66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



in nature. If neglected, Indian corn will degenerate ; but 

 if carefully and thouglitfully treated, it will steadily advance 

 toward perfection. 



The hundreds of varieties of corn have been classified in. 

 several ways : a common one is into field, sweet, pop, and 

 husk sorts. Another grouping is into flint, Tuscarora, dent, 

 and sweet varieties, in which the pop corns are included 

 under the flints, and the husk corn is placed with the dent 

 sorts. It is very difiiciilt to make a classification, because 

 the varieties are founded on one or more of a large number 

 of characteristics. Some of the leadins^ of these are the color 

 of the grain ; the number of rows on the cob ; the size and 

 form of the grain ; length of time in maturing, etc. The 

 field varieties include both flint and dent sorts that are com- 

 monly grown on large areas, and make up the great bulk of 

 the corn crop. The sweet corns are so named from the 

 large per cent, of sugar contained in the grains, fitting these- 

 sorts especially for the table when in the green state. The 

 pop corns are hard, flinty kinds, with the kernels much 

 smaller than in the field varieties. These grains contain a 

 large percentage of oil, thoroughly distributed throughout 

 the substance, and enclosed by a hard covering. When 

 the grains are heated, the oil changes into gas, and expands 

 to many times its former size, and bursts the kernel, turning 

 it inside out- in a most surprising manner. In the husk 

 variety each kernel, as well as the whole ear, is enveloped 

 in husks. It is thought by many who have given much at- 

 tention to the history of the maize-plant, that this is the 

 wild state of the Indian corn. 



The rano;e of heio-ht of full-s^rowm corn is from more than 

 twenty feet to less than two feet ; from those giant growths, 

 where the ears are so hio;h that a man needs to be on a horse to 

 be able to hang his baton the lowest ear, to the pigmy sorts, 

 where it is difficult to pass the corn-knife below the diminu- 

 tive nubbin. The smallest ear, well developed and full 

 grown, in a large collection recently seen, weighed one-half 

 ounce, while the largest turned the scale at one pound and 

 eio^ht and one-half ounces. The number of rows of grain on 

 an ear is ahvays even and ranges from i'our to forty. The 

 shape of the kernel is wonderfully variable. " It may be 



