CARE OF SELECTION BED 445 



be another field of corn near the south line of your own, then 

 the selection bed may be placed either to the north side of your 

 general field or in the center of it. The seed planted by a neighbor 

 just to the south of your general field may not have been selected 

 as carefully as your own and also might be of a different 

 variety. Therefore, it would be preferable for the pollen from your 

 own general field to fall on your selection bed than to have the pollen 

 from the field adjoining. The prevailing winds in summer are from 

 the south and southwest. This is the reason for locating the selection 

 bed as above. The selection bed should, if possible, be on fall plowed 

 ground, which, if properly cared for in early spring, matures the corn 

 earlier. 



PLANTING THE SELECTION BED. The selection bed should 

 be planted with the specially selected seed as soon as the ground has 

 sufficiently warmed up in the spring and the seed bed has been put in 

 proper condition. The corn planter should be used, planting the same 

 number of kernels per hill as in the general field. A good seed bed 

 always pays well for the time taken in its preparation. 



CARE OF SELECTION BED. The selection bed should be cared 

 for in the same way as the general field; cultivating at least 3 times 

 and 4 if possible. It will demand no special attention until the corn 

 begins to put forth its tassels. The tassel is the staminate (male 

 flower) ; the silk is the pistillate (female flower.) There is one silk 

 for every kernel. Only one pollen grain is necessary for the fertiliza- 

 tion of a silk. In the selection bed there will naturally be found num- 

 erous weak stalks, barren stalks, and suckers, which, whether or not 

 an ear is produced, will, with few exceptions, produce tassels which 

 will shed their pollen over the field. In order that this pollen may be 

 eliminated from the selection bed, take a sharp knife of good size 

 and go into this patch just at the time when the first tassels begin 

 to appear, cut down all weak stalks, barren stalks, and suckers, cut 

 ting them close to the ground. This will not only eliminate the 

 spreading of this pollen, but will be of further benefit to the field by 

 not permitting these worthless stalks to draw nourishment from the 

 soil to the sacrifice of stalks which are producing ears. It is very 

 properly assumed that a strong appearing, mature ear, may be great- 

 ly injured for seed purposes by being fertilized by the pollen from 

 weak and unproductive stalks. While the ear that season may not 

 show the influence, yet when used for seed the following year, it 

 may be expected that "the sins of the fathers will be visited on the 

 children to the third and fourth generations." If the pollen from these 



