Corn Investigations 
127 
general vegetative character of a corn variety thru ear type 
selection. Within a variety, roughness, large ear circumference, 
many rows on the ear, deep kernels, and high shelling percent- 
age indicate late maturity, large stalk, and relatively large leaf 
area. These plant characters are concerned in the balance be- 
tween plant requirement and environment. Thus, it is not the 
ear character which is the vital consideration in yield, but rather 
the plant character which is reflected in the ear. 
A sharp distinction must be made between ear type selection 
as herein spoken of and ear type selection for conformity with 
arbitrary competitive score card specifications. The ear type 
selections herein spoken of refer essentially to certain plant type 
corollaries, without any reference to the ear’s possible rating for 
perfection and symmetry of development according to corn show 
standards. Extensive data from the Nebraska Experiment Sta- 
tion and other institutions and individuals, bearing evidence of 
the inconsequential nature of many ear characteristics which 
have been stressed in competitive exhibitions, have been sum- 
marized by the writer and accepted for publication in the Jan- 
uary, 1922, issue of the Journal of the American Society of 
Agronomy. 
COMPARATIVE YIELDS OF SEED FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE EAR 
Corn growers have always been interested in the relative 
yields to be expected from seed produced on different parts of 
the ear. During six years, comparative tests have been made of 
seed taken respectively from the butt, tip, and middle sections 
of the ear. The results given in Table 52 show no material 
differences in the respective crops in any regard. The respective 
yields for butts, tips, and middles were 59.3, 60.4, and 60.2 
bushels per acre. Altho the kernels at the tip of an ear are 
relatively small and their early seedling development is slightly 
backward, they still contain sufficient food material to support 
the seedling until its own synthetic activities are established. 
The reserve food material in the average kernel of dent corn ap- 
pears to be greater than the young seedlings require under ordi- 
nary field conditions. 
It seems, therefore, that little is to be gained by discarding 
kernels from the butt and tip ends of the ear aside from a some- 
what more uniform dropping by the corn planter and a better 
germination under certain conditions of freezing injury. 
