KING CORN 153 
is not infrequently the case that good seed will fail to 
grow when planted too early or when the soil is too moist 
and cold. Heat, air and moisture cause the growth of 
seeds, and the seeds must have just the right proportion 
of each; too much of either one is injurious to the plant. 
The earth should be pressed firmly over the seed, 
which causes the moisture to come in contact with the 
outer covering of the seed and produces a sufficient 
amount of heat by preventing air circulating too freely 
around the seed. The seed placed in the soil under 
favorable conditions commences to grow at once. 
Again, corn should not be planted too deeply. 
In my long experience in growing sweet corn I have 
learned that two-thirds of the poor stands may be at- 
tributed entirely to too deep planting. I make it a rule 
to plant not over one inch in depth, and when seed is 
good always get 95 per cent. and over of a stand. 
Planted five inches in depth, the seed will not germinate 
5 per cent. The same is true as to field corn. A cover- 
ing of one inch is sufficient. Covered three inches or 
more, growth is unhealthy and not rapid. 
Corn has two sets of roots, one above the surface and 
the other underground. The ones above the surface are 
the brace roots, and do not perform their functions until 
the plant is of considerable size, generally not until the 
corn is laid by. These roots are important to corn 
growth, because they push out and penetrate deeply into 
the ground at a time when the corn plant is bearing its 
harvest and needs to be supported from the onslaught of 
winds and storms. 
These brace roots shoot out from the plant above its 
