216 SWEET CORN AND OTHER CROPS 



of mucilaginous substance, which makes the cooked vegetable 

 one of peculiar texture. 



While primarily a southern product, okra will develop in a 

 sufficiently short time to make its culture possible in central and 

 even somewhat northern latitudes. There is no difficulty whatever 

 in growing it in the corn belt. The seeds are planted in the open 

 ground at about the same time as corn and beans. The rows are 

 made about three feet apart and the plants thinned to about one 

 foot apart in the row, and cultivated the same as beans or corn. 

 The pods must be picked promptly when they have reached the 

 desired size, for if allowed to continue their growth they soon 

 become woody and unfit for use. The plant continues to grow 

 and produce new pods through a long season. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Discuss the importance of sweet corn as a table vegetable. 



2. How may the season for fresh sweet corn be extended from about July 



15 till frost? 



3. When can the earliest planting of sweet corn be made? 



4. Compare early and late varieties of sweet corn as to size of stalk and ear, 



depth of kernel, and time required to reach edible maturity. 



5. What kind of soil is considered best for sweet corn? 



6. What tlu-ee kinds of pop com are recognized on the market? 



7. What is considered an average yield of pop corn? 



8. How is pop corn planted? 



9. What two factors make the harvesting of pop com tedious? 



10. Describe the curing of pop corn. 



11. How is the value of a given sample of pop corn determined? 



12. Is pop corn grown commercially in your locality? If not, why not? 



13. What is the other name for okra? In what part of the country is it most 



popular? 



14. What constitutes the edible product of the okra plant? 



15. Can okra be readily grown in central or northern latitudes? 



16. Give the salient points in the culture of okra. 



