1536 The Vegetable Industry in Xew York State 



that they are not needed to grow any specific crop, but rather to 

 overcome deficiencies of available plant food in that particular 

 type of soil. All of these types of soil are usually lacking in avail- 

 able nitrogen unless well supplied with humus, and it should be 

 supplied in large applications of organic matter, either in stable 

 manure or by the use of cover crops ; and even then there is apt to 

 be a deficiency of available nitrogen early in the season, which 

 should be supplied by a broadcast top-dressing of nitrate of soda 

 at the rate of one hundred to two hundred pounds per acre. The 

 application is made when the corn is two or three inches high. 

 For best results the mineral elements, phosphorus and potassium, 

 should also be applied at the rate of four hundred pounds of 

 acid phosphate (14 per cent, available) and one hundred pounds 

 of potash (50 per cent, actual) per acre; these to be mixed 

 together and drilled into the soil broadcast with the fertilizer drill 

 three or four inches deep, before planting. 



SEED 



The careful selection of seed corn from the field is one of the 

 important factors of success in growing pop corn, and it is a good 

 practice to grow the seed for the next year's planting in a plot by 

 itself, where the tassels may be removed from all poorly developed 

 and barren stalks before they have shed their pollen. In this way 

 we can do much toward breeding up our seed corn to the special 

 type best suited to our needs, in the same way that we breed our 

 animals for special purposes. 



PLACE IX ROTATION 



When grown in a regular rotation of crops, pop corn usually 

 takes the place of ordinary field corn and for much the same 

 reasons. Sometimes 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 pop corn 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 pop corn. 



