SUSCEPTIBILITY OF DENT CORN TO ROOT ROTTING. 7 
time the seedlings from the starchy kernels had practically caught up 
with the others. His opinion that the advantage ordinarily obtained 
by rapid early growth is not retained throughout the season is not 
borne out by these Indiana experiments. In the Bedford experiment 
the advantage of stronger early growth is reflected at harvest time in 
the higher proportion of good ears and the lower percentage of 
barren stalks. 
Leaning and down stalks have been considered valuable external 
indications of a root-rotted condition. Just prior to harvesting, a 
heavy windstorm lodged about 50 per cent of the stalks. Counts 
of the leaning and down stalks made immediately following the 
storm showed stalks from the horny group to be slightly more storm 
resistant. 
The rows from horny seed ears also were superior in yield to those 
from the starchy ones. After making corrections to eliminate errors 
introduced by differences in stand, the starchy ears still produced 14 
per cent less corn than the horny ears. These data furnish direct 
evidence of the correlation of resistance to root rots in corn plants of 
dent varieties with a horny character of endosperm and of the sus- 
ceptibility of those with a starchy endosperm. 
SUMMARY. 
Ears of seed corn of dent varieties characterized by starchiness of 
endosperm have been found to be infected with root-rot organisms 
more frequently than seed ears characterized by horny endosperm 
in the same seed lots. 
Starchy ears of corn of dent varieties produce larger numbers of 
weaker growing plants, more susceptible to root rots in the field, than 
do ears more horny in composition. 
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