PLANT BREEDING 



419 



A J5 



Fig. 333. Kernels of corn with high and with 

 low percentage of proteins 



yl, high proteins; i?, low proteins ; p, horny layer, 

 consisting largely of proteins; s, white starchy 

 portion ; e, embryo. After Bulletin 87, Univer- 

 sity of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station 



385. Qualities sought by the corn breeder. ^ Of the many 

 qualities that may be sought by the corn grower it will be 

 enough here to mention only four of the most important: 



(1) productiveness ; 



(2) high percentage 

 of proteins ; (3) high 

 percentage of oil ; (4) 

 low percentage of oil. 



With reference to 

 (1) it suffices here to 

 say that the average 

 yield of corn for the 

 entire United States, 

 according to statistics 

 for 1908, was a little 

 over 26 bushels per 

 acre ; for the New 

 England States, with 

 no better soil and a 

 poorer climate, it was 

 40.5 bushels; and for 

 some New England 

 growers it was 100 or 

 more bushels per acre. 

 No small part of the 

 difference between 

 the average 26-bushel 

 yield and the 100- 

 bushel yield depends 

 on the choice of seed.^ 

 Greatly increased care 

 in its selection would 

 probably at once add 



Fig. 334. Kernels of corn with high and with 

 low percentage of oil 



A, At, cross section and face view of high-oil ker- 

 nels; B,Bi, cross section and face view of low-oil 

 kernels ; e, embryo. Most of the oil (as well as a 

 good deal of proteins) is contained in the embryo, 

 so that a large embryo means a high percentage 

 of oil in the grain. After Bulletin 87, University 

 of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station 



1 See Bulletins 55, 82, and 87, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 



2 See Massachusetts Crop Report, May, 1910. 



