The Jasper news., 1921-07-21

A2R LIZ WHY PAtnt NhANh OOeet
lists have ever considered
us an. ancestor of our pres
~ ent. cultivated varieties Of
SED maize is the wild grass,
~IM teosinte. They have long
AT believed that the presence
z KIN Of Indian corn or maize in
$500 America represented an
evolution brought about by the crude
plant-breedlng methods Of the Indians
and extending through untold cen
turtles. Luther Burbank, in order to
prove the truth Of this theory, car
ried the plant through evolutions and
produced perfect ears Of corn In the
miraculously short period Of IL years.
Public announcement Of the expert
ment, which has been proceeding
quietly ut Mr.. Burbank's experimental
farm in California since 1908, and
which constitutes one Of the most no.
table achievements Of the plant wiz
ards life, has just been made.
1t was the savage Indian, says Mr..
Burbank. who gave us, here In Amer
fca, the most important crop we have.
1t was the Indian who found the wild
grass, teoslnte, covering the plains
and developed 1t into corn. Or, to
turn IT. the other way around. 1t was
the desire OF the Indian for a food
plant like this that led the teosinte
grass, by gradual adaptation, TO pro-
duce maize. On Mr.. Burbank's farm
there grows. today. this same teoslnte
which the Indian found. 1t bears
tiny ears with two rows of corn-like
kernels. on a cob the thickness of
a lead pencil, and from two to four
inches long-slightly less in length
than an average head Of wheat.
From Its earlier stage OF pod"
corn. In which each kernel was en-.
cased In q separate sheath or husk like
wheat. teosinte represented, no doubt.
a hard-fought survivul and adaptation
like that Of the Towering violet. And
when the Indians came into It's en-.
vironment 1t responded to their infiu.
ence as the pansy responded to care
and cultivation in Its new dooryard
home.
Where teosinte had formerly relied
upon the frosts to- loosen up the
ground for the seed, It found In the
: Indian a friend who crudely but effec.
lively scratched the soil and doubled
I the chance for Its baby plant to grow.
Where 1t had been choked by plant
: enemies, and starved for air and sun
light by weeds, II found In the Indian
a friend who cut down and kept on
its competitors. Where 1t had been
destroyed by the animals before ita
maturity. It found the selfish protec.
tion Of the savages as grateful as
though 1t had been inspired by al.
truism.
Planted in patches, instead Of strug.
Cling here and there as best IT could
before, the teosinte grass found It's
multiplication problem made easier
through the multitude of pollen grains
now floating through the air. And so,
by slow degrees. II responded in It's
new environment by bearing more
and bigger seed. As the seed kernels
increased in numbers and in size, the
cob that bore them grew In length.
From two. the rows Of kernels In.
creased to four, 10 six, TO eight, 10
fourteen. Here again the selfish mo-
lives Of the savages served to help
the plant IN its adaptation-for only
the largest ears and those with the
best kernels were saved for seed. So,
under cultivation, the wild grass al.
most disappeared. and In Its place
there came. through adaptation, the
transformed Indian corn.
This, in brief, summarizes Mr.. Bur.
banks theory Of the original eyolu-
ton OF teosinte into corn. How many
centuries were required to bring about