152 THE SOILS A.ND CROPS OF THE FARM, 



5. Sweet corn is that type in which the endosperm 

 is translucent and horny in appearance, the starch 

 having been more or less reduced to glucose. The 

 kernels are wedge-shaped and usually very much 

 wrinkled. 



Almost all the field corn of the United States, com- 

 paratively speaking, is of the dent type. Flint corn 

 requires a smaller number of days to mature a crop 

 and hence it is used in the more northern latitudes 

 and at higher altitudes. It is the common field crop 

 of New England. Each of these types has its place, 

 but wherever the common varieties of dent corn will 

 ripen flint corn is not usually desirable. 



For example, at the Pennsylvania Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station eleven varieties of flint corn and fif- 

 teen varieties of dent corn have been tested from one 

 to three years. The altitude is 1,200 feet; the season, 

 therefore, is comparatively cool and short, and not espec- 

 ially adapted to the growth of dent varieties. The 

 following table gives the yield of dry matter in 

 pounds fi'om ears and stover. 



FLnt. Dent. 



Ears 1,750 3,012 



Stover 1,C91 3,258 



Total 3,441 6,370 



Soft corn is grown to some extent by the Indians. 

 It can be made into meal rather readily by crude 

 methods and it is said also to be eaten whole by the 

 Indians. It is also known as "squaw corn." The 

 Brazilian flour corn is of this type. 



The ease with which varieties of corn mix, the ex- 

 treme variability within certain limits, and the ease 

 with which any type may be obtained within these 



