26 BULLETIN 1489, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 
Eeid, Learning, Hickory King, and the small-eared prolines, the 
characteristics of which illustrate differences in the ideals of the 
breeders who established them (pi. 7). Some growers even believed 
that it was undesirable to select for a specific type and made it a 
point to include choice ears of different kinds in each year's selection. 
With increasing competition at corn shows, standards for judging 
the exhibits became desirable, and the judges formulated a set of such 
standards for their guidance at the exposition in Chicago in 1886. 
Orange Judd prepared a score card for the Illinois State Fair at 
Peoria in 1891, which was modified and adopted later by the Illinois 
Corn Growers' Association. Once conceived, the idea was quickly 
adopted in other States, and the result was the corn score card. 
In all probability seed value was not the important point at issue 
in these earlier corn shows. That is, a farmer's ability to produce a 
fine corn crop by the use of good soil, good seed, and good cultivation 
was measured by the sample of the crop, not seed, that he showed. As 
early as 1895 Plumb noted that such a score card " has no more value 
than a scale of points in judging butter, where the breed of cow and 
her profitable character are not considered" (60, p. 56). Neverthe- 
less it was but natural to assume that seed selected on the same basis 
would produce increased yields. Accordingly, much attention was 
devoted to score-card selection. The progress was not all that had 
been anticipated, and experiments were undertaken to determine 
what relation there was between the physical characters of seed ears 
and yield. 
Seed ears differing in specific characters have been compared 
experimentally many times. Slight differences have been found 
between the yields of the various types, but these were too small to 
be of much significance in any one experiment. The conclusion of 
investigators has been practically unanimous that the slight physi- 
cal differences among good seed ears are of no value in indicating 
their relative productiveness. 
Detailed results now are available covering a large number of 
comparisons for certain characters that have been studied most 
extensively. When these are considered as a whole, certain trends 
are apparent. Thus, a majority of the comparisons of ears of differ- 
ent weights are in favor of the heavier ears, in spite of the fact that, 
in general, all of the ears compared were suitable for seed and there- 
fore above the average weight for the variety. The comparisons also 
indicate, in general, that ears which are heavy because they are 
long are likely to be more productive than those which are heavy 
because of a large circumference. Finally, the evidence points to 
ears with heavier cobs, fewer rows, fewer kernels per inch, and a 
lower shelling percentage and smoother indentation than the old 
standard show type, as being the better yielclers, 
It has been shown that extremely rough, starchy ears are more 
susceptible to the rot diseases of corn than the smoother, more flinty 
type which is indicated as being more productive in the comparisons 
referred to (32, 7Jp). Better maturity and resistance to disease con- 
sequently may have been the reasons for the slight superiority of the 
smoother type. In any event, so far as there is any difference in 
yield, the evidence favors ears more like that shown in Plate 8, A, 
than like the so-called " pretty ear " shown in Plate 8, B, with nicely 
