50 FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



have gradually disappeared, until now in the other types 

 of corn we find them only in a rudimentary form. If we 

 examine closely an ear of dent or flint corn, we find rudi- 

 mentary husks at the tip of the kernel, and when the 

 kernel is removed, the husks do not remain attached to it 

 as in pod corn, but stay on the cob. The fact that pod 

 corn frequently produces corn on the tassel leads us to 

 believe that it is closely related to the primitive type, 

 in which all the kernels were produced in a tassel-like struc- 

 ture. Pod corn is of no economic importance, being grown 

 only as a curiosity, for which purpose it is sometimes sold 

 by seedsmen under the name of Egyptian corn. Rocky 

 Mountain corn, or primitive com. 



USES OF THE CORN PLANT 



The various uses of the corn plant may be classified into 

 three groups, viz., human food, animal food, and mis- 

 cellaneous. 



40. Use as food. — • Corn finds its chief uses as human 

 food in the form of green ear corn served as roasting ears 

 or cut from the cob, and as corn meal, served as corn meal 

 mush or com bread or cakes, and as pop com eaten from 

 the hand. Varieties of sweet corn are most commonly 

 used for roasting ears or for canning. Sometimes flint 

 and dent corn are used for this purpose, but they find their 

 greater usefulness as human food in the making of corn 

 meal. Flint corn is superior to any other type for this 

 purpose. The pop corns are used almost entirely as 

 human food. 



The use of corn as a stock food is too well kno\vn to 

 require much comment. The grain itself, either ground 

 or whole, is the most common form used for this purpose. 

 Other forms are ensilage, fodder, and stover, and it is also 



