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and the same general principles seem to underlie 

 the process in either case and the results are 

 equally satisfactory when intelligently employed. 



The breeding of popcorn for seed purposes can 

 best be done by growing the seed corn in a part of 

 a field by itself that can be given a little extra 

 fertilizing and care. The seed with which it is 

 planted should be from typical ears that are as 

 uniform in size, shape and color as possible, since 

 they are to be the foundation stock from which the 

 future strain of seed corn is to be developed. 



After planting the breeding plot, the only extra 

 work necessary is to go through the plot just 

 before the tassels begin to shed their pollen and 

 remove the tassels and ears from those stalks which 

 are barren or otherwise inferior. Then, when the 

 corn is ripe, by careful selection of seed ears from 

 the best of those remaining and with proper hand- 

 ling and storing the results are sure to follow. 



Place in the rotation. — When grown in a regular 

 rotation of crops, popcorn usually takes the place 

 of the ordinary field corn and for much the same 

 reasons, although frequently it is grown in place 

 of one of the "money" crops, such as potatoes. 

 This is often the case when the soil is too heavy 

 for potatoes. The rotation then has to be arranged 

 so that the popcorn and field corn are not grown 

 in adjoining fields, as the pollen is carried by the 

 wind and they become mixed very easily, which 

 affects the quality and appearance of the popcorn. 



Planting. — For the main crop the seed should 

 be planted about May 25 to June 5 in the latitude 

 of central New York, or as soon as danger of frost 

 has passed and the ground has warmed up so that 

 the seed will germinate and not rot. The seed-bed 

 should be thoroughly harrowed and pulverized. The 

 planting should be done with a corn-planter or an 

 ordinary grain drill, making the rows three and 

 one-half feet apart and dropping the kernels every 

 six to eight inches in the row. 



Subsequent care. — The field should be rolled im- 

 mediately after planting ; and it should be gone 

 over cross-wise of the rows with a light 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 than was needed has 

 been sown to allow for this. It is a large number 

 of well-developed ears rather than stalks that we 

 are trying to obtain. This work with the harrow 

 or weeder will save the expensive hand labor with 

 a hoe. The horse cultivator should now be used 

 at least every ten days, and oftener if necessary to 

 break up a crusted surface after a rain. This 

 should be kept up as long as practicable ; it should 

 be shallow, not over two inches deep, unless after 

 long-continued rains, when it is sometimes advis- 

 able to cultivate deep to get air into the compact 

 soil quickly. 



Popcorn ripens in one hundred to one hundred 

 and thirty-five days from planting, according to 

 the variety, weather conditions, climate and other 

 factors. The maturity can be hastened to some ex- 

 tent by using an abundance of phosphatic fertil- 

 izer ; on the other hand, it is retarded by the use 

 of large quantities of stable manure, which gives 



an excess of nitrogen late in the season. It is es- 

 pecially important that popcorn should ripen before 

 frost comes, since if it is injured for popping it has 

 little value for anything else. Nevertheless, the 

 custom is general among growers in the eastern 

 states to allow it to stand after ripening until the 

 first frost comes before cutting it, as it is thought 

 that the frost hardens it and improves its popping 

 qualities. 



Harvesting and storing. — It is harvested either 

 with one of the improved corn harvesters or else 

 by hand with . the old-fashioned corn knife ; in 

 either case it is stood up in loose shocks in the field 

 and tied with stalks or twine and left to dry and 

 cure before husking. It is husked by hand. Where 

 four cents per bushel of ears is paid for husking 

 field corn, six cents per bushel of ears is usually 

 paid for husking popcorn, as the ears are so much 

 smaller. 



After husking, if the corn is to be stored it is 

 immediately placed in wellrventilated cribs in 

 which it is protected from squirrels, rats, mice and 

 other vermin. This is usually accomplished by 

 lining the inside of an ordinary corn-crib with 

 woven v/ire netting (one-fourth inch mesh) and hav- 

 ing the crib built up on posts, each one of which 

 has an inverted milk pan or some similar contrivance 

 on top to keep the mice from climbing the posts 

 and gnawing holes through the floor of the crib. 



The great diiBculty in keeping popcorn 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 small num-. 

 ber of growers, who are especially equipped for 

 handling it successfully. Again, after a grower 

 has supplied a certain trade for a few years with 

 popcorn that will pop, the dealers come to have 

 confidence in his corn and will hesitate to buy of a 

 new man, which, of course, tends to discourage the 

 new man. In some, sections it is a common prac- 

 tice to hasten the curing of popcorn by kiln-drying 

 in order to take advantage of the Christmas market 

 the same season that it is harvested. 



Yield. 



A bushel of ears of popcorn when husked weighs 

 38 pounds, but when cured one season the standard 

 weight is 35 pounds. There are 7 pounds of cobs 

 in each bushel of ears, so that two bushels of ears 

 (70 pounds) make one bushel of shelled corn (56 

 pounds) after shelling and removing the 14 pounds 

 of cobs. Sixty bushels of ears per acre is consid- 

 ered a good yield, although several growers have 

 bred up their seed until with liberal feeding and 

 careful cultivation they are able to get between 

 eighty and ninety bushels per acre. 



Enemies. 



Diseases. — The only serious disease that affects 

 popcorn is the corn smut, which is caused by a 

 fungus known as UstHago Zeoe. The smut itself con- 

 sists of the brown spores of the fungus. It injures 

 the crop in two ways : First, by destroying the 

 ears, causing practically a total loss ; second, by 

 absorbing the nutrient juices of the plant and thus 



