HISTORY OF CORN 



men ears, which received favorable notice by the Horti- 

 cultural Society's committee at the annual exhibition, 

 had from 14 to 18 rows. The ears were formed on the 

 stalks at 4 to 5 feet from the ground, " a circumstance 

 of some importance to those who, for neighborly regard, 

 unhappily keep fowls which they happily do not own." 



The same magazine in 1851 copied a note written 

 by Professor Mapes for " The Working Farmer," which 

 related the superior qualities of Stowell's Sweet Corn. 

 " This corn also is a hybrid between the Menomony soft 

 corn and the Northern Sugar corn, and was first grown 

 by Mr. Nathan Stowell of Burlington, New Jersey." 

 The unusual quality of keeping long in the fresh green 

 state is particularly noted. Seven years later the variety 

 appeared in a list as Stowell's Evergreen. Since then 

 this many-rowed sort has maintained its good qualities 

 and today is an important variety for both canner and 

 trucker. 



In 1851. Buist mentioned two varieties. In 1853, 

 Bement says of the Early Sweet Corn, the variety 

 introduced by Capt. Bagnoll of Plymouth, that, " one 

 kind has a white cob, the other a red cob, the ears are 

 short and usually contain 8 rows." From Sturtevant, 

 " In 1854, Schenck mentioned the Extra Early, the 

 Eight -rowed Sweet, and Stowell's Sugar, which had 

 been brought into notice within a few months. In 1858, 

 Kippart listed New England Sweet or Sugar, Mammoth 

 Sugar, Stowell's Evergreen, and says further that 

 Yellow, Blue, and Red Sugars are all mere sports from 

 the New England and are not desirable." 



The varieties in common use during the early sixties 

 were recorded by Burr in 1863. He mentioned Golden 

 Sweet or Golden Sugar with dry kernels yellow, and 

 Black Sweet or Slate Sweet with dry kernels black. 

 Red Cob Sweet, having a red cob but white kernel, was 

 described as having both an 8-rowed and a 12- to 

 14-rowed form. Of the white varieties, the Early Sugar 

 or small 8-rowed type had given way to Darling's 

 Early, which however was of independent origin. A 

 12-rowed Sweet appeared for the first time; and Burr's 

 Improved, which was described as " an improved variety 

 of the Twelve-Rowed Sweet," was also listed. This is 

 the first mention of a variety which evidently was a 

 straight selection from an established sort. Burr listed 

 further Stowell's Evergreen, Old Colony, and Adams 

 Early White, a dent form which has continued in use 

 and which, although not a true sweet, has proved 

 acceptable in quality to those to whom the peculiar, 

 sugary character of the latter may be objectionable. 



To recapitulate, the 8- to 10-rowed types with the 

 kernels white, black, white with red cob, and brownish 

 red with red cob, together with the 10- to 16-rowed sort 

 with the kernels yellow and cream or very light yellow, 

 have come from the Indians. Twelve-Rowed Sweet, 

 Mammoth Sugar, Darling's Early, Early Adams, Old 

 Colony, Stowell's Evergreen, and Golden Sweet were 

 named varieties added by agriculturists in the period 

 up to the Civil War. From this time on the acquisi- 

 tion of new varieties became greatly accelerated and 

 the rise and fall of individual lines more difficult to follow. 



Sturtevant, in 1884, listed 24 additional varieties 

 as follows: Amber Cream, Asylum, Black Sugar, Clark's 

 Old Colony, Crosby's Early, Dolly Dutton, Egyptian, 

 Genesee, Hickox, Landreth, Marblehead, Marblehead 

 Mammoth, Minnesota, Moore's Early, Narragansett, 

 Ne Plus Ultra, Orange, Potter's Excelsior, Pratt's Early, 

 Red River, Squantum, Tom Thumb, Triumph, and 

 Wyoming. These were described with brief historical 

 notes. From other lists of this period 20 names of 

 lesser known sorts have been found. In these lists 

 several new types appeared. Notable among these was 

 the introduction of the red-cobbed, red-kerneled type 

 represented by Narragansett, Red River, and Marble- 

 head. This red type was crossed with Moore's Early 

 to produce Orange. Crosby appeared from an unknown 

 source and represented a markedly different type of 

 ear. A selection made from the cross of Crosby and 

 Burr's Improved resulted in Moore's Early which was 

 very popular for many years. Other types appearing 

 in this period are represented by Triumph, a long slender 

 8- to 10-rowed ear; Hickox, a large-eared variety that 

 served the canning trade until very recently; and Ne 

 Plus Ultra, the forerunner of Country Gentleman, 

 unique because of the irregular distribution of kernels. 



The next two decades saw the introduction of many 

 more varieties, including Cory, which was possibly a 

 selection from Marblehead; Henderson, similar to 

 Hickox; Pee and Kay; and Stabler's Early and Shakers' 

 Early. The name Country Gentleman was given to 

 a further improved strain of the original Ne Plus Ultra 

 or Shoe Peg. This variety, late and of high quality, 

 would seem to be permanently established as an all- 

 time favorite. Aristocrat, Champion, Howling Mob, 

 Kendel's Giant. Peep O'Day, and several varieties of 

 the Evergreen group were important in certain localities. 

 Gold Coin from Livingston represented a new yellow 

 type with 16 to 24 rows. Golden Bantam, probably a 

 selection from the Golden Nugget of Gregory, was 

 destined to become the most popular variety. All 

 the superior factors of name, earliness, color, flavor 

 were involved in increasing its popularity. 



Ten years after the introduction of Golden Bantam 

 the prejudice against yellow or horse corn, as this type 

 was called, began to lessen and from then on the rise 

 of the yellow and the decline of the white varieties is 

 easily traced. Since 1910 there have been few white 

 varieties that have been accepted and widely grown. 

 This has been due not to any defects of the white varieties 

 but rather to the partiality with which the public has 

 viewed yellow sorts. In proportion to consumer demand 

 the growers have gradually increased their plantings 

 of the yellow varieties and decreased those of the whites. 



White varieties which have had a period of con- 

 siderable popularity are Country Gentleman, Howling 

 Mob, Long Island Beauty, Mayflower, Mimms' Hybrid, 

 Premier, Pocohontas, Stowell's Evergreen, and Whipple's 

 Early White. During the last 15 years a number of 

 varieties have been introduced that have met with a 

 considerable sectional popularity but are too new to 

 have stood the test of time. Among these are Alpha, 



