One may plant early and late corn in the same patch but otherwise he should stick to one kind of corn.
The boys in the fall were to submit twelve of the finest ears they had raised. These were to be scored or sized up as follows:
| NAME OF CONTESTANT _____________________ | VARIETY OF CORN _______________ | DATE OF PLANTING _________________________ | |
| (1) Ear: A. Trueness to type | 10 10 | 20 | |
| (2) Filling of: A. Tip | 10 10 | 20 | |
| (3) Kernels: A. Shape | 6 12 6 6 | 30 | |
| (4) Measurements of ear: A. Length | 10 10 | 20 | |
| (5) Proportion of Corn to Cob: | 10 | 10 | |
| Total | 100 | ||
This score card needs a little explanation. Take up (1) Ear, first. All the twelve ears presented ought to be much alike; that is, like the type or parent ear you are striving to produce again. So if, out of twelve specimens, six were fine ears and the other six were rather poor, then surely ten credits or points could not be given. The shape of an ear should in general be tapering, well rounded a little below the centre, and tapering not too abruptly toward the tip.
The second point is the Filling of the Tip and Butt. The tip should be filled with even, regularly arranged kernels. It should not be too pointed nor too blunt. The butts should be covered over with kernels except where a deep, clean-cut depression is left. Here, as in the tips, the shape has to be considered, for flattened and blunted butts are bad form.
As to Kernels, they should be uniform and well-shaped, not only on the single cob, but in all the specimens. The furrows must be uniform, regular, and with only a slight space between. To determine depth cut a square inch right out of an ear. All kernels should be of one colour. If a red kernel is in with the white then there has been an intermixing. All kernels on all ears ought to have the colour of those of the type form.
Not only should there be a proper proportion between Length of Ear and Circumference, but an ear may be too long. The usual length of ears is from eight to twelve inches, according to variety.
We have spoken of cob-relation before. This cannot be determined accurately by your eye but must be done by weight; so shell the corn, weighing the ear first. Now weigh the cob. The difference is weight of corn. Divide the weight of the corn by the weight of the ear. This gives per cent. of corn. For the exhibit the boys afterward used half their samples submitted and reckoned per cent. on this. The proper percentage of corn to cob should be 86 or 87 per cent. You can easily find out if you come up to standard.
Myron brought in some corn merely to show his mistake but of course did not submit any.
Jack, you will remember, did not test his corn and results showed this. Out of his twelve samples there were two good ears. The others showed many changes. The poorly filled tips, irregular rows, and wide space between rows—all these scored against Jack. George's corn was thrown out because black kernels were found here and there in with the others.