing a number. In order to make such tagged plants more read- 

 ily distinguishable in the field there was tied around the top 

 of each stalk a narrow streamer of red cheese cloth. 



The number on the tag was the individual plant number by 

 which that plant could at any time afterward be identified in 

 the records. No individual plant number is ever duplicated in 

 the selection work. Notes were taken at the time of the orig- 

 inal selection of each plant. These notes were recorded on 

 5" X 8" loose leaf sheets like that shown in facsimile in Fig. 221. 



Plant Na 

 Parent Eaa No. 



Dayb to Matu 



Fig. 221. Facsimile of individual plant record sheet used in corn 

 breeding work. 



