64 THE BOOK OF CORN 



should be numbered to correspond to the rows from 

 which the corn has been husked. Each bag of corn 

 should be laid out separately, weighed, and the num- 

 ber of ears true to type and of the kind desired 

 picked out and laid by themselves. The ten rows or 

 plats producing the largest yield and number of ears 

 of the type desired must have been planted from seed 

 prepotent for the production of that type. Now, if the 

 seed for the next year's seed plat be taken from these 

 plats or rows, this prepotency will be taken advantage 

 of and preserved. The rest of the corn can be used to 

 plant the fields for growing stock seed. 



Barren Stalks in Breeding Plat — During the sum- 

 mer the breeder should go through the breeding plat 

 and cut out all poor, dwarfed or barren stalks. This 

 should be done just as the tassels are coming out, and 

 before any of the pollen has been shed. This plan will 

 prevent the seed being fertilized by the pollen of these 

 undesirable stalks. It will assist in getting rid of 

 barren and other useless stalks. If these stalks are 

 not cut out, they should be detasseled. This will pre- 

 vent any damage and will insure against any possi- 

 ble loss. 



Corn Is Cross-Pollinated — Naturally corn is cross- 

 fertilized. The silks on a stalk mature at a different 

 time than the pollen, so that the pollen of one stalk fer- 

 tilizes the silks of other stalks. By a careful count 1 

 found that in the ordinary dent varieties each plant is 

 capable of producing about thirty million pollen grains. 

 These pollen grains are wafted by the wind about the 

 field, and if blown upon a silk which is ready for ferti- 

 lization they will attach themselves to it and perform 

 the function of fertilization. This production of pollen 

 is an enormous draft on the strength of the plant. By 

 removing the pollen at the proper time, so as not to 

 injure the plant, and allowing the ear to be fertilized 



