Vegetable Gardening 



133 



Planting 

 to get the 

 best stand 

 of sweet 

 corn 



The protection of vines against the common pests Enemies 

 squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and plant lice is con- 

 sidered in Chapter Thirteen 

 (Fig. 109). 



Sweet corn. In planting and 

 caring for sweet corn, the require- 

 ments are very little different 

 from those for field corn. Tl\e 

 rows are usually three feet apart, 

 and the hills are three feet apart 

 in the row, with three stalks to 

 the hill. The same number of 

 stalks may be distributed, one in u. s. D. A. 



x nlare fllonp- the row The FlG ' I09 ' The striped cucum - 

 a P iace > ' ber beetle (much enlarged). 



yield will be about the same in The larva attacks the roots 

 _.. . and stems of vines; the adult 



either case. If several grains eats the leaves. 



are dropped in a hill, they should 



not be bunched closely together. 



thicker to make sure of a good stand, it should be 



thinned early. 



A succession of plantings from about May i to July 

 i makes it possible to have sweet corn during all the 

 latter part of the summer and through the early fall. 

 Some varieties mature in about two months; others 

 require nearly three. The late varieties as a rule grow 

 larger, produce more, and are sweeter than the earlier 

 varieties. 



A troublesome insect is the corn-ear worm. It is 

 much more destructive in the South than in the North. 

 Its mother, a gray moth, lays her eggs on the silk of 

 the young ear. From here the worms, when hatched, 



If the corn is planted 



Securing a 



continuous 



supply 



The corn- 

 ear worm 



