98 CORN CROPS 



it is best to leave the breeding-plats in the field for six 

 to eight weeks after ripening, or until about December 1. 

 Any very late-maturing or slow-maturing rows should be 

 noted and discarded at harvest, as a type that will not 

 mature well is undesirable. 



A very good method of harvesting the plats is to divide 

 a wagon box into two to four compartments. Husk a 

 plat into each compartment. At the end of the rows, 

 have a platform scale with a box large enough to hold 

 the corn from one plat. Scoop the corn into this box, 

 and as each plat is weighed, dump the corn at the end of 

 the row, leaving the plat stake with each pile. 



Leave the corn in these piles until all plats are husked, 

 then mark the piles from high-yielding rows. A careful 

 examination can now be made of these piles in order to 

 note whether any seem immature, low in vitality, or other- 

 wise undesirable. About one-fourth of the best plats 

 should be noted, that is, 20 to 25 out of 100 piles. From 

 these, seed for the general crop may be selected for the 

 nest year. 



The breeder still has one-half or more of the original 

 ears from which the crop has grown. It is from these 

 that he will build up his improved strains of corn. 



71. The second year's work. — The best twenty or 

 twenty-five original ears having been located, the rem- 

 nants of these are again planted in separate rows the second 

 year. The reason for so large a number of the remnants 

 being again planted is because the degree of error may be 

 so large — due to the fact that one season may favor a 

 certain type — that we cannot determine exactly, the first 

 year, just which are the best two or three for all seasons. 

 When the second year's results are obtained, we may decide 

 which to choose on the basis of two years' record. The 



