460 



CORN 



tience. The tassels should always be pulled and never cut. Some 

 farmers go through the patch on foot, bending the stalk over and hold- 

 ing it with one hand near the top joint, pulling the tassel from its place 

 without injuring the plant. In rank growing corn, a man astride a 

 horse that is muzzled to prevent destroying the corn, can pass between 

 the ro^vs and A^ery rapidly detassel. The number of times that the 

 block must be gone over depends upon the rapidity of the appearance 

 of the tassels. When simply detasseling to eliminate the barren stalks, 

 it will be found profitable to cut such stalks off at the surface of 

 the ground. 



THIRD YEAR.— The Increase Bed. The "Increase Bed" is the 

 next step. This will be started the third year. In the breeding blocks 

 mentioned aboA^e, which were 20 hills square, there will be 200 hills 

 in each which have been detasseled. Three kernels being planted by 

 hand in each hill, it is safe to assume that from the detasseled stalks 

 in each breeding block, as man}^ as 400 cars will be secured, or at least 

 4 bushels of ears entirely free for the pollen shed from the tas- 

 sels borne on their own stalks. This amount of seed will generally 

 be secured from each breeding block. In studying these breeding 

 blocks, very complete data should be taken of both the tasseled and 

 detasseled rows. While the seed from the tasseled rows is not saved 



"STALKS A-FOOLIN' 'ROUND ALL SUMMER, DOIN' NOTHIN'." 



No. 1 has a fairly good ear, weigliing 16 ounces: one stalk per hill on one acre of 

 ground, each producing an ear of this weight would yield 50 bushels and 56 pounds at the 

 rate of 70 pounds per bushel. No. 2 weighs 10 ounces; one stalk per hill would yield 31 

 bushels and 52 pounds. No. 3 weighs 9 ounces; one stalk per hill would yield 28 

 bushels and 40 pounds. No. 4 weighs 6 ounces; one stalk per hill would yield 19 

 bushels and 3 pounds. No, 5 weighs 3 ounces; one stalk per hill would yield 9 bushels 

 and 36 pounds. No. 6 weighs one ounce; one stalk per hill would yield 3 bushels and 

 12 pounds. No. 7 produced the ear that is not there. Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are worse 

 than worthless in the field, on account of their producing pollen, which is distributed 

 over the field. 



