CHAPTER XIII 

 POP-CORN AND SWEET CORN 



THE general information given in regard to the culture of field 

 corn applies to the production of pop- and sweet corn. The culture 

 differs in only a few particulars. 



POP-CORN 



Pop-corn is raised wherever field corn is grown, but as a com- 

 mercial crop it is produced principally in Iowa and Nebraska. The 

 plants being small, it is planted about twice as thick as field corn. 

 It is slower in growth and more delicate, requiring greater care and 

 skill in cultivating. 



Varieties. There are two distinct types of pop-corn. One is 

 known as rice pop-corn and is distinguished by a sharp pointed tip 

 on the kernel. The other is the pearl pop-corn, the kernels being 

 round and smooth. Market demand is mostly for the rice variety of 

 white color, and this is grown almost exclusively for commerce. In 

 color, there are red, yellow, and blue varieties of both rice and pearl 

 pop-corn. 



In size, the ordinary ear of white rice is four to five inches in 

 length, but certain strains are larger ; while some varieties of pearl 

 pop-corn attain a length of eight inches. Tom Thumb is a dwarf 

 variety of pearl pop-corn with stalks not much more than thirty 

 inches in height, and ears about two inches long. This is the 

 smallest variety of corn known. Care must be taken to grow only 

 varieties that mature well before frost. 



Harvesting. Pop-corn is usually allowed to ripen and dry out 

 well on the stalk, before harvesting. It is then stored in well-ven- 

 tilated cribs until air dry, when it is shelled and sacked for market. 

 A good yield is 2000 pounds of shelled corn per acre. 



Marketing. In centers where pop-corn is grown extensively, as 

 Sac County, Iowa, and Loup County, Nebraska, special elevators and 

 storage houses for handling the crop have been built. It is usually 

 sold in car lots, either to wholesale merchants or to confectionery 

 manufacturers. 

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