METHODS OF LAYING OUT A BESEDINO-PLAT 97 



plats should be planted with a uniform lot of corn. It 

 has been found very satisfactory in practice to make 

 every fifth plat a check. The simplest way is to make a 

 check of every plat that is a multiple of 5, as 5, 10, 15, and 

 so on. 



Planting the ears. — The land should first be laid off 

 by a marker into checks 3 feet 8 inches apart. The 

 planting must be done by hand. Carry the ear, and shell 

 off the grains as needed. It is best to plant four grains 

 in a hill; then, when the corn is 6 inches high, thin it 

 down to two stalks. This will give a perfect stand. 

 Every precaution should be used to secure uniform con- 

 ditions in each plat ; otherwise the experiment would be 

 a waste of time, as the results would not mean anything. 



Cultivation. — Ordinary cultivation should be followed, 

 care being taken that none of the rows are unduly injured. 



Taking notes. — Some breeders prefer to keep extensive 

 descriptive notes for their own information, but for 

 practical results, very little note-taking is necessary 

 other than accurately to secure comparable yields. If 

 the breeder is selecting for some particular quality, such 

 as earliness, height of ear, angle of ear, and the like, he 

 must take notes on these points. Also, taking a set of 

 notes on each individual row furnishes the very best train- 

 ing possible in close observation ; and as a man cannot 

 know too much about the corn plant in order to be a 

 successful breeder, it will usually pay him well to keep as 

 complete a record as possible. 



70. Harvesting. — ■ When corn first ripens it contains 

 25 to 30 per cent of water, but it slowly dries out to about 

 15 per cent. In the breeding-plats some rows ripen and 

 dry out sooner than others ; hence, the weights will not 

 be comparable until all are equally dry. For this reason 



H 



