44 Nebraska Agricultural Exp. Station . Research Bui. 20 
Fig. 9. — The artificial corn breeding plats at the left contain 140 distinct 
inbred strains of Hogue’s Yellow Dent and Nebraska White Prize 
corn. The corn to the right is standard Hogue’s Yellow Dent. 
is placed over the ear and closely tied with cord at its base. 
This excludes foreign pollen, which might otherwise fertilize the 
ear. The ears may be pollinated as soon as the silks are fully 
out. The presence of silks can usually be felt by the operator 
thru the bag. The presence of pollen in the bag over the tassel 
can readily be heard if the bag is given a gentle shaking. 
Transfer of the pollen to the silk is effected as follows: The 
operator loosens the cord holding the bag over the ear; he then 
moistens his hands in 10 per cent alcohol, to sterilize any foreign 
pollen which may be on them. The bag containing pollen is 
next removed from the tassel by a quick lateral movement, which 
avoids spilling the contents, and then the ear bag is carefully 
raised and the opening of the pollen bag inserted under it and 
over the ear, slipped down, and tied at its base. In placing the 
bag over the ear, it is desirable so to handle it that the pollen 
will remain in the bottom part of the bag, which may be well 
shaken after it has been tied, so as to insure pollination. As the 
ear grows in size, it becomes necessary to loosen the twine at its 
base once or twice. The bag should in no case be removed for 
