326 



THE BOOK OF CORN 



be killed by a late frost, but little is lost thereby in the 

 family garden. The main crop should not be planted 

 until all danger of frost is over, which will vary in 

 different latitudes.' 



For the family garden, several varieties should 

 be planted, beginning with the extra early and choosing 

 a selection which will mature one after the other, and 

 in this way keep the table supplied from late July 

 until well into October. After the main planting addi- 

 tional plantings should be made at intervals of two or 

 three weeks up to the first of July. If the first sharp 

 frost in the fall catches a patch of sweet corn with the 

 ears in roasting condition, all change seems to be ar- 

 rested. Although the leaves turn white and are of 

 little use for cattle feed, the ears seem to undergo little 

 change and will remain in good eating condition 

 for two or three weeks and can be picked from day to 

 day as wanted, but for canning they are practically 

 useless. 



CULTIVATION AND HARVEST 



The cultivation should be frequent and thorough. 

 A few days after corn is planted, run over the ground 

 with a weeder and follow this up at intervals of four 

 days to a week until the corn is six to eight inches high. 

 The use of the weeder when com is of a fair hight will 

 tend to prevent too rank growth of stalk and to induce 

 greater fruitfulness and the production of larger, better 

 ears. After the weeder, use the cultivator, letting it 

 run at a fair depth to induce as deep rooting as possi- 

 ble. A plow should never be used which will cut off 

 the roots nor should the last cultivations be deep 

 enough to injure them. 



Sweet corn is commonly harvested when the ears 

 have reached what is known as the roasting stage. A 

 good way to determine whether garden corn is in the 



