SPECIALTIES IN CORN CULTURE 327 



proper stage for use is to split the husk with the two 

 thumbs about midway of the ear. An opening about 

 an inch long can be made through which the ear can 

 be examined, and if immature the leaves can be closed 

 again by gentle pressure. This method can be used 

 without noticeable injury to the ear. If a few husks 

 are stripped down, as commonly done, the corn 

 quickly spoils when exposed in this way. This method 

 is not practicable for the market gardener or when 

 picking for canneries. A little experience will teach the 

 picker to tell by handling the ear when the kernels 

 are plump and full, so he may know which to pick and 

 which not to. 



After picking, sweet corn, like peas, changes 

 quickly, and loses its sweetness if allowed to heat. To 

 obtain these two vegetables in perfection it is abso- 

 lutely necessary that they be prepared and eaten as 

 soon after harvesting as possible and before the sugar 

 has had time to change to starch. This latter process 

 takes place quickly when they are stored in bulk and 

 explains why most of the corn and peas found in city 

 markets lack the sweetness which is so characteristic 

 of the home grown and freshly gathered article. If 

 sweet corn must be picked one day and stored until 

 the next morning before marketing, it should be spread 

 out thinly over night on the ground or on the bottom 

 of a cool cellar. A good average yield of sweet corn 

 is from eight thousand to ten thousand marketable ears 

 per acre. In market it is always sold by the dozen 

 or hundred, but to canneries by the ton. Canneries 

 make contracts in the spring with farmers for a given 

 acreage at a stated price per ton delivered. A deduction 

 is always made for husks and immature ears. This is 

 based on a fair average of how the crop will run. 

 While the canners generally buy corn by the ton, husks 

 and all, there are occasional instances where it is 



