. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. are produced in very great numbers, as many as 18,000,000 by a single plant. The pollen begins to be shed one to three days before the silk emerges from between the husks, and continues to fall for eight days, more or less, although the silk is pol- lenized usually on the first day of its appearance. The egg apparatus in the ovule of maize consists of three cells, and in the center of the embryo-sac is an endosperm nucleus. The fertilization of the egg cell results in the formation of the corn em- bryo, while the double fertilization of th

. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. are produced in very great numbers, as many as 18,000,000 by a single plant. The pollen begins to be shed one to three days before the silk emerges from between the husks, and continues to fall for eight days, more or less, although the silk is pol- lenized usually on the first day of its appearance. The egg apparatus in the ovule of maize consists of three cells, and in the center of the embryo-sac is an endosperm nucleus. The fertilization of the egg cell results in the formation of the corn em- bryo, while the double fertilization of th

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. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. are produced in very great numbers, as many as 18,000,000 by a single plant. The pollen begins to be shed one to three days before the silk emerges from between the husks, and continues to fall for eight days, more or less, although the silk is pol- lenized usually on the first day of its appearance. The egg apparatus in the ovule of maize consists of three cells, and in the center of the embryo-sac is an endosperm nucleus. The fertilization of the egg cell results in the formation of the corn em- bryo, while the double fertilization of the endo- sperm nucleus by the second sperm nucleus pro- duces an immediate efl'ect on the color of the reserve food stored about the embryo. This imme- diate effect of the pollen on the offspring kernels is called xenia.. Fig. 605. The sexes; pistil- late spike or ear, stami- Qate panicle or tassel. B26 Fig. 606. Ears too high on the left; on the right,ears well placed. Kernels. — The caryopses or kernels of corn (Fig. 596), re- sulting from the act of fertili- zation, are arranged in even- numbered rows on the fleshy axis, or cob, surrounded by the husk. Each husk represents the sheathing leaf base and the outer ones are usually tipped by a green, rudimentary leaf-blade, which occasionally displays a ligule. The outer, innermost husk is two-keeled, like a sled with runners, and thus it accommo- dates itself to the flattened or hollowed-out stem surface. Occasionally smaller ears are enclosed by the outer husks, so that the ear together with the husks is to be regarded as a short, axillary, branch bearing reduced leaves and flowers. Each caryopsis has two distinct coats, viz., the ovarian wall and the seed-coats. On microscopic section, the cell layers composing the ovarian wall, or pericarp, and the extremely thin seed-coats are distinctly visible. The reserve food in corn is horny proteinaceous material and mealy starch, while the embryo itself contains the largest amount of