98 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXXI, No 1 
Table XIV .—Data on the relation of number of rows of kernels on the parent ear - 
to desirability or undesirability of plants in the ear rows from them in 11 seifs 
fertilized families of Garrick at Baton Rouge , La., in 1928 ° 
Family 
No. 
! 
Kernel 
rows on 
the 1917 
i 
i 
Classification of the 
Parent ears with the number 
of kernel lows stated pro¬ 
ducing ear rows classed as 
desirable and undesirable 
Total 
ear 
rows 
Kernel 
rows on 
Difference 
between 
average 
number of 
kernel rows 
selfed 
seed 
ears 
1923 ear rows 
8 
10 
12 
14 
16 
18 
20 
parent ears 
(average) 
on parent 
ears of de¬ 
sirable and 
undesirable 
ear rows 
32 
10_ 
/Desirable _ 
1 
1 
2 
9.00 
} -0.14 
4 
3 
7 
8.86 
57 
10-. 
/Desirable 
6 
1 
1 
8 
8.75 
l o 
pi r d esi rabjA 
4 
1 
5 
12.40 
| O* 00 
38 
10. 
/Desirable . . 
2 
2 
10.00 
} 1.33 
i TTti rlpsi rahlft 
2 
1 
3 
11.33 
49 
12. 
/Dftsirable _ _ 
1 
~T 
2 
11.00 
} 1.67 
i TTtidp«Jirah1p. 
2 
1 
3 
12.67 
54 
12_ 
/Desirable _ _ 
1 
4 
1 
6 
12.33 
} .07 
\TTndp.sirable _ 
1 
2 
2 
5 
12.40 
79 
14_ 
(Dp.sirablfi 
1 
2 
3 
6 
14.33 
} -1.33 
1 TTn^AQirablA 
1 
1 
2 
13.00 
14. 
/Desirable_-_ 
1 
5 
i 
7 
14.29 
} .04 
86 
iTTndaQirahlA 
3 
1 
i 
I 
6 
14.33 
90 
16. 
/Pesirabla 
2 
2 
14.00 
} 2.00 
1 TTndPsirahlft 
1 
1 
1 
3 
16.00 
93 
16- 
/Desirable 
1 
“l 
2 
17.00 
} 3.00 
1 TTn d esi r abl a. 
1 
1 
20.00 
99 
16_ 
/Desirable__ _ _ 
2 
2 
14.00 
} 2.40 
1 TTnHpRirablft 
1 
1 
3 
5 
16.40 
107 
18_ 
/Desirable 
1 
1 
2 
14.00 
1 4.00 
\Undesirable 
1 
i 
1 
3 
18.00 
/Dpsirahle 
! 
41 
12.61 
\ i no 
All famines. 
\TTndesirablA 
1 
43 
14.13 
/ 1* w 
1 
a The data were obtained in cooperation with the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. 
DISCUSSION 
Corn breeding probably has received more attention in this country 
than any other problem of crop improvement. If it were dependent 
only upon the selection of strains with constructive characters, such 
as size of ear, it would hardly be a serious problem. Yet this vast 
experience has created among the thoughtful only uncertainty and 
caution in making general recommendations. The possibilities of 
selection within self-fertilized lines as a means of corn improvement 
are being investigated extensively. The problem is not an easy one, 
however, and it is impossible to predict what the future may bring 
in the way of a practical application of this principle. In any event, 
the bulk of the seed corn planted in the United States will be ob¬ 
tained by mass selection for some time to come, and it therefore is 
important to know what characters, if any, can be used safely as a 
guide in such selection. 
The experiments with open-fertilized seed reported give further 
evidence that seed ears with larger numbers of kernel rows and smaller 
and more angular kernels tend to produce lower yields. This was 
true in some of the experiments in spite of a higher yield per bearing 
dant because the seed from the many-rowed ears produced more 
larren plants. The data from the experiments with self-fertilized 
dnes indicate that the larger proportion of weak and barren plants 
in strains with many-rowed ears was due to a tendency for such 
strains to have more deleterious characters. 
