CORN OR MAIZE 41 



to overcome the inconvenience of carrying a heavy load 

 at the end of a long branch, nature gradually shortened 

 the internodes of the branches, thus reducing them in 

 length, until now the ear is carried on a short branch near 

 the main stalk. As the branches were shortened, the nodes 

 were brought close together, thus causing the leaf sheaths 

 to overlap or telescope. The leaf sheaths thus telescoped 

 form the husks that cover the ear. During the time that 

 the branches were becoming shorter, the leaf blades were 

 gradually disappearing, and now in most cases only the 

 sheath remains. Very frequently, however, we find 

 husks with quite long blades on them. This is a reversion 

 to the original form when the shank was a long branch, 

 and leaves were produced on it as they now are on the 

 main stalk. 



The corn plant formerly produced several branches 

 each carrying a small ear, but through the centuries 

 that it has been cultivated by man, he has selected large 

 ears for seed which were probably produced on plants 

 having few branches, and has in this way developed plants 

 that produce one or two large ears rather than several 

 small ones. However, it is not infrequent that we find 

 corn plants with two, three, and in rare cases four or five 

 ears. If we could catch hold of these ears and pull the 

 shank out, extending the internodes so that they would 

 be the same length as those of the main stalk, we would 

 have a branched com plant, similar in this respect to the 

 original form. 



TYPES OF CORN 



Zea Mays has been divided into six distinct types or 

 classes. The character and arrangement of the endo- 

 sperm is the principal basis for this division. In the 



