44 



FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



although when the hard endosperm is in a thin layer over 

 the crown, as is found in some varieties, a slight dent is 

 formed. Flint corn is characterized by a somewhat 

 smaller plant than the dent, with a tendency to produce 

 two ears. The ears are smaller in circumference but of 

 about the same length as those of the dent type. The 

 number of rows on the ear varies from 8 to 16, with 8 the 

 most common. The name "eight-rowed " corn is sometimes 

 applied to certain varieties of this type. The grains are 

 hard, with a smooth, flinty appearance, and more oval 

 in shape than the dent. White 

 and golden yellow are the most 

 common colors. A good ear of this 

 tj^pe will weigh 7 or 8 ounces. Flint 

 corn does not require as long a grow- 

 ing season as the dent varieties. 

 It is grown principally in the New 

 England States, New York, Penn- 

 sylvania and Canada, and other 

 regions with short growing seasons. 

 Large yields have been reported from flint varieties, 

 and in comparative trials it has sometimes outyielded 

 the dent, although where the dent variety can be 

 grown, successive crops of it will yield the best average. 

 Flint corn is highly prized by millers for making corn 

 meal, it being more desirable for this purpose than dent 

 varieties. 



36. Pop corn. — This type of corn gets its name from 

 the well-known characteristic of popping, or bursting into 

 a large white fluffy mass when heated. If we examine the 

 inside of an unpopped kernel, we will find that almost all 

 of the endosperm is of the hard or horny sort. Sometimes 

 we may find a thin layer of the soft starch around the germ, 



Fig. 8. — Cross section of 

 a kernel of flint corn. 



