. The botany of crop plants : a text and reference book. Botany, Economic. 174 BOTANY or CROP PLANTS pollen are wrinkled. If xenia does not occur, the results of the mixing will not show up until the second year. Hence, ordinarily even though an ear of corn appears uniform, the separate kernels may have different heredity. The only way of testing its purity is to plant the grains and observe their progeny. Of course in this test, care must be taken to pre- vent strange pollen from blowing in. This is practically ac- complished by isolating the test plots. Results of Self-fertilization in Corn.
. The botany of crop plants : a text and reference book. Botany, Economic. 174 BOTANY or CROP PLANTS pollen are wrinkled. If xenia does not occur, the results of the mixing will not show up until the second year. Hence, ordinarily even though an ear of corn appears uniform, the separate kernels may have different heredity. The only way of testing its purity is to plant the grains and observe their progeny. Of course in this test, care must be taken to pre- vent strange pollen from blowing in. This is practically ac- complished by isolating the test plots. Results of Self-fertilization in Corn.—If our ordinary field strains of corn are self-fertilized for several generations the yield is considerably reduced. However, as a result of this inbreeding, we may be sure that all the kernels on an ear. Fig. 64.—^Corn (Zea mays). A, median lengthwise section, cut parallel to broad surface, of grain of dent corn; B, cross-section of same through the embryo; C, section as in A of flint corn. have the same hereditary qualities. Furthermore, artificial self-fertiUzation for five or more successive years results in a strain that is not so complex in its characters, that is, a race which is comparatively uniform and pure. The Mature Grain of Corn.—The mature grain of corn varies considerably in shape (Fig. 64). In most Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Robbins, Wilfred William, 1884-1952. Philadelphia : P. Blakiston's Son
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Keywords: ., booka, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotanyeconomic
