SWEET CORN 219 



which would give large crops of field corn. It appears to be impos- 

 sible to grow on a cold, heavy clay soil sweet-corn seed which will 

 produce green corn of the highest quality. 1 



"Cultural methods for the production of seed sweet corn. In a 

 general way the fertilization and preparation of the soil and the 

 methods of culture which will give the best results with field corn 

 will be equally effective with sweet corn, but because of liability to 

 crossing with volunteer plants it is important that a crop for seed 

 corn should not follow one of any other variety of corn and that 

 care should be taken to prevent bringing into the field viable grains 

 of corn and spores of corn smut or other corn diseases in stable 

 manure or by stock. 



" Sweet-corn seed is usually of lower vitality than that of field 

 sorts, and planting should be delayed until the soil is well prepared, 

 warm, and dry, special care being taken that the seed is not covered 

 too deep. The small-growing, extra-early sorts, like Cory, Crosby, 

 etc., may be planted in drills as close as 3 feet apart or in hills 

 3 feet apart each way and so as to secure from 4 to 8 plants to 

 the yard of drill or 3 or 4 plants to the hill. 



11 The stronger-growing sorts, like Evergreen and Country 

 Gentleman, partly because of their greater liability to abundant 

 suckering, need even more room than most varieties of field corn 

 and should be planted in drills from 42 to 60 inches apart or in 

 hills the same distance from each other and so as to secure 2 or 

 3 stalks to the hill or to the yard of drill. Experience has demon- 

 strated that with seed sweet corn equally large yields and better- 

 matured seed can be obtained from a somewhat thinner stand than 

 would give the largest yield of field corn. 



" Cross-pollination. The location and character of soil are of less 

 importance in the production of seed corn from which the best re- 

 sults may be expected than that the fields be so situated as to avoid 

 as far as possible liability to mixture through the pollen. This is a 

 far more common cause of inferior quality than is generally sup- 

 posed. Seed growers object to growing Black Mexican corn because 

 they say it crosses so freely with other sorts. There is no evidence, 

 however, that this variety crosses more readily than others, but 

 when crosses of Black Mexican and other varieties do occur the 



1 Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 184, W. W. Tracy, Sr. 



