134 A HOME VEGETABLE-GARDEN 



with newspapers laid over the measuring line 

 stretched a little above the row of hills. In plant- 

 ing so early, be sure to provide for the loss by 

 rotting; allow a third more kernels. Always put 

 in more than are needed, even in the late plant- 

 ings; then the poorest weakest sprouts may be 

 pulled. 



There are two methods of planting sweet corn 

 in rows and in hills. When planting in rows, 

 measure them at least 3 feet apart, and scatter 

 the kernels with 3 or 4 inches between them, in 

 a furrow less than 2 inches deep. After thinning, 

 the plants should stand 12 to 18 inches apart for 

 the dwarf varieties, and nearly 2 feet for the later 

 bigger sorts. For 6 inches in every direction the 

 soil around a healthy plant is crowded full of 

 roots. Provide plenty of room for root growth. 

 At silking time each root should have a cubic foot 

 of space. For big crops of field corn, this method 

 is necessarily used, because in order to save time, 

 a big money factor in corn-raising, these great 

 crops are put in with machinery. Time, however, 

 is no real factor in raising garden corn ; and plant- 

 ing sweet corn in rows has real disadvantages. 

 Even when the drilled corn is thinned until it 

 stands nearly 3 feet apart, the light and sunshine 

 do not reach all of the plants equally. Not so 

 much corn can be grown, because in the drilled 

 rows one plant stands alone, while in the rows of 

 hills, the clump may have four plants. The rows 



