'’’•Head''  V.  “ Tail''  Corn  for  Seed  Barley. 
315 
a.  12  seeds  of  “head”  corn  weighing  -loi  grammes. 
h.  12  „ “tail”  „ „ -369 
c.  32  f,  ,,  ,,  754  ,, 
The  seed  was  sown  on  April  27,  1903,  and  after  the  plants 
had  come  up,  the  number  of  them  was  reduced  in  cases  a and 
h to  six  plants,  while  in  c all  the  plants,  of  which  there  were 
twenty-eight,  were  left. 
At  first  the  “head”  corn  («)  showed  considerably  in  advance 
of  the  others,  then  came  the  thick  seeding  (c),  but  by  June  23 
thei’e  was  no  difference  noticeable  between  a and  h.  With  c, 
however,  it  was  clear  that  there  was  over-crowding.  On  July  6, 
it  was  noted  that  the  “ tail  ” corn  [h)  had  made  more  progress 
than  the  “head”  (a),  and  showed  longer  straw;  the  thick 
seeding  (c)  produced  a very  short  straw  and  poor  ear.  The 
several  crops  ripened  and  were  harvested  on  September  3. 
Table  III.  gives  the  principal  results  : — 
Table  III. — '•'■Head"  v.  “ Tail  " Corn  for  Seed  Barley,  1903. 
Seeding 
Length 
of  straw 
Length 
of  ear 
Weight 
of  corn 
Weight 
of  straw 
Percentage  of 
head  corn 
Inches 
Inches 
Grammes 
Grammes 
Com 
straw 
a.  Head  corn  (12  seeds 
sown  *)  . 
13-6 
1-8 
7-30 
8-87 
100 
100 
b.  Tail  corn  (12  seeds 
sown’)  . 
16-0 
2-1 
8-70 
13-39 
119 
151 
c.  Tail  corn  equal  in 
weight  to  head  corn 
130 
IT 
7-75 
10-67 
106 
120 
1 Subsequently  reduced  to  six  plants. 
The  results  go  to  confirm  previous  observations,  and  point 
to  there  being  no  advantage  in  selecting  for  seed  the  bigger  and 
more  developed  grains  in  preference  to  the  smaller,  provided 
that  the  latter  be  sound  and  free  from  weeds,  &c.  An  advan- 
tage, indeed,  would  seem  to  accrue  from  using  the  smaller 
grains,  and  this  was  shown  not  only  in  the  corn,  but  in  the 
straw.  In  the  case  of  the  thicker  seeding  of  “ tail  ” corn, 
though  the  actual  out-turn  was  an  increase  over  that  from 
“ head  ” corn,  there  was  manifest  overcrowding,  and  the 
appearances  of  the  plant  during  growth  showed  that  such  thick 
seeding  was  not  practically  advisable. 
The  general  conclusion  is  drawn  that,  provided  the  grains 
have  good  germinating  power,  the  smaller  grains  of  barley  are 
just  as  good,  or  even  better,  to  sow  than  the  large  gi’ains,  and, 
so  long  as  the  small  grains  are  unbroken  and  sound,  there  is  no 
reason  for  considering  their  germination  power  inferior  to  that 
of  the  larger  grains. 
J.  Augustus  Yoelcker. 
13  Hanover  Square,  W. 
