Aug. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 585 



Sweet Corn* 



Variety Trial, 1919-20. 



H. WENHOLZ, B.Sc. (Agr.), Inspector of Agriculture. 



A TRIAL of different varieties of sweet corn was made last season on the farm 

 of Mr. R. Yates, Ourimbali. The seed was imported from several American 

 seedsmen, and the trial was designed to indicate which varieties succeed best 

 under our conditions, and therefore to serve as a guide to our seedsmen, who 

 mostly import their seed yearly from America, and to those progressive 

 growers who will always insist on having the best varieties. 



The district in which the trial was conducted is particularly suited to the 

 growth of sweet corn as a market crop. It is midway between two good 

 city markets — Sydney and Newcastle — and a third good market is some- 

 times available by arrangement with a canning factory at Dora Creek. The 

 fresh produce can be sent daily by passenger train to each of these markets, 

 and Mr. Yates, who has grown sweet corn for many years, and marketed the 

 produce at Sydney and Newcastle at prices ranging from 5s. to 8s. per 

 bushel of cobs, last season made arrangements with the factory i-eferred to to 

 take the whole of the produce from the experiment plot at 5s. per bushel. 



Though good pockets of rich soil exist along the many creek banks in this 

 district, which are used by orchardists for growing cabbages and other vege- 

 tables between the trees of young and old orchards, and which should give 

 better results with sweet corn than those presented here, the soil on which 

 the experiment was conducted was the poorer hillside of ordinary sandstone 

 formation. With the aid of fertiliser, it is possible to produce good results 

 with sweet corn on this soil in between young fruit trees in normal seasons, 

 and the results obtained in this trial were highly satisfactory, the season 

 being practically all that could be desired. Mr, Yates stated that the returns 

 from the sweet corn on this hillside were as good as he obtained from 

 cabbage on the better alluvial soil on creek banks. 



The trial was sown on 9th October, 1919, and 3 cwt. P7 mixture, which 

 comprises equal parts of superphosphate and bonedust, was applied before 

 sowing in the drills that had been opened out 4 feet apart between young 

 fruit trees. The earliest variety, Golden Bantam, was fit to harvest about 

 the end of the year, and was closely followed by the second early varieties 

 early in January, while the latest varieties. Country Gentleman and the 

 Evergreens were not ready till early in February. Under ordinary conditions, 

 sowing early in October brings the harvesting of sweet corn right into the 

 busy fruit-picking season in this district. It is, therefore, advisable for any- 

 one who contemplates sowing much sweet corn in this district to delay the 

 main planting till early in November, which will bring harvesting time to 

 February when the rush of the fruit picking is over. Sweet corn sowing may 

 he continued up till the end of December or early in January in this district. 



