Pop Cony 1537 
PLANTING 
The seed should be planted about May 25 to June 5, in the 
latitude of Central New York, or as soon as the ground has 
warmed up so that the seed will germinate and not rot. The 
planting should be done with a com planter or an ordinary grain 
drill, making the rows three and one-half feet apart and dropping 
the kernels about eight inches apart in the row. 
SUBSEQUENT CARE 
The field should be rolled at once after planting, and it should 
be gone over crosswise of the rows with a slant-tooth harrow or 
weeder every five or six days until the corn is six or eight inches 
high. This will tear out a little of the corn, but more has been 
sown than was needed so as to allow for this. It is a large num- 
ber of well developed ears rather than stalks that we are trying 
to obtain. The balance of the season the cultivation should be the 
same as for ordinary field corn. Pop corn ripens in one hundred 
to one hundred and thirty-five davs from planting, according to 
the variety, weather conditions and other factors. The maturity 
can be hastened to some extent by a liberal application of the phos- 
phatic fertilizer. On the other hand, it is retarded by the use of 
large quantities of stable manure, which gives an excess of nitro- 
gen late in the season. It is especially important that pop corn 
should ripen before frost comes, since, if injured for popping, 
it has little value for anything else. 
HARVESTING AND STORING 
Pop corn is harvested the same as other field corn and is usually 
husked by hand. The price paid for husking by the bushel is 
usually 50 per cent. higher than for field corn, as the ears are 
much smaller. When it is to be stored the cribs are usually lined 
inside with 14-inch mesh woven wire netting to protect the corn 
from rats, mice, squirrels and other vermin. The great difficulty 
in keeping pop corn from one season to another without having it 
destroyed by rats or mice, is the chief reason why the business has 
gradually come into the hands of a comparatively small number 
of growers who are especially equipped for handling it success- 
fully. 
