158 



SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



Size of Ear 



(1) An ear between eight and ten inches in length. Its 

 circumference should be about three fourths of its length, 



the measurement being 

 taken one third of the 

 distance from butt to tip. 

 (1) An ear more than 

 eleven inches long and an- 

 other less than seven. 



The best corn breeders 

 and growers do not now 

 try to raise large ears of 

 corn as has been com- 

 monly done in the past. 

 It has been found that 

 the size of ear which can 

 safelj' be raised in any 

 locality depends very 

 largelj' upon the length of 

 the growing season. The 

 longer the growing season, 

 the more time the plant 

 has to manufacture food, 

 and the larger the ear 

 will probably be. There- 

 fore ears in the South are 

 of greater average size than those in the North, provided 

 both are raised under like soil conditions. In Iowa and 

 Illinois, the two leading com states, the dimensions given 

 first above are considered to be about right. It is clear, 

 however, that in states farther south the standard of size 

 should be somewhat greater. 



Fig. 61. — An ear of desirable size. 



