218 SCHOOL AND HOME GARDENING 



oi; good eaiis upon them. The tassels on such may be left. 



The de-tasseling of puny stalks is done on the westerly 

 side or the windward side of large fields, and in that part 

 of the field the seed corn is selected the following fall. 



De-tasseling of Alternate Rows. — ^When pollen scatters 

 from the tassels of corn it may fall either upon silks of the 

 same stalks or upon silks of other stalks. The latter is called 

 cross-pollinating. Experiments have shown that cross-pol- 

 linating produces better corn. To compel or enforce cross- 

 pollinating of seed corn, the usual plan is to de-tassel every 

 second row on the westerly side or windward side of the field, 

 or throughout the field. The seed corn is then selected only 

 from the rows having no tassels. Such rows will have received 

 their pollen from other stalks and are said to have been cross- 

 pollinated. 



A combination of these two plans of corn improvement is 

 accomplished by de-tass,eling alternate rows, and in addition 

 to this de-tasseling the stalks which are not promising in the 

 other rows. 



How to De-tassel Corn. — As already stated, the removal 

 of tassels must take place before the pollen is scattered. The 

 field must be watched closely for a few days at the right time. 

 A large butcher knife or a light corn knife is used to cut the 

 tops. This may be done by a single quigk stroke just below 

 the tassel portion. It is not necessary to save these immature 

 tassels. They will fall to the ground and the pollen will do 

 no harm. De-tagseling does not affect the value of the fodder 

 in the future crop. 



The Ear-row Method. — One of the best ways of improv- 

 ing seed corn is to first select the best ears from good stalks 

 in the field. These ears are used the next season in separate 

 rows or portions of rows. For example, kernels of ear number 

 one are planted in row number one. Kernels of ear number 

 two are planted in row number two. This plan is continued 

 with as many rows as desired. The yield of each row is care- 



