102 



Effective Farming 



ears are produced on a stalk. Pop-corn can be grown in any 

 region where flint or dent corn does well, but in the United 

 States the growing of this type of corn commercially is confined 



largely to two counties Sac County, Iowa 



and Loup County, Nebraska. 



Sweet corn. The carbohydrates in sweet 



corn are largely in the form of sugar instead 



of the starch of the other types, and this ac- 

 counts for the sweet taste. 



The grains when mature are 



wrinkled, as shown in Fig. 



33, and the endosperm when 



dry is horny and glassy. 



The ears vary considerably 



in size in different varieties ; 



some are small and have 



eight rows of kernels like 



the flint corn, others are 



nearly as large as good- 

 sized ears of dent corn. 



In some varieties the ker- 

 nels are irregularly placed 



on the ear. The stalks 



vary in height from two to 



ten feet and the plants have 



the tendency to sucker 



freely. Usually two or 

 three ears grow on a stalk. Sweet corn is 

 used largely for culinary purposes ; much of 

 the product is canned. The growing season 

 varies with different varieties and in different FlG> 3 ^ or ~ Sweet 

 sections from fifty to one hundred days. 



Soft corn. The whole endosperm in soft corn is soft starch ; 

 the kernel can easily be dented with the thumb nail. The 

 kernels are large, often measuring three-fourths inch in width. 



FIG. 32. White 

 rice pop-corn. 



