AGRICULTURE. 



RACES OF CORN. 



As our readers are thinking corn and 

 talking corn this year as they never did 

 before, we^give them, from a report of the 

 Kansas Experiment station, the following 

 information as to the different races of 

 corn, which we have no doubt they will 

 read with interest: 



There are five important races of corn 

 grown in the United States on a commer- 

 cial scale. 



1. Dent Corn. A part of the starch 

 in the grain is of a close, hard texture. 

 This is called the horny endosperm, and 

 is found along the sides of the kernel; 

 while the softer portion or starchy endos- 

 perm, is found in the center extending to 

 the summit. In drying the center shrinks 

 more than the rest, and hence leaves a 

 dent at the apex of the grain. Dent corns 

 are the common field varieties grown in 

 the corn belt and are almost the only kind 

 exported. There are various colors, white, 

 yellow and mottled (calico), being the 

 most common. There are also red and 

 blue varieties. Three hundred and twen- 

 ty-three varieties are described. 



2. Sweet Corn. This is chiefly 

 found in the gardens, but it is grown on a 

 commercial scale for canning purposes, 

 and some of the larger sorts are grown for 

 fodder. The first variety cultivated was 

 obtained from the Indians, New England, 

 in 1779. In 1854 there were ten varieties. 

 Now there are sixty-three. Corn as a 

 vegetable is practically unknown outside 

 the United States. 



3. Flint. The horny endosperm en- 

 tirely surrounds the starchy, and hence 

 the grain is smooth at maturity. Color 

 various. Many varieties have eight rows 

 and hence are known as eight-rowed corn. 

 Flint corn can be grown much farther 

 north than the dent corn, since it matures 

 earlier, hence it is the prevailing form in 

 Canada and the northern United States 



Since it is the common corn of New Eng- 

 land it is often called Yankee corn. 



4. Pop-corn. These resemble the flint 

 corn, but differ in the ability to "pop" 

 when heated. This phenomenon depends 

 upon the fact tbat the starch is in the 

 form of horny endosperm and the moisture 

 present cannot easily escape, but finally 

 explodes, turning the grain inside out. 

 Pop corn seems to be the least modified 

 from the original type. There are twenty- 

 five varieties. 



5. Soft Corns. In these the starch is 

 all in the form of starchy endosperm. It 

 seems to have been common among the 

 Indians of the southwest. Some of the 

 blue Squaw corn belongs to this race. Bra- 

 zilian flour corn, sold by seedsmen, is a 

 soft corn. There is no dent in these 

 varieties. 



BUYING SEED CORN. 



There are thousands of farmers in the 

 country who will buy their seed corn this 

 spring for the first time in many years. 

 On account of the unusual demand, there 

 will be much of an inferior quality sold at 

 a very high price. Consequently farmers 

 should exercise unusual care in selecting 

 their seed. 



In former years farmers have been able 

 to select the largest and most perfect ears 

 from their entire crop and have stored 

 them for planting the following spring. 

 A large number of these farmers were suf- 

 ferers from the drought last summer and 

 did not raise any perfect ears to speak of, 

 therefore the man who has common corn 

 of good quality may easily sell his surplus 

 for planting at prices ranging from a dol- 

 lar to a dollar and a half per bushel. 



The shortage of seed corn among farm- 

 ers is probably greatest in Kansas. The 

 condition is serious enough in other corn- 

 growing states, but is worse in the Sun- 

 flower state because the farmers have 



