CORN 103 



small. The ear has many rows, usually about sixteen. It 

 is easily husked, because the shank of the ear is small. 



Flint corn has a long, slender ear with only about ten 

 rows of kernels. The kernels are hard and flinty, due to 

 the large proportion of horny starch in them. Flint corn 

 matures earlier than the dent type, and therefore can be 

 grown farther north. The stalks produce many extra 

 stalks, or "suckers." This makes it valuable for fodder, but 

 it does not yield so much grain as the dent type. 



Sweet corn is grown for human food. Large amounts 

 of it are grown by truck gardeners, who market it as a table 

 vegetable when it is green, or can it for winter use. It is 

 very rich in sugar. The kernels shrink when mature and 

 appear shriveled. Sweet corn is not profitable to grow as 

 feed for animals. 



Pop corn has small ears, and very hard small kernels. 

 It is grown only for human food. The popping of the ker- 

 nels is caused by expansion of the moisture by heating 

 until the hard flinty covering of the kernels breaks, and 

 they suddenly turn inside out. 



Primitive Com. There is a type of corn known as the 

 primitive corn, because it is thought to be the oldest type, 

 from which the other types have been developed. It is 

 sometimes grown as a curiosity. Each kernel is inclosed 

 in a pod, or husk, and the ear thus formed is also inclosed 

 in husks. Its common name is pod corn, but it is sometimes 

 called squaw corn. 



Soil for Corn. Corn needs a soil rich in nitrogen and 

 vegetable matter. It usually does well on land on which 

 clover and grasses grew the year before. Because sandy 

 loam soils are warmer and more easily cultivated than 



