46 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



place where the silk was attached, and the pearl 

 type, with grains rounded on top, like the flint corn 

 of the fields, or flat-topped. Red, blue, and white 

 are the colors of the grains, solid or mixed on the 

 cob. The pop corn field is easily recognized by 

 the slim stalks and small ears, though the stalks 

 are often tall. 



It is a special kind of farming to get the crop 

 matured before frost; then it must stand to let the 

 frost harden the ears before the stalks are cut and 

 shocked to dry, then husked by hand for storage 

 or immediate shipment. One little town in Iowa 

 is the point from which hundreds of carloads of 

 pop corn go each autumn to the wholesale dealer. 



THE WONDERFUL MAIZE PLANT 



A sprouting grain of corn sends a pointed leaf, 

 rolled into a close tube, up to the light, while a 

 tapering root goes downward, and branches into 

 fibrous feeding roots along its sides. Out of the 

 tip of the leaf tube a slenderer tube rises, and 

 carries the plant higher, while the first leaf spreads 

 out flat. As the leaf arches its blade, the second 

 one loosens, and the third appears. Each leaf 

 holds its younger brother in a close protecting em- 

 brace until it is able to endure the hot sun, when 



