Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-01
How Corn May be Improved.

Indian corn il one of the most SUSCEPTIBLE
of Improvement of the grains raised on the
farm. This great susceptibility is greatly
owing to the fact that the corn plant is
moueciouz, the male organs. or staminal,
being contained within the flowers Of the
tassel, the female being the elk or pistils of
which the fortified ovary becomes the kernel
of the grain. To increase the number, of
ears to the stalk, therefore, it is just as essen
tial that the seed to be planted should
have had fertile male as that
it should have had fertile female
parent. This being borne in mind, and
carefully applied 10 practice, it is plain to be
seen how it HIS been possible to produce ell
the many varieties of corn now known from
one original variety or kind. Our flint, dent,
gOurd.se pop, whether black, white, red,
yellow. streaked, whether grown stalks
| three, four or twenty feet in hight or whether
maturing in so or 100 days from planting,
are all from the single variety found growing
wild not over two centuries ago in America.
This great number Of varieties and
the great improvements that have
been made have not al been pro-
duced by design, but many have come
no doubt by chance or voluntary growth. Ii
we wish to improve our corn we should select
some particular, well-essabli5hed kind ard
apply the simple principles of breeding in
our cultivation Of thu same. We must see
that the femals organs are fructihed by the
particular kind of male organs grown the
stalks Of the kind we wish to produce, re-
Numbering that the tassel represents the
male and the silk of the ear the female. For
illustration, if the poultry fancer desires to
u.
hens, he does not put common cock
with his hens, but selects fine
cock of the particular kind or breed with
which he desires to make, the improvement.
For instance, he puts fine Black Spanish
cock with his hens and excludes all others,
and his chickens take after the male parent
and resemble more or less the Black Spanish.
Or if he puts fine Plymouth Rock cock
with them, his chickens take after the male
parent and resembles more or less thu Ply
mouth Rock stock. With the females of
either of this produce he again mates a fine
thoroughbred male Of the same breed, and
thus in few generations his whole stock of
hens will be greatly improved-approaching
very nearly the best specimens of the stock
he is using for the improvement. Now in the
improvement Of corn it is only necessary to
apply the same rule to produce similar re-
sults For instance, if you wish to make
have only to go through your field or expert
mental plat, and cut the tassels from all the
stalks, except those that are developing two
or more ears. Then all the ears will be i'm
pregnsted from the pollen of these prolific
stalks. The second year select for seed corn
the best ear growing on the stalks bearing
two or more ears, and you will
find that the proportion Of double or
treble-eared stalks will be greatly increased
in your field. This year again cut off the
tassels from the single cared stalks, allowing
the ovaries OF kernels to be impregnated only
by prolific males, and you will have made an
other advance in the way of the designated
improvement. By perseverance in this mode
Of breed lag, so to speak. you will in few
years more than double the yield of your corn
per acre. 1t was in this way that Professor
Blount produced the celebrated Blounts
Prolific corn, and it was in this way
that the yield of this particular kind
has been increased until 1874 and $50 bushels
of shelled corn has been produced to the sim
gle acre. BY pursuing the course of breeding
or cultivating corn indicated it is impossible
to tell yet how great the yield Of corn to the
acre may be secured, or how many ears the
stalks may on an average be made to bear.
But from the rapid increase in bushels and
in ears to the stalk which has been brought
about in q few years experiments with the
white dent from which Blount's prolific corn
has been produced, we ate warranted in eX'
pectipg astonishing results. In selecting tbs
ears from which seed should be saved, IL Is
better generally to take those well up the
stalk. and the kernels should be selected from
the middle of the ear