562 
Seed-Breeding . 
[August, 
pollen from a plant which does not develop any ear at all ; 
the seed thus grown has a divided quality ; it inherits from 
the mother plant a tendency towards fruitfulness, and from 
the father plant the tendency to barrenness, and according 
to the prepotency of either must the result be. While there 
is therefore a usefulness in the taking of seed corn from a 
twin-eared plant, this method of selection must be secondary 
to the first, so long as barren stalks abound in our fields and 
furnish pollen. 
3rd. There is another method of selection which has a 
relationship to the 2nd, and which has not in practice, so far 
as we have observed, received the attention which its theo- 
retical importance would seem to warrant. This is the in- 
fluence of the position of the ear. The upper ear of the 
stalk, in many of our New England field varieties certainly, 
and doubtless in the majority, has a prepotency which 
enables it to develop normally at the expense of the lower 
embryo ears. Under moderate or poor manuring, this ear 
(if any) always, so far as we have critically observed, 
develops, and none others ; under better manuring, a second 
ear, and always, so far as our observation extends, the one 
immediately below the upper one may develop, but it is 
probable will not be the equal to the first : under heavy 
manuring, a third, or even a fourth, may develop, but the 
quality is apt to deteriorate as we proceed from the top. 
This series of faCts, if faCts they are, indicate that the pre- 
potency of the ears decreases as they occupy positions 
nearer to the ground. In the selection of seed-corn, there- 
fore, we should endeavour to secure the lowest ear on the 
stock for seed purposes, as we thus are using seed which 
by overcoming the difficulties of position has proved itself 
to have great prepotency and vigour, and as the prepotency 
increases as we go upward, the selection of the lowest ear 
gives us the advantage of, as well as selecting, a prepotency 
of position which shall affeCt the development of all the ears 
which grow above it, or a plant prepotency, with reference 
to its seed bearing qualities, as well as the one prepotency 
we have selected for continuance. 
We thus have indicated the three guiding selections which 
should be the careful concern of the seed-breeder. How long 
it shall take to secure the fixity of these qualities by con- 
tinuous selection we cannot say with certainty for any given 
case, but for limits we have slight reasons for supposing 
seven and sixteen years. We know from experience that 
three years only are productive of recognised benefits. 
