22 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



Buckbee Co. of Rockford, Illinois. It is now 40 years 

 old but the house of Buckbee continues to find it a 

 leader among its customers. 



Ninety-six days were required for ears to reach 

 edible maturity at Geneva. This was 9 days later 

 than Early Sweet and Crosby and 2 days earlier than 

 Stowell's Evergreen. The plants are slightly shorter 

 than those of Early Sweet and have a consistently 

 greater tendency to tiller. The tassels are very much 

 alike, both having much longer, more slender and 

 feathery laterals than any other variety. The ears 

 are similar to each other, but much longer and less 

 tapering than Alpha. 



Plant medium tall, 5J^-6J^ feet; stalks moderately heavy 

 and straight; nodes 9-10, covered, not prominent. Brace roots 

 absent. Tillers many, slightly shorter than central stalk. Leaves 

 medium long and medium broad, 30-32 x S 1 ;.^ inches; sheath 

 longer than internode. Tassel medium long, slender and rather 

 feathery, 15-18 inches; terminal spike erect to slightly drooping; 

 lateral spikelets decidedly drooping, many, long, crowded and 

 multi-branched; bracts and anthers variable in color; 70-72 days 

 to anthesis. 



Ears borne at 4th and 5th nodes, one and occasionally two 

 ears per stalk, one usually a nubbin. Shank long and slender, 

 4-6 inches, often longer. Husk leaves many, long and heavy. 

 Husks medium in number, moderately long, rather loosely wrapped 

 and easily removed. Husked ear moderately long and slender, 

 8-9 x l'j-l-\ inches, slightly tapering; base expanded and open; 

 tip conical, slightly exposed and occasionally capped; rows 8, 

 distinctly paired, moderately straight, slightly irregular at the base, 

 not crowded around the cob; furrows deep and medium wide. 



Kernels at milk stage white, medium size, broad and shallow; 

 at dry stage, amber white, moderately small, wider than long and 

 thin, .9 x 1.12 x .37 cm. (116 seeds per oz.); short oval in shape; 

 crown rounded; surface very shallowly and sparsely wrinkled, often 

 nearly smooth; set tightly on cob. 



Big Four. Ref. 374. Syn. Wilkes Big Four. 



Big Four sweet corn was sold on the local market in 

 Los Angeles by Sam Wilkes for several years prior to 

 its introduction in 1914 by the Morris & Snow Seed 

 Co. of that city. According to catalog descriptions it 

 was a vigorous grower 4 to 7 days later than Oregon 

 Evergreen, ears larger than those of that variety and 

 with tightly fitting husks. The last listing of the 

 variety was found in 1927. 



Black Mexican. Refs. 14, 17, 22, 61, 73, 74, 87, 89, 



90, 91, 93, 94, 121, 214, 217, 238, 240, 241, 309, 



328, 329, 335, 350, 367, 368, 388, 392, 397, 403, 



407, 408, 411, 412, 414, 422, 423, 429, 435, 442, 



487, 503, 507, 508, 511, 512, 513, 525, 533, 535, 



536, 537, 538, 544. Syns. Black Mexican Sweet, 



Black Sugar, Black Sweet, Black Sweet Corn, 



Early Mexican Sweet, Extra Early Black Mexican, 



Improved Black Mexican, Mexican, Mexican 



Black Sugar, Mexican Sweet. Illus. 24, 25. 



It has been said that " no farm in America fulfills its 



mission without a field of corn and no Yankee could feel at 



home without an ear of sweet corn if he had ever lived in 



the country." Likewise the epicurean of vegetable morsels 



may not rest in his search for the acme of all sweet corn 



until he has eaten Black Mexican fresh from the field. The 



Hon. J. J. H. Gregory said of this variety in 1875, " it is 



the sweetest and tenderest for table use of all varieties I 

 am acquainted with." It is true that the ear is black at 

 full maturity and while it may not look so well upon the 

 table as the white or yellow kinds, after tasting it one 

 forgets all prejudices against color and takes another 

 ear. 



The name Black Mexican implies that it came from 

 Mexico; it is not mentioned by Salisbury in 1848, by 

 Bement in 1853, or by Klippart in 1858. Under the 

 name Black Sweet it was described by Burr in 1863. 

 James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, Massachusetts, 

 listed this in 1863 in his retail catalog of garden vegetables 

 under the name Mexican Sweet. A special circular 

 describing the new introduction was sent out but we 

 have been unable to locate a copy. The several lists 

 of Indian corns have been inspected but no mention of 

 a black sweet corn has been observed. There are, 

 however, numerous varieties of flour and dent corns 

 which are listed as blue, black or purple. A statement 

 from the " Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other Plants " 

 by Parker says, " . . the Indians had just left 



their kettles on the fire boiling fine corn and beans 

 which we got, but what was most remarkable — the 

 corn was all purple . . ." 



Sturtevant in describing 33 varieties of sweet corn 

 in 1884 listed both Black Mexican and Black Sugar, 

 saying " there is no distinction in the catalogs of seeds- 

 men, they are usually grown together, the seeds from 

 the same source yielding both varieties, which can be 

 readily separated." Throughout the period when sweet 

 corns have increased from a mere handful to a thousand 

 and more names there have been but few black varieties 

 noted, the variety under discussion, Pickaninny and 

 Peters Black, a black variety grown in Nova Scotia. 

 George F. Will, who has studied the Indian types so 

 thoroughly, in a letter to the authors, says, " As regards 

 Black Sweet corn, I have found that this is very readily 

 produced when either natural or intentional crosses occur 

 between the black or very dark blue flint or flour corn 

 varieties and any of the sweet corn varieties." There 

 was and probably is a black variety of sweet corn some- 

 where in the Indian settlements of the southwest, which 

 was the progenitor of Black Mexican. 



Edible ears were produced at Geneva in 86 days, 

 18-20 days later than Pickaninny, the only other black 

 sweet corn variety of importance, in season with Crosby 

 and 2 days earlier than White Cory. The plants are 

 decidedly taller and much lighter green in color than 

 those of Pickaninny, whereas the tassels and anthers 

 are similar in color. The pale green foliage and cor- 

 respondingly light green tassels serve to distinguish it 

 from most varieties on the basis of plants. The ears 

 are one-third to one-half again as long as those of 

 Pickaninny and are somewhat more tapering. The 

 kernels are also longer and broader. 



Black Mexican has long had the reputation of 



being the sweetest and most tender variety that could be 



grown. If it were not for the sudden change in color 



of the young kernels to various shades of purple and 



| bluish black, this sort would undoubtedly be used much 



