28 THE BOOK OF CORN 



there are many kinds with such distinguishing charac- 

 teristics as to entitle them to a place among the 

 varieties. A few comparatively new varieties, such as 

 Longfellow and Angel of Midnight, have been intro- 

 duced and have gained some general standing, but the 

 most popular kinds have only a local reputation and 

 are rarely known outside of a few townships. 



In many cases in New England, New York, and 

 perhaps Pennsylvania, well-fixed types have been 

 established by growing one kind of corn for a long 

 period of years on the same farm without any change 

 of seed. These varieties are frequently designated by 

 the name of the family by whom they have been grown, 

 as "Doolittle" corn and "Warren" field corn. Not 

 infrequently some particular kind of corn has been 

 grown on the same farm for several generations of a 

 family, without new seed being introduced. At least 

 two instances are known in Connecticut where one kind 

 of corn has been grown on a certain farm by the same 

 family for over one hundred years. By growing any 

 plant for a long period of years under uniform condi- 

 tions of soil and culture, and by the exercise of con- 

 siderable care in selecting the seed, well-fixed types will 

 be developed. 



The season is so short in New England that 

 mostly flint varieties are grown. In preparing statis- 

 tics for a large number of Connecticut varieties of corn 

 for the world's fair of 1893, it was found that the 

 growing season of flint varieties ranged from ninety- 

 six to one hundred and twenty-five days, while for a 

 smaller number of dent varieties it ranged from one 

 hundred and fifteen to one hundred and sixty-seven 

 days, the greater number requiring a season of over one 

 hundred and thirty days. The average growing season 

 in Connecticut without damaging frosts is about one 

 hundred and forty-five days, yet there have been 



