LUTHER BURBANK 



Ihe corn silks; these filamentous threads being of 

 course the pistils of the corn flower. Each thread 

 leads to an ovule that becomes a grain of corn in 

 due course, after the nucleus of ithe pollen grain 

 has made its way down the entire thread to unite 

 with it. 



I may add that the corn raised from the suckers 

 proved fully as good in all respects as that raised 

 from originally planted seed, when removed early 

 enough in the season and properly treated, the 

 weight of grain per acre being fully as great. But 

 the stalks were much shorter and more compact 

 than those of the other plants. 



The object of suckering, of course, was to 

 secure a large crop of quadricolor corn in order 

 that the experiments might be carried out more 

 extensively in the next generation. 



The attempt was altogether successful. Not 

 only did we secure an abundant supply of the 

 quadricolor, but I found also two stalks among 

 many that bore leaves in which the tendency of 

 striping with varied colors had been greatly 

 accentuated, producing a variety that might be 

 called multicolor corn. 



In addition to the four colors borne by the 

 other plants, these had stripes of bronze and choc- 

 olate, and arranged in far more pleasing manner 

 than in any of the former plants. 



[24] 



