FARM CROPS. 



9 1 



planted. The kernels are usually small, hard and 

 flinty, and the ears and kernels vary greatly in their 

 physical characteristics. The pod corn is not a corn 

 of commerce but is grown to a limited extent in south- 

 ern countries where it is claimed to be immune or re- 

 sistant to the attack of certain insects, such as the 

 corn weevils. It is claimed that the husks fitting 

 closely about the individual kernels protect the kernels. 

 Description of the Corn Plant. The staminate 

 flowers (the tassel) and the pistillate flowers (the cob 

 and silks, commonly called the shoot) are borne on 

 the same plant, but at different places. The tassel is 

 arranged in the form of a panicle, this terminal inflor- 

 escence, or collection of flowers, being called the tas- 

 sel. The pistillate flowers are borne on a hardened 

 spike or cob, springing from a node on the stem or 

 stalk. In the tassel there are two single flowers in 

 each spikelet, and each flower bears three stamens, 

 which are borne upon slender thread-like filaments. 

 The filaments lengthen during the development of the 

 flower, and push out the pollen-bearing anthers. The 

 anthers are two-celled and at maturity split just above 

 and along one side, allowing the pollen grains to fall 



TWO-YEAR-OLD CORN SHOWING PROTECTION FROM WEEVILS DUE TO A 

 TIGHT-FITTING HUSK. 



