How Does the Pollen Touch the Grain of Corn?
Before the kernels of corn grow the tassel is in bloom. The wind blows and shakes the pollen powder off of the tassel and the powder falls on the ends of the silk which stick out of the little ear of corn to be. Each thread of silk then carries a little of the powder down to the spot on the ear where it is attached and thus the grain of corn receives the fertilizing necessary to develop it into a ripe seed. If you leave the ear of corn alone the kernel will eventually become yellow and hard and can then be planted and will produce other corn plants. Man, however, finds the ear of corn a delightful food, if taken at a time when the seeds are fully grown but not yet ripened into perfect seeds. At this stage the grains of corn would not grow up again if planted, because they have not yet become perfect seeds.