I054 Rural School Leaflet. 



SOME FACTS ABOUT CORN 

 J. L. Stone 



The corn grovm in New York State is chiefly put into silos for the 

 feeding of dairy cows. To a less extent it is grown to maturity husked, 

 and cribbed for the feeding of pigs, horses, poultry, and other farm 

 animals. To some extent, also, it is used as human food. 



The climatic and soil conditions of New York State are not ideal 

 for corn growing. In many seasons the yield is not what might be 

 desired. It is important that varieties or strains should be developed 

 that have the best possible adaptation to conditions in New York State. 



There are several types of com of varying importance grown in the 

 State. The children are chiefly familiar with and interested in pop com 

 and sweet corn ; but these are of lesser economic importance than the 

 kinds of com for feeding stock. Of these latter there are two well-recog- 

 nized types, the Flint corn or so-called State corn, and the Dent corn or 

 Western com. The Flint corns have smooth, glossy kernels that suggest 

 the name because of their hardness. As a rule they require a shorter 

 period of development and consequently are better adapted to localities 

 where the seasons are considered rather short for com. The Dent varieties 

 also get the type name from the character of the kernel, which is usually 

 somewhat shrunken or indented and gives the ear a rough appearance. 

 The Dent corns are about the only kind grown in the West and South, 

 the great corn-growing sections. In localities where the Dents will 

 properly mature they often outyield the Flint varieties by a consider- 

 able percentage, and there is much effort being put forth at the present 

 time to develop early-maturing Dent varieties. Whether these early- 

 maturing sorts, when obtained, will outyield the Flint varieties is an 

 open question. 



Among the mistakes made by farmers regarding seed com I would 

 name that of depending upon selecting the best ears from the crib at 

 planting time rather than selecting the ears from the best stalks at 

 harvesting time. Then these ears must be thoroughly dried before 

 being exposed to winter's cold; in fact, it is better if they can be stored 

 in such a way that they are never exposed to very low temperature, 

 although thoroughly dried corn is probably not much injured by low 

 temperature. 



Many ears of corn handled in the way the average farmer handles 

 them will not furnish seeds that germinate at all. ,Even among those 



