224 GARDEN FARMING 



" Well-cured corn is easily shelled by machine, by flails, or by 

 hand, and the grain should be immediately run through a fanning 

 mill, when it may be sacked, but it should be closely watched, and 

 if it does not remain perfectly dry in a temperature above freezing 

 it should be again fanned and spread to dry, and this process 

 repeated on the least indication of the presence of moisture. 



" In order to produce good sweet-corn seed one must be prompt 

 to cut it when ripe, husk it as early as possible, and immediately 

 get it under shelter where it will be exposed to every wind that 

 blows until it is thoroughly dry, using every hour of bright sun- 

 shine in order to accomplish this before freezing weather." 



Kind of soil. Sweet corn demands the same general qualities of 

 soil as the more robust field sorts. A warm loam is to be preferred, 

 but sweet corn, like field corn, can be grown on a great variety of 

 soils. A quick, well-drained soil should be selected for the early 

 dwarf sorts, and stronger, more retentive soils for the robust sorts. 

 The late plantings that are likely to be caught by frost should be 

 made on warm, well-drained soils lying well above the valleys or 

 draws into which frosty air drains. 



Preparation of the soil. Corn is a rapid-growing plant and re- 

 quires a liberal quantity of food. It is capable of thriving on 

 manures which cannot be used to advantage on many garden vege- 

 tables, and the roughest manure and compost may safely be applied 

 to the sweet-corn patch. While commercial fertilizers cannot, as 

 a rule, be profitably used on field corn, they may prove advanta- 

 geous on some soils for this crop. A well-manured clover sod 

 turned under forms a most satisfactory foundation for sweet corn. 



The preparation of the seed bed should be more thorough than 

 for field corn, for two reasons : (i) the young plants are less robust, 

 and (2) the seed requires more perfect conditions for its successful 

 germination. The plan followed in preparing the seed bed should 

 be one which will successfully control weeds. One of the most sat- 

 isfactory methods of weed control for the midseason plantings is 

 that of plowing just before the planting is begun. Other plantings 

 may be most successfully kept free from weeds by early plowing. 



Planting. The dwarf varieties may be planted much closer than 

 the robust sorts. The small sorts will do well when planted with 

 15 or 1 8 inches between rows and 8 or I o inches apart in the row, 



