CHAPTER XXIV 



SWEET CORN AND OTHER CROPS WITH SIMILAR 

 CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS 



SWEET CORN 



Sweet or sugar corn, so named because of its distinctly sac- 

 charine qualities as compared with field corn, is an exceedingly 

 important table vegetable. It is grown in most home gardens 

 that have sufficient space for the larger vegetables, is one of the 

 standard crops among market gardeners, and is extensively grown 

 as a field crop for canning factories. It is available in the fresh 

 state on the large markets from early summer until frost, and may 

 be purchased in tin cans twelve months in the year. Canned 

 corn is a staple vegetable for mnter use. It may also be dried 

 for winter if desired. In central localities fresh, home-grown corn 

 may be had for the table from about July 15 until frost, if succes- 

 sive plantings are made on land that has been plowed early and 

 kept in friable condition by repeated working until needed for 

 planting. Ordinaril}^, however, only one or two plantings are made 

 and the product is available principally during late July and 

 early August. However, some home growers and also some 

 market gardeners extend the season as above suggested. 



Planting. — Sweet corn may be planted at the same time as 

 string beans. It is tender to frost and the main crop should not 

 be planted before the soil is fairly warm. Some varieties will 

 germinate better than others in soil that is slightly too cool and 

 wet, and these should be selected for the earliest plantings. Ordi- 

 narily, sweet corn is planted about May 1 in central latitudes, and 

 successive plantings made as desired. The latest plantings should 

 usually be made about July 1. 



Varieties of sweet corn differ considerably in reference to the 

 amount of time required to reach edible maturity. In general, 

 the early varieties are smaller in every respect than the later 

 sorts ; the stalks are much shorter, the ears smaller, and the kernels 

 shallower. The earliest sorts will produce edible corn in about 

 seventy days from planting, if the planting is done as early in 

 the spring as the weather is sufficiently warm for corn. Later 

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