A BRACHYTIC VARIATION IN MAIZE. 
11 
ear stalk. This factor is the number of nodes. The actual number 
of nodes can not be determined with accuracy, and an estimate is 
likely to give very misleading results. 
Further evidence for the independent inheritance of the brachysm 
of ear stalks and that of the culm is to be found in an analysis of 
the correlations of these characters. 
In the normal plants of the second generation of the brachytic- 
JBoone hybrid there was a correlation of 0.295 ±0.06 between the 
length of the longest internode on the main culm and the length of 
the ear stalk. This correlation is reversed in the brachytic plants of 
the same hybrid, but the coefficient of 0.09 ±0.09 is not a significant 
deviation from no correlation. These low correlations indicate an 
28 cm 
Fig. 4. — Frequency distribution of length of ear stalk on brachytic, brachytic X Boone Fi, 
and brachytic and normal plants segregated in the F 2 of brachytic X Boone." 
almost complete independence of the factors which affect the inter- 
node length of the culm and those which affect the ear stalk. 
AGRICULTURAL ADVANTAGES. 
Brachysm in maize produces a form of plant which seems admir- 
ably adapted to meet the unusual requirements of dry land and 
irrigated regions. The chief obstacles to the utilization of such 
variations lies in the numerous defects which commonly accompany 
them (Cook, 4) , but the present brachytic strain is relatively free from 
undesirable corollaries. 
The striking characteristics of this brachytic type of plant are its 
reduced height and sturdy erectness. There are many situations in 
