I/O 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



could be seen, and before they were fully developed. A slight pull 

 was sufficient to break the stalk just below the tassel, and the removal 

 was easy and rapid. 



On July 25 the plot was gone over again for the removal of such 

 tassels as had appeared since the previous work, and at this time by 

 far the greatest number of the tassels were removed. 



On July 28, when the plot was gone over for the third time, the 

 effects of the tasselling became apparent in the increased number of 

 silks that were visible on the rows from which the tassels had been 

 removed. 



On the 1,008 tasselled hills there were visible 591 silks; on the 

 1,008 untasselled, 393 silks. 



On Aug. 4 the plot was gone over for the last time, but only a 

 few tassels were found on the very latest stalks. The preponderance 

 of visible silk on the tasselled rows was still manifest, there being at 

 this time 3,542 silks visible on the tasselled rows, and but 2,044 on 

 the untasselled rows. The corn was allowed to stand without cutting 

 until ripe. 



Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 the rows were cut and husked, and the stalks 

 and ears weighed and counted, with the following results : — 





Aggregate 



Comparative 





Yield. 



Yield. 





J2 -• 



'Jl r C! 



















V2 ^ 



£ > 





% > 







M o 











f2 8 



<StS 



03 g 





H.3 



H.2 



Eh o 







tH 





t-> 



Number of good ears 



1551 



2338 



100 



151 



Number of poor ears 



628 



885 



100 



141 



Number of abortive ears 



2566 



951 



100 



37 



Total number of ears 



4745 



4174 



100 



88 



Weight of merchantable corn (pounds) 



710 



1078 



100 



152 



Weight of poor corn (pounds 



130 



187 



100 



144 



Number of stalks 



4186 



4228 



100 



101 



100 stalks weighed (pounds) 



82 



79 



100 



96 



It will thus be seen that the number of good ears and the weight 

 of merchantable corn were both a little more than fifty per cent, 

 greater on the rows from which the tassels were removed than upon 

 those upon which the tassels Avere left. This is not only true of the 

 two sets of rows as a whole, but with the individual rows as well. In 

 no case did a row upon which the tassels were left produce anywhere 

 near as much as the tasselled rows on either side of it. In fact, the 

 results given above are really the aggregate results of twenty-four 

 distinct duplicate experiments, each of which alone showed the same 

 thing as the aggregate of all. 



By abortive ears is meant those sets that made only a bunch of 

 husks, and sometimes a small cob, but no grain. It will be noticed 

 that the total of the good, poor, and abortive ears is about fourteen 

 per cent, greater on the rows on which the tassels were left, while the 

 weight of merchantable corn is more than fifty per cent, greater on 

 those rows from which the tassels were removed. — Science, March 

 27th, 1891, p. 171. 



