CORN OR MAIZE 



49 



more when good cultural methods are practiced, and 

 when growing conditions are favorable. Thus the gross 

 income from an acre may amount to as much as 40 

 dollars, which, considering the small amount of labor 

 required, gives a good return to 

 the grower, when compared with 

 the earnings from other farm 

 crops. 



39. Pod corn. This type of 

 corn gets its name from the fact 

 that each kernel is inclosed in a 

 little husk or pod. The pod corn 

 plant is inclined to be leafy and 

 suckers abundantly, often having 

 heavy tassels producing kernels. 

 The kernels may resemble those 

 of almost any of the other types 

 of corn, due probably to the 

 fact that it has been subjected 

 to frequent crossings with other 

 types. It has been suggested that 

 pod corn is probably the primitive 

 type from which the other types 

 have been developed, but recent 

 investigation does not uphold this 

 contention. Those who uphold 

 this theory explain that the husks 

 which inclose the kernels were the 

 means by which nature protected 



the latter from birds and animals, and that they also 

 assisted in their dissemination, since a kernel inclosed 

 in a pod will float on water. Since corn has become a 

 cultivated plant the pods have lost their usefulness and 



FIG. 14. An ear of pod 

 corn. 



