258 MAIZE 



chap, with a penknife before sending in their exhibits, for if the 

 shanks are left on, the appearance of the exhibit is spoiled 

 and the judge is apt to mark down accordingly. 



Well-filled butts are more frequently met with than well- 

 filled tips, because the silks from the butt appear first and 

 remain in a receptive condition until sufficient pollen is avail- 

 able for fertilization. The silks from the tip of the ear 

 appear last, and it not infrequently happens that all the 

 pollen has been shed before they appear. In most South 

 African breeds the pollen is mature some days before the silks 

 become receptive. 



The following scores are allowed for butts : — 



(1) For butts having the grains swelled out around the 



shank in a regular manner, leaving a concave de- 

 pression, allow full marks. 



(2) Grains swelling out but not in a regular manner : cut -i. 



(3) Grains not swelling out beyond cob but regular in size : 



cut 2. 



(4) End of cob covered, but grains flat, shallow, and irre- 



gular : cut '3. 



(5) For poorly covered butt: cut -5. 



216. Thickness of Cob. — The cob is merely the support 

 which carries the grains, and the larger the cob — other things 

 being equal — the greater the number of grains that can be 

 carried upon it. A careful study of this point shows that the 

 best yielding ears have thicker cobs than those which give 

 poor yields, or, in other words, that thin cobs generally result 

 in poor yields. But a very thick cob should be avoided, because 

 it requires too long to dry out thoroughly and is more difficult 

 to shell off in a hand-sheller. 



217. Tips of Ears. — There should not be any projection of 

 bare cob beyond the uppermost grains on the ear, because this 

 indicates lack of pollination through irregularity in flowering 

 or other defects in the parent. The tip of a well-bred ear 

 should be regularly covered with uniformly-sized grains. 

 The percentage of such well-covered tips will vary with the 

 season, and in some seasons it may be difficult to find any so 

 covered ; but if the scoring is uniform in this particular, all 

 exhibitors will be affected alike and no injustice will be done. 

 It is usually found that short ears are better filled than long 



