Average Yield of Hundreds of Illinois Tests Hybrid Corn Produced 13 Bu. per Acre More Than Open Pollinated 3 
HYBRID SEED CORY 
How Hybrid Corn Is Produced 
No doubt most of you know this but 
for the benefit of those who do not 
know how Hybrids are produced we 
give you this information. 
To start with we pick out several 
hundred good open pollinated stalks of 
corn, strong stalks, ears with a short 
shank and set on the stalk at the right 
height. As soon as the shoot comes 
out, just before any silk shows, we put 
on a shoot bag which keeps any pollen 
from falling on the silk. (There is one 
thread of this silk to every grain of 
corn.) We watch these stalks care¬ 
fully and as soon as they start shed¬ 
ding pollen we place another bag over 
the tassel clipping it on in such a way 
that it holds the pollen and stays on the stalk. This is usually done in the afternoon as 60 % of 
the pollen shed in a day from a stalk of corn is shed between the hours of 8 and 11 in the morning. 
On the left you see two good ears of Kelly’s open pollinated 
corn, a strain we have grown for twenty-four years and still offer 
for sale in this catalog. The next two ears shown are after two 
years of selflng or inbreeding. The next two very small ears 
are the results of five years of inbreeding and now are ready for 
making single crosses for seed corn. 
In the afternoon we remove the shoot bag and 
immediately take the bag from the tassel placing 
it over the shoot which now must have the silk 
well out, taking the pollen from the same stalk 
as the ear, fastening this tassel bag to the stalk 
in such a way that it will stay on until husking 
time. Next year these ears are sorted over and 
the best of them planted again, each ear to a 
separate row. Again the best stalks are selected 
and the process of selfing is carried on the same 
as the previous year. 
In order to produce certified corn the imbreds 
must be selfed for at least four years, which in 
that time produces what is called a pure line. 
Ybu will notice from the photograph of the corn, 
each year goes down to what looks to be poorer 
quality ears, becoming a little smaller each year 
until by the fourth year or later they really look 
like nubbins, unfit for any seed purposes. You 
will also notice from cut shown, four leading im¬ 
breds, all very much different, one froih the 
other. 
After these ears are selfed for four years or 
more, we are now ready to make the first single 
cross. We take two imbreds, using one as a 
pollinator, the other as a female parent. We 
plant three rows of the female plant and one row 
of pollinator. As soon as the first tassels come 
on the female plant, before any pollen shows, 
these must be pulled out. This process of re¬ 
moving the tassels must be carefully continued, 
usually going over the field every other day for 
seven or eight times or as long as any tassels 
are yet to come out. None of the tassels of the 
pollinator row are removed, this pollen being 
used to fertilize the three female rows. At husk¬ 
ing time only the corn from the three female 
rows are husked for seed, the pollinator row 
being fit only for commercial corn. This com¬ 
pletes one single cross. 
In order to make a double cross we must have 
carried up another single cross by the same 
process. Now in order to make a double cross 
we have to take these two single crosses, using 
one for a pollinator and the other as a female 
parent and go through the same process as pro¬ 
ducing the single crosses, using these two im- 
oreds and proceed as with the first cross. Thus, 
in order to make a double cross, which is the 
corn we sell, to the farmers to produce a crop 
of corn, it takes at least six years, and then these 
double crosses can not again be used for the pro¬ 
duction of Hybrid seed corn. 
You will note a great amount of work and ex¬ 
pense is required to produce Hybrid corn. A 
grower each year having to have a new crop of 
single crosses coming on to produce these double 
crosses for seed corn. After all this work some 
crosses prove to be of little value, while others 
may prove to be very good, others medium, etc. 
By this you can see good Hybrid corn can never 
be produced at a low cost. 
With Hybrid corn selling at $8.00 per bushel 
the cost is less than $1.00 per acre for seed and 
isn’t it good business sense to spend $1.00 per 
acre for seed and get an increase yield of from 
five to fifteen bushels per acre, and in addition 
to this have corn which will stand up much bet¬ 
ter for picking, both for hand and picker, and 
in addition to this there is a great advantage in 
having a better quality corn, as corn after falling 
down or touching the ground, in many cases 
ears lying on the ground, the grade is lowered 
and sometimes these ears are a total loss. 
