SILVER MINE 



427 



BREED CHARACTERISTICS.— Stalk. Silver Mine is not a 



rank growing variety; even on rich 

 ground it does not produce such an 

 abundance of foliage as other vari- 

 eties. The stem itself is short and 

 of a finer texture with little coarse- 

 ness about the joints. Even under 

 adverse conditions the hills seem 

 comparatively free from barren 

 stalks. 



Ear. The type of ear sought in 

 the Silver Mine corn is only me- 

 dium in size, with a full middle, be- 

 ing cylindrical part of the way from 

 butt to tip, and then slowly taper- 

 ing oS at the tip. The length runs 

 from 8 to 9^ inches and the circum- 

 ference is large in proportion. The 

 shank is medium small in size, but 

 the butt does not have the smoothly 

 rounded cup-shape that is found in 

 the Reid. The cob is pure white, 

 with a very fine texture and weighs 

 light when dry. 



Kernel. The rows, which aver- 

 age about i8, are paired, though less 

 distinctly than in the Reid. There 

 is considerable space between the 

 crowns because of the depth of the 

 kernels. However, the grains are 

 firm on the cob and no chafifiness is 

 present. The kernel itself is a 

 slowly tapering wedge, with a plain 

 open-faced germ which gradualUy 

 widens from crown to tip, until 

 it almost covers the endosperm on 

 either side. The tip of the ker- 

 nel lacks prominent shoulders, but 

 rounds off plumply. The kernel 

 has very little thickness compared 



SILVER MINE. 



