Indian Corn, or Maize 125 



weather is favorable for the growth of the spores and for this 

 reason the disease is more prevalent during some seasons than 

 others. About the only way to combat it is to go through the 

 fields two or three times during the growing season and collect 

 the masses. This would be worth the time only in a badly 

 infested field. 



Ear-rots. Several kinds of ear-rots are found on corn. 

 Of these the dry ear-rot is the most common. This affects 

 cob, kernels, and husks. The ear becomes dark in color, 

 except for mold between the rows of kernels. The best remedy 

 is to burn the diseased ears as they are collected at harvest 

 time and, on badly infested fields, to burn the stalks. The 

 spread of the different rots is more prevalent in warm moist 

 seasons than in dry ones. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Describe and compare the four chief types of corn. 



2. When mature ears are desired why should a farmer select home- 

 grown seed corn for planting? 



3. Which is better, selection of seed corn from the field or from 

 the crib? Why? 



4. Why should a farmer test the seed corn that he expects to plant ? 



5. Describe briefly an ideal seed ear of dent corn. 



'6. When is corn usually planted in your vicinity? How does this 

 compare with the time a hundred miles north or south of you ? 



7. Why should a corn-planter be tested before planting the field 

 to corn? 



8. Tell of the benefits of frequent shallow cultivation of a corn 

 field. Why should deep cultivation be avoided? 



9. Give the life histories of the Northern and of the Southern 

 corn root- worms. 



10. What remedies are used to combat the corn root-louse? 



EXERCISES 



1. Characteristics of corn. Examine carefully ears of dent, flint, 

 pop, and sweet corn and write in your notebooks the characteristics 

 of each. Remove a few kernels of each kind of corn and compare 

 them as to size, shape, flintiness, and size of germ. Soak the kernels 



