POP CORN 213 



plantings of the same varieties, that make their principal growth 

 in warm weather, will develop faster. In northern locations, 

 where the nights are cool, a correspondingly longer time is required. 

 Late varieties reciuire ninety to one hundred days to produce 

 edible corn, under the same conditions that early corn develops 

 in seventy days. There are also intermediate varieties. In plant- 

 ing for a succession, therefore, due consideration should be given 

 to the selection of varieties. For canning, the late varieties are 

 chiefly grown, because of their generally larger yield and sweeter 

 flavor, though there are now some early varieties of exceptionally 

 high quality. 



Culture. — The general culture of sweet corn does not differ 

 from that of field corn, though early varieties are usually planted 

 closer. In small areas the earliest varieties may be planted in 

 hills as close as two by two and one-half feet; late varieties should 

 have three to three and one-half feet of space between the hills 

 each way. Two to three stalks should be allowed to the hill. 

 If desired, the corn may be planted in drills instead of hills, the 

 individual stalks being allowed from twelve to eighteen inches in 

 the row. 



Sweet corn is cultivated the same as field corn, and in addition 

 hand hoeing close to the plants is sometimes employed in small 

 areas. To produce a good crop of sweet corn the soil should be 

 quite rich. Sandy soil will produce an earlier crop than clay or 

 silt loam, but corn on such soil is more likely to suffer from lack 

 of moisture. 



It is unusual to mention pop corn in any treatise on vegetable 

 growing. However, the demand for information regarding the 

 method of handling this crop seems to warrant at least a brief 

 discussion of some of the principal points involved in the culture 

 and curing of this important crop. 



There are three standard varieties of pop corn recognized on 

 the market: Rice, the rough-kerneled corn, which is probably 

 the best general-purpose variety, since it keeps better than any 

 other; Pearl, the smooth, small-kerneled corn; and Eight-Rowed 

 or Yankee, a smooth variety with very large kernels, which is in 

 special demand for sugar-coating and stringing. Colored and 



* This account of pop corn is essentially the same as an article contributed 

 by the author to the Orange Judd Farmer, in 1902. Printed by permission 

 oi" the Orange Judd Company, Publishers, New York. 



