48 



FIELD CROPS 



are either white or red. Most of these colors of kernels 

 with the variation of color in the cobs may be found 

 occasionally in any of the important classes of corn. 



52. Classes or Types. All the 

 more important varieties and types of 

 corn may be grouped into one of the 

 four following classes, viz.: dent, flint, 

 sweet, and pop. Two other classes, 

 soft, or flour, and pod, are of little 

 practical value in North America, but 

 the others have a very important rela- 

 tion to the agriculture and commerce 

 of the world. 



53. Dent Com. Dent corn is a 

 type in which the hard, or horny, part 

 of the kernel is at the sides and does 

 not extend over the crown as it does 

 in flint and pop corn. This arrange- 

 ment causes the crown of the kernel 

 to shrink at maturity, making an in- 

 dentation which distinguishes dent 

 corn from other types. This is the 

 most important type of corn; prob- 

 ably 90 per cent of the total corn crop 

 of the world is in this class. The 

 characters which make it more valu- 

 able than other types are that (1) it 

 yields more; (2) it does not produce 

 many suckers or tillers; (3) it is easily 

 husked; and (4) it is comparatively 

 soft and easy for animals to masticate. 



Generally speaking, it is larger and later than flint corn, 

 though there are small, early maturing varieties of the dent 

 type. Ears of dent corn may vary in size from 4i/^ to 10 

 inches in circumference and from 6 to 12 inches in length. 



Figure 12. — A good ear of 

 a small, early variety of 

 dent corn adapted to 

 the North. 



