To understand how a new hybrid is developed, a basic knowledge of corn pollination and breeding processes is required. The corn plant has separate male and female flowering parts (Fig. 1). The tassel is the male flower and produces pollen; the ear is the female flower. A typical hybrid corn ear consists of several hundred kernels attached to the cob or rachis and surrounded by a group of modified leaves called the husk. Each kernel starts as an ovule and has its own silk which grows out of the husk at the top of the ear.