The Inheritance of Quantitative Characters in Maize 97 
Missouri dent and the very small-eared California pop blossom 
almost together, but the latter ripens some days ahead of the 
former. Again, a very early corn may have its later stages 
shortened relatively by the heat of midsummer, while a very late 
variety may have its ripening stage relatively prolonged by the 
cooler weather of autumn. 
In 1910 the date of ripening of each plant of the cross under 
consideration — Tom Thumb X Missouri dent — was determined as 
closely as practicable, while the dates of blossoming were noted 
for only such plants as were hand-pollinated. The various lots 
were examined carefully on the same day each week and all 
plants deemed ripe were noted. Since in 1911 this corn was 
grown in Massachusetts, it was foreseen that the later families 
could not possibly ripen, and, therefore, blossoming dates alone 
were recorded. The time of the exposure of the first anthers of 
the tassel on the main stalk was chosen as the date of blossom- 
ing. In the case of protandrous plants, which constituted the 
bulk of those grown, this was the only date recorded, but for the 
few protogynous families the date of exposure of the first silks 
was also noted. The entire lot of plants was examined each day 
and those just beginning to blossom were tagged. The avail- 
able data are grouped together in Table 39. Since in 1910 the 
dates of ripening were taken weekly while the dates of blossom- 
ing are arranged in three-day classes, only the range of varia- 
tion of the 1910 families is shown in the table. Since the 
blossoming dates of hand-pollinated plants only were recorded in 
1910, the ranges of variation indicated in the table are not 
necessarily the complete ranges of blossoming dates. A large 
majority of the plants, however, blossomed within the dates 
shown in the table. The class headings indicate the number 
of days from planting to blossoming or ripening. 
In 1910, Tom Thumb pop (family 508) was in blossom 60 to 
70 days from planting time, while Missouri dent (353) was 
blossoming 85 to 95 days after planting. The F x plants (509) 
were distinctly intermediate, with a blossoming time of 73 to 
83 days from planting. Some of the F 2 plants (510) were nearly 
as early as the earliest Tom Thumb pop plants, while others 
were almost as late as the latest Missouri dent. The F 3 blossom- 
ing time extended over a period of thirty days, 62 to 92 days 
after planting. The 1910 families held the same relative order 
in ripening as in flowering. The parent varieties were farther 
apart in ripening than in blossoming, Missouri dent having 
ripened in 144 to 151 days and Tom Thumb pop in 91 to 98 
days, or while Missouri dent was still in flower. The F x plants 
were somewhat later than half way between the parents, with 
ripening dates 122 to 136 days after planting. The earliest F 2 
