660 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



points of a canning variety, such as large ear, straight rows, white silk, deep grain, 

 small cob and foot stalk, while the yield was larger than from a number if other 



varieties grown. 



The case of Mr. S. N. Hyde is cited, who began the growing and canning of 

 Egyptian sweet corn in 1878 and continued for 25 years without change of seed. 

 The canned corn produced hy him, it is claimed, brought the highest price of any 



on the American market. 



('. YV. Baker, of Harford County, has also been growing corn during the past 25 

 years without change of seed, and in 1900 grew a crop of 500 acres. He plants a 

 special strain of small-grained Evergreen, which he originally obtained from Con- 

 necticut. It is asserted that the reason why Maine-canned sweet corn is sweeter 

 than the product from other places is because the eanners add sweetening to the 

 product at the time of canning. 



Some data are given on the rainfall and mean temperature of Connecticut and 

 various points in Maryland which indicate that the precipitation during the months 

 of May to September is very similar in both States, while the mean temperature is 

 considerably higher in Maryland. One of the reasons why sweet-corn seed obtained 

 from Connecticut does not yield as well in Maryland as Maryland-grown seed is 

 believed to be that the corn in Connecticut is grown on low ground near the sea in a 

 humid climate, on highly manured and intensely cultivated soil. In western Mary- 

 land, however, while the climate is not exactly a dry one, there are often heavy 

 storms during the summer with 2 or 3 weeks of dry weather intervening, when the 

 soil on the hillsides becomes dry and cultivation is omitted for fear of injuring the 

 corn. "A corn that has never had to stand such conditions curls up and stops grow- 

 ing much quicker than the deep-rooted native varieties. Nor are these deep-rooted 

 plants necessarily of poor quality, for the 'Egyptian,' which possesses great heat and 

 drought resisting power, is one of the most sweet and tender of all sweet corns." 



A number of suggestions are given for different methods of curing corn, including 

 the method usually observed in Connecticut. The writer's method in Maryland, 

 which has given uniformly good results, is to cut down the corn when it is well 

 matured, on a bright, clear day, and husk it out into small piles in the forenoon. In 

 the afternoon the corn is put on a slatted floor made of lath 1 in. thick by 2 in. wide, 

 spaced 1 in. apart. The slats should be covered with corn about a foot deep, but so 

 loosely arranged that there is no obstruction to the passage of air between the ears. 

 In this position it dries very quickly, and may be put into barrels as soon as all 

 moisture is out of the cob. Another grower makes an air-tight bin with a slatted 

 false floor about 6 in. from the bottom. Air is then forced up through the grain by 

 a fan, which is reported to dry out the grain in a remarkably short time. 



Fermentation and freezing are given as 2 of the causes of imperfect germination. 

 " Corn thrown in a large pile, with or without the husk on, will develop heat enough 

 inside of 24 hours to injure the germ, sour the col), and discolor the grain. Sweet 

 corn cut and shocked up like field corn will sour before it dries, unless the weather 

 be both cool and dry enough before winter to escape injury by freezing. Corn left 

 on the stalk untouched until the busk opens will be greatly discolored and injured 

 by a spell of hot damp weather." 



The advantages and opportunities for growing sweet-corn seed in Maryland are 

 pointed out in considerable detail. It is believed that the conditions for growing 

 and curing the sweet corn are even more favorable than they are in Connecticut, 

 where most of the sweet-corn seed is produced. It is believed also that large size in 

 sweet corn is not altogether incompatible with a fair degree of earliness. The Stabler 

 Early is cited as a variety which grows 8 to 9 ft. high and is ready to eat wthin 90 

 days from planting. 



The 1904 corn pack ( U. S. Dept. Ayr., Bureau of Statistics Crop Reporter, vol. 6, 

 No. 8, Sup., p. 65). — On the authority of the American Grocer it is stated that the com 



