The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-17
Corn Will Be King
 At State Field Day
New Haven Agricultural Experiment Station to Show
 Off States Work in Hybrid Corn Production

MT. Average Man never thinks of 1 Connecticut as Q corn state. The corn belt is in the middle west. "Out where the tall corn grows" refers to the land near the Mississippi. Iowa with her 16-foot stalks claims the record for sky-scraping plants. Yet the visitor to the annual field I, day of the New Haven Agricultural experiment. station, to be held at the Mount Carmel farm on August ls, will learn few corn facts about Connecticut.
 This state may have smaller number of acres planted to maize but 1t produces 6 larger number of bushels per acre, according to stat- istital records. It may not have the tallest corn, but the hybrids devel- oped from southern varieties by the Connecticut station plant breeders rise from 10 to IA feet skyward, 6 more practical size to handle than record-breakers.
 Connecticut Is the mother Of hy. brid corn. From the experiment Stas ton here came the method of in- breeding and crossing which has been adopted by every state In the Union, and by nearly every corn. growing country In the world. Earl- fer corn, sweeter corn, corn that re- sists certain diseases, corn that pro. duces more marketable ears of c good siZe color, and quality, are some of the objectives plant breed. CTS aim toward in their work. They want to develop c type that will De ready for the table by July {, and 1t won't be 50 very long before they achieve that goal, according to pr. D. P. Jones, chief geneticist ct the station.
 Corn is chosen for Q study not only because 1t IS an important crop | but because the plant has character. istics that make 1t Q good subject for scientific manipulation. The dis. coveries the geneticiSts make may result in oil kinds of desirable Of. fects on the market product. But they may also have very import. ant bearing on the laws of inherit- ance that govern the plant and the animal world. Science, thus, has c double interest in watching the eugenic corn of Connecticut. But at field day the workers will emphasize the farmers side Of this picture.
 In the station Corn Felds
 Just what Is growing on the 10 acres of Mount Carmel farmland devoted to corn2 pr. Jones took the writer first to the seed barn, where golden ears were lying in trays to dry. Each tray was labeled show. ing what kind of corn 1t contained. First we looked ct the earliest type | raised for market by the local farm CTS. The ears varied in siSo and shape; short stumps, long slender and medium.sized ears were in the lot. They had been picked on July 6 or Q, pr. Jones told me, The hy- brids lay in other trays for com- parison
 The point one first noticed about | tho hybrids was that in several cases the ears were almost identical in size and shape. Secondly, one
 noted that there were more Of them than tho standard type. Some of these ripened c few days later, oth- CTS c little earlier that the Btand- ard. pr. Jones explained. There Is one, Marcross i3, that produces 2b DOT cent more corn per row and iB ready for picking two or three days before golden carly market, the earl- lest standard. In Q few years wo shall capitalize on this earliness, producing corn that will be ready for Independence day, pr. Jones said. Most of the hybrids, too, are resistant to bacterial wilt, c disease that is very severe in Connecticut fields in certain years. In the Field
 Tn the corn field We found pr. W. Ralph Singleton and his high school assistants making records on newly picked corn, They had c table marked of in inches and feet like dressfnaker's stand. A crude tent shaded their bronzed shoulders from the poignant rays of the July sun. A basket scale hung nearby, pr. Singleton held the book of records while tho boys called out figures.
 First came the number Of the corn which indicates It's percentage and inheritance. Then tho number Of ears per row, length and width of ears, color and weight, and whoth- Of or not they were in good condi- ton for fnarket-that is, ripe and free from disease or worms when l picked.
 pr. Singleton was most enthusias. tic about some Of the hybrlds They oil looked tempting to the outsider, but hc pointed out that some were far superior to others. Anything with the inbred Conn, 13 if it seems to Dc c winner. he told pr. Jones. Some of the most promising in yield, size and market appeal came from c Burbank inbred crossed by . Connecticut type. Some corn was earlier and some . little later than that on the market iii the early July season. he told Us. But tho trend was for better early corn. Even to the inexperienced eye, that was obvious.
 pr, Jones next took me through the field to notice the way the plants grow. Early corn is Of medium height, about Ave feet, but the ny. brids aFe aii as aiike as identical qiiintuplets, with ears produced at exaytiy the same height from the ground and developing the same number Of days after planting. Some t t|.N iI M I 4 ff'I E d E