The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-08-15

A correspondent of the american Cul-
licdtor says: Most farmers know that a
single kernel of corn, planted by itself,
however rich the soil or however care
fully cultivated will not generally amount
to much in the way of producing grain.
The ear will form as usual, but the corn
will not be there. Imperfect fertilization
Of the blossom which constitutes the silk
at the tip of the ear is, of cousse, the
cause. AT the base of each thread of silk
there should be grain of corn, but in
stalks growing singly it is impossible that
the pollen blown at random from one
lowing growing two feet or more above
the ear should reach more than a tenth or
even twentieth part of the silk. Ma
ture endeavors to provide for these de-
iciencies by the throwing out an album
dance of suckers, and it is from
these, rather than from the main
stalk, that the ear is fertilized.
This is shown by the fact that these
imperfectly filled ears have greater
proportion of soft and unripe grains.
Though the ears are imperfectly filled,
yet the grains on this scattering corn are
always full, plump and well developed.
Such ears are not usually selected for
seed corn, but | am not sure that they
should not be, of course using only the
grains that have fully ripened. In
closely filled ear of corn the grains are
compressed into flattened shape, where
as, if given ample room for growth, they
will become nearly round, or, in the
deep-dent varieties, conical Take one
Of these round grains and it will weigh
nearly half as much again as any one of
those that have been squeezed into closely
fitting rows. In a well developed ear
these rows are broken up at the tip and
butt ends, and especially at the tip they
are apt to be number of well-developed
round grains that have had room enough
to grow into their natural shape.
Two years ago DR.. Sturtevant, the di
rector of the New York State Expert
mental Farm station, tried an experiment
in planting corn in the shape of an ear,
beginning at the tip and planting each
row by itself, until he came to the butt.
He was somewhat surprised to note
all through the experiment the su-
periority of the tip grains over those
that were more compressed in the mid
die. AT harvest the tip grains yielded
most, the butt grains next, and the
dlIS llOUl VIC VI inc COD leuSU.
1t is almost certain that this result was
due to the better development of the
grains that yielded the most.
If this theory be correct why would
it not be good policy to grow corn for
seed, planting thinly so that each stalk
should have II large, well-formed ear
but not enough pollen falling on each to
crowd the kernels in the rows. / think
this could be done in comparatively
large fields by planting three and half
feet apart and thinning to one stalk in
the hill. Such plan might not give as
great yield in grain, but it would be
seed corn, which should bring twice or
three times as much per bushcl as that
taken at random from the crib This
plan would be better than that of select
ing the ears from the crib with only
scattering grains on them, for when these
grow in "a field of corn as usually planted
they are commonly produced on suckers
or on stalks that for some cause have not
been advanced enough to be tertlizcd
when most of the pollen is being dis
tributed. Using these late ears would
probably result in making the corn
ripen later, while by growing the ears
especially for seed by the method sug-
gested the advantage of carlincss may be
retained.