CORN VARIETIES 125 



Among the early-maturing varieties, but not extremely early 

 and better suited to the South than most early varieties, are 

 the following : — 



Hickory King St. Charles 



Blount Prolific Cocke (some strains) 



Mexican June corn is in a class by itself. It is chiefly 

 valuable because of its strong root and leaf systems and its 

 notable endurance of the heat and drought of late summer. 

 The stalk grows to immense size, usually 11 to 15 feet. 

 The stem is of large diameter and rich in sugar. The 

 strain of Mexican June most commonly grown east of 

 Texas has a small, white ear with soft grains, loosely ar- 

 ranged on the cob. It is not very productive of grain, but 

 when the ears are in the hard dough stage, the entire plant 

 makes a good green food for hogs or horses. This variety is 

 recommended only for late planting ; that is, in May or 

 June, usually on land where small grain has been harvested. 



There are other forms of Mexican June corn, among 

 them a dwarf variety. 



LABORATORY EXERCISES 

 Races. 



Make drawings from nature of the cross-sections of the grains 

 of as many races as can be found, especially of dent, flint, pop, and 

 sweet corn. 



Main characteristics of varieties. 



Study and write descriptions of as many as practicable of the 

 most important Southern varieties, recording especially, — 



(a) habit of bearing one, or two, or more ears ; 



(6) form of ear ; 



(c) shape and size of grain ; 



{d) size and color of cob. 



