258 MAINi: AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I91O. 



ability for planting. In other words, a second selection was 

 practiced. The first selection had been primarily on the basis 

 of earliness. All the seed harvested (with the exception of 

 the substitute ears already referred to and others taken for 

 particular experimental purposes) was known to have matured 

 earlier than the general average. The second selection was for 

 the purpose of picking out the most desirable of these early ears. 

 In order to put the selection on a quantitative basis, instead of 

 mere general appreciation of quality, the following data were 

 collected for each thoroughly air-dried ear: (a) weight of ear 

 in grams, (b) number of rows, (c) number of kernels in aver- 

 age row, (d) the circumference of the ear one inch from the butt, 

 taken in mm. with a steel tape, (e) the circumference in mm. 

 of the ear one inch from the tip, (f) the circumference in mm. 

 of the cob one inch from the butt, (g) the circumference in mm. 

 of the cob one inch from the tip, (h) the weight of the cob 

 in grams, (i) the length of the ear in cm., and (j) the net weight 

 of shelled corn from the ear. The butts and tips of the ears 

 back a distance of i inch from each end were shelled separately 

 from the rest of the ear, and only the kernels from the body of 

 the ear used for seed. The germination of each ear was tested 

 in a Geneva tester, on a random sample of 25 kernels. 



The records of these data were made upon loose leaf blanks 

 of the sort shown in facsimile in Fig. 222. 





\'-.r£TV 







Se. 



so. 









Pare 



Plant No 

 m EAR No. 







9) 



\.. 



^0^ 



»0». 



"""'-' 



zz. 



o„cl- 



BUTT 



COB 



Vrt.OMT 



...„„ 



OE»K. 



PLANTED 





i 



t.l>T 



ROW 

































5 

































































z 































Q 































1! 

































































u 





























































0! 































0. 



Germination tested 



U 



Remarks 



u 



iv 







 < 





OJ 



z 





5 



































Fig. 222. Facsimile of blank used for the recording of ear characters 

 in sweet corn breeding work. 



The data on the ears finally chosen for planting in 1908 of 

 each of the two types are given in tables i and 2. 



