Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-01-18

~ Inc lOllo WlIS
esting study of an ear OF orn oo'
tains information which has he'e,
been discussed by corn experts, anu
no text books treat OF the subject
hence TO Mr.. J. w. Bremen or Can
ron township, belongs the honor OF
giving to corn breeders the anatomy
of an ear of corn. Mr.. Bremen Is a
corn breeder himself and in his STUDY
of the plant he began to investigate
circulation, then he wanted TO kno"
how kernels are supplied with 1000
and i'm this connection he was anxious
to determine the question OF sex, n
from this desire comes information OF
first Importance to every corn grower
in the nation. He clearly explains
the function of the corn silk n the
leaves and their connection with the
kernel. 1t is the most lmportah'
contribution to the knowledge OF al
ear of corn ever published and the
Leader is pleased to give it to corn
growers everywhere:
Editor Farmers Leader: In cora
plying with your request to give the
results of my investigation in an at
tempt to, if possible, discover the
circulation in an ear of corn, the
manner in which the kernels receive
their food, and to distinguish and de-
fine the difference in the sex OF the
corn plant, l submit the following as
the results of my Investigation:
At the time l began making the
Investigations, it was not apparent tc
me from what point to begin in max
ing this research. We had been told
that the pollen falling upon the SILK
in some manner pollinated the ker-
mel cell. This implied a circulation,
but we could trace the silk no farther
than the kernel cell and came to be-
lieve it had it's origin there, but Cir
culation could not be had without a
complete veinous system. This we
could not find in the silk, neither
could we find it in the kernel cell. Ii
it were circulation that carried the
pollen to the kernel cell it would be
necessary to connect these silks with
some veinous system, but how or
where was the question.
1t occurred to me at this time that
there might be some connection be-
tween the leaves growing from the
butt end of the ear and the kernels
on the ear, and with this idea in view
by the aid of a magnifying glass, /
counted the veins running ~lengthwise
on all these leaves, then counted the
kernels on the cob and as a result of
these counts there appeared to be
about as many veins as there were
kernels. Here then l thought exist
ed an apparent relationship but how
to cross the gap lying between the
ends of these veins and the silk in
the kernel cell was a mystery. Ii 1T
could be shown that these silks in
the kernel cell were a continuation Of
these veins then we could connect
the yeinous system of these leaves
with the kernels. / looked long for
this proof and was finally successful
in tinding what I call a freak ear.
This ear grew from the butt end Of
another and was found underneath
the leaf first covering the a The
leaves on this ear were about one and
one half inches long and were partly
wrapped in a fold. The cob was
about one inch long, it had no ker.
nels on it and was found lying upon
the surface Of the other ear. The
cob was fiattened to about the thick
ness of a knife blade and had kernel
cells on it. The silks were found
lying upon it's surface but had NJ
connection with the.cob. l unfolded
these leaves and Strengthened the
silks and found / had before me Z
complete demonstration of the fact
that the silks are a continuation O
the veins running %lengthwise through
the leaves. Since this discovery ]
have found other ears that were no'
freaks that clearly demonstrated thi!
to be a fact.
There are from two to four com
plete circles of these leaves growing
out from the butt end of each ear
The leaf that 1 shall describe is tn
counterpart of all other leaves, excep
as to the width of feAf. Some ar
narrow while others are broad. Thi
particular leaf was the one lying mex
to the a and comprised nearly hal
the circle OF the ear. On this lea
the silks came out in groups and be
tween these groups there is a broade
and heavier shaded line runnin,
lengthwise through the leaf. Thi
shaded line appears to someway con
meet these groups, il 50, it would &C
count for the fact that all rows o
kernels run in pairs and the silks II
these groups vary in number. In tn
specimens examined l find them to rul
from six to twenty and the silks Ii
each group follow a single line 9
kernel cells. These silks enter tn
cob at the outer rim Of the pith an
in their forward passage each sill
passes upward through separate kel
mel cells. When there are but 81
silks in a group they pass through
the first six kernel cells, and wheI
there are twenty, the first twent
kernel cells in the same row. 1t wi
thus be seen that each leaf control
a group Of kernels, the size Ut tn