J»nuai-y, l^li 



- Karlv Btaires. — 



In the early stajjes of nuu/o- 

 brci-Hlinj:; in the United Slates oi 

 America it was thon<;-ht sulUcient 

 to pick out the larjjest, h'ea\iest, 

 and best-lookini; ears from the 

 maize crib. The idea was that 

 like produces like, and that tliis 

 was obviouslv the most certain 

 wav to increase the si/.e of the ear 

 and thereiby the yield of grain jJer 

 acre. But if we study the crop 

 in the field it will be noticed that 

 the plant producing the biggest 

 ear ma\" often have other undesir- 

 able characteristics which it is un- 

 wise to perpetuate, or it may have 

 grown in a particularly favourable 

 situation, as on an ant -heap, or 

 has been inlhienced bv other exter- 

 nal conditions, in which case its 

 characteristics will not be trans- 

 mitted to its ofispring. This me- 

 thod, therefore, will frequently be 

 found to fail. 



The obvious alternative is to se- 

 lect the seed in the field from 

 plants possessing the desirable 

 characteristics, and the de<>eilop- 

 ment of which has not been midulv 

 influenced by thei'r surroundings. 

 Here again a difficulty arises, 

 namely, that even when selected in 

 this manner a certain proportion 

 of the seed will faU to breed true 

 to the parent type, and if thei seed 

 of all selected ears be mixed and 

 sown in one plot, there is no means 

 of knowing which plants are breed- 

 ing to tvpe and which are failing 

 to do so. In order to overcome 

 this, and to enable the breeder to 

 eliminate those plgnts which fail 

 in this respect, the " ear to row " 

 method of planting was intro- 

 duced. 



— American Discussion. — 

 During recent y^ears there has 

 been much controversvi among 

 American authorities on the sub- 

 ject of broad and narrow breeding 

 of maize, it being held by some 

 that the sA^stem of selection in a 

 relatively small breading- plot is 

 too conducive to in-breeding and 

 will in a short time lead to de- 

 terioration of the strain. It has 

 e^'enjbeen swggested that since the 

 maize plant is by nature adapted 

 to cross pollination, nature should 

 be further assisted bv planting seed 

 of mixed origin. On the other 

 hand, many breeders have pro- 

 duced prolific strains of maize ori- 

 ginated from one single ear or 

 parent plant, thereby following the 

 nrinciples of excessively narrow 

 breeding. 



— Possible Deterioration. — 



It has been repeatedly shown 

 that when maize is entirely self- 



fertilised for a numlyer of years, 



deterioration, which may even re- 

 sult in stexilty, occurs, but on the 

 other hand, though the reproduc- 

 tive organs of the plant are con- 

 stituted by nature to ])r()duce cross 

 fertilisation, there is little doubt 

 that a certain amount of self-fer- 

 tilisation usually takes place, and 

 this apparent^' without harmful 

 effects. The " ear to row " me- 

 thod of breeding follows the middle 

 course, and, imtil stronger argu- 

 ments can be brought against, it, 

 appears to be the most satisfac- 

 tory means of improving the fiiuali- 

 t\ of the seed, whi e at the same 

 time retaining uniformity, by per- 

 mitting of cross-fertilisation be- 

 tween nearh- related inddviduals. 

 This is precisely the same process 

 which is followed in the line — ^Ijreed- 

 ing of cattle. 



— Method. — 



Having decided that _ the "ear 

 to row " method is theii one most 

 likely to meet our requirements, 

 w'e must next consider the points 

 of the ideal maize plant which it 

 is desirable to perpetuate. In addi- 

 tion to the consideration of the 

 best type of ear, the selection, in 

 the first instance, should be large- 

 ly govern«sd by the appearance and 

 quality of the parent plant. It 

 must be remembered that as the 

 plant is, so to a great extent will 

 be the ear, and as in the case of 

 animals, if we desire to produce 

 large healthy ofispring, we choose 

 as parents well developed sire and 

 dam, so with vegetables corres- 

 ponding, desirable qualities should 

 be somewhat as follows. The 

 stalk should be strong and robust, 

 thick at the base and tapering 

 gradually. It should carry a well 

 developed system of primary and 

 secondary roots (adventitious root- 

 lets from the lower node of the 

 stem), and, needless to say, 

 should produce at least one large 

 well-filled cob. Many plants, par- 

 ticularly on a rich soil, show a 

 tendencA- to produce suckers which 

 is an undesirable feature, in that 

 this secondary growth seldom 

 bears a cob, or should it do so, 

 the grain is of an inferior quaiitv. 

 The ■ removal of suckers entails 

 much hand labour, while if they 

 are left and fail to set seed, the 

 vigour of the plant which should 

 go to developing the main cob or 

 cobs, is expended in useless vegeta- 

 tive growth. Absence of suckers 

 is, therefore, a desirable point. The 

 ear should be produced about four 

 feet from the ground or rather be- 

 low the middle point of the stem. 

 The object of this is that a uni- 



from height of cobbing facilities 

 har\esliiig and militates against 

 the dangler of the ])lant bcjoming 

 top heaw. It would apjiear that 

 the two last points are inlhienced 

 to a greater or less degree bv the 

 fertilit\- of the soil, luit thev are 

 also to some extent hereditary 

 characteristics. 



— Leaves. — 



The ^ea\es are the food factories 

 of the plant, and a good leaf 

 growth is therefore essential. In- 

 dividual plants vai'v greatly in this 

 reSjJect, and it is usually noticeable, 

 that the stem with the best leaf 

 growth also carries the largest 

 cobs. The leaves should be healthy 

 in colour, broad, and well develop- 

 ed. The shank or stalk of the 

 ear should be short and strong and 

 should not as a rule, exceed three 

 to five inches in length. The ma- 

 ture ear should be well covered 

 by the sheath or husks. If the 

 sheath is short and iteaves the tip 

 of the ear exposed, the grain when 

 in a . milky state, is liable to be 

 injured by insects or to becom-e 

 mouldy and rotten from rain. 



■ The question of how many ears 

 a plant should produce is more 

 difficult to settle. In Mr. Mundy's 

 opinion one good ear ^er plant is 

 preferable to two moderate or in- 

 ferior ears, while three or fouT ears 

 are undesirable. This is a point 

 which breeders should decide for 

 themselves, and in which personal 

 experience is the surest guide. 



— Selection in the Field. — 



Selection in the field should be- 

 g-in as soon as the cobs are well 

 formed, and before the leaf growth 

 has commenced to deteriorate, and 

 the desirable plants marked o5. 

 About 25 i>er cent. moTe than will 

 be actually required should be 

 marked, since some plants are; like- 

 ly to prove undesirable as develop- 

 ment proceeds. The marked plants 

 are now left until the whole crop 

 is ripe and are then harvested se- 

 parately, the whole stalk being cut 

 with the ear attached. These stalks 

 should be carried to the home- 

 stead and stored in a safe place 

 until time permits of further hand- 

 ling. Since the breeding plot 

 should contain from 50 to 75 "ear 

 to row " plantings, at least 125 to 

 ivs i;lants should be marked down 

 in the initial selection, and in 

 order to facilitate harvesting the 

 first selection be made from a com- 

 paratively small field ; five or 

 ten acres in extent will usually 

 supph- the requisite parent plants. 

 (To be Continued). 



