CORK SWEET CORtf. 63 



need not be more than three feet apart, or the hills more 

 than eighteen or twenty inches apart in the row. Use 

 seed freely, for in the cold, damp soil, much of it may 

 fail to grow. I would plant eight or ten kernels in each 

 hill, and if they all grow, pinch off (not pull up,) all but 

 four of the best plants. If you undertake to pull up the 

 plants you will be apt to disturb or injure those which 

 are left in the hill. As the plants grow, draw a little 

 fresh earth up to them, and if you have reason to fear a 

 frost some night, it is worth while to take pieces of news- 

 paper, say a foot square, and lay them over the hills of 

 corn, putting a little soil on each corner to hold them 

 down. The next morning they can be turned back and 

 still kept by the side of the hill, weighted with a little 

 earth, ready for use the next night if necessary. It re- 

 quires but a very slight covering to protect plants from 

 frost, but it will not do to let the covering remain on all 

 the time, as they need exposure to the sun. 



VARIETIES. 



The later varieties of corn, such as Crosby's Sugar, 

 Russell's Prolific, and Moore's Early Concord, though far 

 sweeter and better, do not need so much care as we have 

 recommended when we wish to secure the earliest possi- 

 ble dish of corn. But even for the second early crop, it 

 will pay to take pains in the preparation of the soil, 

 planting, and cultivation. You can not grow good sweet 

 corn as easily as you can good field corn. For the main 

 crop, Stowell's Evergreen is one of the most popular vari- 

 eties; as ordinarily grown, however, it has ceased to be ev- 

 ergreen, it 13 simply a good late variety of sweet corn. 

 It is the variety generally grown for the canning and 

 evaporating establishments, and the growers for these 

 are particularly anxious to get a strain of Stowell's Ever- 

 green corn, which has ceased to be evergreen, and which 



