CORN OR MAIZE 



43 



in weight from \ pound to If pounds. A good dent 

 ear weighs from 12 to 15 ounces. Dent corn to fully 

 mature requires a growing season of from 90 to 100 days 

 for the early varieties, to 130 to 150 days for the late 

 varieties. There are over 300 varieties of dent corn, and 

 in this large number of varieties great vari- 

 ation is found in the adaptability to soil 

 and climate, length of growing season and 

 in the general character of the plant and 

 ear. White and yellow are the principal 

 colors found in this type, but there are 

 also varieties of blue, purple and mottled 

 dent corn. Dent corn is of greater agri- 

 cultural importance by far than all other 

 types combined, for it is the corn of the 

 great corn growing sections of the world. 

 In the United States dent corn is the type 

 that is grown in the great corn producing 

 states of the Central West. The bulk of 

 the corn produced in the United States for 

 use in this country and that grown for 

 export belongs to this class. 



35. Flint corn. The name flint is given 

 to the varieties of corn belonging to this 

 class because of the hard flinty appearance 

 of the kernels as viewed on the ear. If 

 a kernel of flint corn is split open, it will 

 be found to contain both hard and soft endosperm, but ar- 

 ranged differently from that found in dent corn. In flint corn 

 the hard or horny endosperm extends up the sides of the 

 kernel and also over the crown, thus surrounding the soft 

 endosperm and the germ. Because the hard endosperm 

 shrinks uniformly, no dent is formed in most cases, 



FIG. 7. An 

 ear of dent 

 corn. 



