Now in nearly all cases the
seeds are separated from the fruits and from one another, before it
becomes possible to judge of their qualities. One may open a fruit and
count the seeds, but ordinarily nothing is noted as to their characters.
In this respect no other plant equals the corn or maize, as the kernels
remain together on the spike, and as it has more than one variety
characterized by the color, or constitution, or other qualities of the
grains. A corn-grain, however, is not a seed, but a fruit containing a
seed. Hence the outer parts pertain to the parent plant and only the
innermost ones to the [288] seedling and therefore to the following
generation. Fruit-characters thus do not offer the qualities we need,
only the qualities resulting from fertilizations are characteristic of
the new generation. Such attributes are afforded in some cases by the
color, in others by the chemical constitution.
We will choose the latter, and take the sugarcorn in comparison with the
ordinary or starch producing forms for our starting point. Both sugar-
and starch-corns have smooth fruits when ripening. No difference is to
be seen in the young ripe spikes. Only the taste, or a direct chemical
analysis might reveal the dissimilarity. But as soon as the spikes are
dried, a diversity is apparent.
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