222 Singing Valleys 



Popcorn is easily recognized by its small ear and small, hard, 

 pointed kernels. At least that is the type familiar to most 

 Americans who have burned their faces red popping corn 

 over an open fire. There is a variety grown in Jala, Mexico, 

 with ears three feet long and borne on stalks so tall and strong 

 that the crop must be harvested from horseback. The stalks 

 are used to fence stockades. 



What makes popcorn pop is the large proportion of hard 

 starch in the endosperm. The moisture in this, when subjected 

 to heat, explodes the starch granules so violently that the ker- 

 nel is turned inside out. This was the parched corn which the 

 Indians ate and which amazed the English colonists. 



The growing of popcorn is a specialized industry. It is 

 localized in Ida and Sac counties in Iowa, and in Greeley and 

 Valley counties in Nebraska. There the popcorn cribs stand 

 along the railroad tracks. In the fall when the crop is harvested, 

 it is carted to the crib and stored to dry through the winter. 

 In summer, when the next crop is growing in the fields, the 

 corn in the cribs is shelled and shipped to the "Cracker Jack" 

 and other candy manufacturers, to empty the cribs in time 

 to receive the new supply. 



Popcorn is believed to be a variant of flint corn whose char- 

 acteristic is its large proportion of hard starch. The flints are 

 the earliest maturing varieties. Therefore they are especially 

 suited to northern climates. It was flint corn growing around 

 the village of Hochalaga, on the site of present Montreal, 

 which amazed Carrier. The flints seldom grow taller than 

 four feet but they bear more than one ear to the stalk, which 

 gives them great value as fodder corn. Flint corn, too, makes 

 the best corn meal, though Southerners stand out for Boone 

 County White, one of the family of zea mays indentata. 



Dent corn receives its name from the indentation in each 

 kernel sometimes smooth, sometimes rough but always there 

 and caused by the shrinkage of the soft starch in the endo- 

 sperm. This little hollow in the top of each kernel in the 

 ear was recognized by the tribes of primitive Americans as a 



