DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



25 



at dry stage dull, yellowish, semi-transparent, white, large, longer 

 than broad; 108 seeds per oz., nearly rectangular in shape; crown 

 nearly straight; surface abundantly and deeply wrinkled; set very 

 loosely on cob. 



California. Refs. 106, 120, 513, 514. Syn. California 

 Sweet. 

 For several years following its introduction in 

 1893. John Lewis Childs of Floral Park, New York, 

 offered this as a late variety with ear of enormous size. 

 One grower from Massachusetts wrote, " Its only fault 

 is its size; to eat it from the cob requires a mouth like 

 a crocodile." 



Catawba. Refs. 28, 39, 82, 531. Syn. Earliest Catawba. 

 Illus. 25. 



Earliest Catawba was originated by the Rev. 

 J. E. Tinker, Rock Stream, New York, at his home 

 overlooking Seneca Lake. For 15 years after cross- 

 ing a white variety with Black Mexican, Tinker care- 

 fully selected ears for extreme earliness and uni- 

 formity. In 1906 he sent a few ears to David Burpee 

 for testing at Fordhook farms. Burpee's gardeners 

 were so pleased with the distinct character and fine 

 quality of the sample that a visit was made to Mr. 

 Tinker's garden and arrangements made for the entire 

 seed crop. W. Atlee Burpee & Co. of Philadelphia 

 introduced Catawba in 1909 as " the first real rival yet 

 discovered to our famous Golden Bantam." 



Rock Stream, New York, is located in the grape 

 belt of the beautiful Finger Lakes region of central 

 New York. The color of the ear of Catawba when dry, 

 a dark purple shaded with red, is very much like the 

 color of the Catawba grape from which came its name. 

 The entire plant, stalk, tassels, blades or leaves, and the 

 other husks on the ear are shaded heavily with dark red. 

 This reddish coloring on the stalks and blades of the 

 sweet corn plant has been valued by old gardeners as a 

 sure indication of the finest flavor. 



Eighty -two days were required for this variety to 

 produce edible ears at Geneva. This was 3 days earlier 

 than Red Cory and 5 days later than Surprise. The 

 plants are about 1 foot taller than those of Honey Dew 

 and possess about the same amount of red coloration 

 along the margin and midribs of the foliage. The 

 ears are borne on shanks considerably longer than those 

 of Honey Dew while the husk ears are about the same 

 length but slightly plumper. The edible kernels remain 

 white for a very short time, soon turning various shades 

 of deep red to maroon. The color change characteristic 

 of Catawba has presented the same difficulty with refer- 

 ence to marketing the product as did Black Mexican. 

 On the whole it has not enjoyed the universal approval 

 based on quality that the black sweet corn has, and is 

 therefore usually considered for the home garden. 



Plant medium tall, 5-5 J^ feet; stalks moderately slender and 

 zigzag; nodes 9-10, slightly exposed and moderately prominent; 

 internodes solid red over the surface. Brace roots usually not 

 present. Tillers many, equal to central stalk in height. Leaves 

 medium long and medium broad, 28-30 x 3 J j-4 inches, colored at 

 the margin; midrib medium width, red, very prominent; pubescence 

 very dense almost fuzzy at union of sheath and blade; sheath equal 

 to and occasionally longer than internode, heavily streaked, almost 



solid dark red. Tassels moderately short and slender, 15-16 inches, 

 entire tassel deep red in color; terminal spike drooping; lateral 

 spikelets horizontal to slightly drooping, moderately many and 

 crowded; bracts dark green, heavily striped with a dark red, also a 

 narrow dark green ring at the base; anthers uniformly yellow (pinard 

 yellow) ; 63-64 days to anthesis. 



Ears borne at 3rd and 4th nodes, one and occasionally two 

 ears per stalk, one usually a nubbin. Shank moderately long, 4-5 

 inches, slender and brittle. Husks medium number, thin, very long, 

 rather tightly wrapped, exposed portions red, inner ones dark green. 

 Silk scanty, moderately long and uniformly pale amber green in 

 color. Husked ear moderately short and moderately slender, 

 6-7 x l'o-l ; ^ inches, partly cylindrical and slightly tapering; 

 base slightly enlarged and expanded; tip broadly conical to rounded, 

 slightly exposed to capped; rows 8, occasionally paired, moderately 

 straight, often irregular at the base; furrows deep and moderately 

 narrow. 



Kernels at early milk stage silvery white but soon having 

 various shades of red, moderately wide, and medium shallow; at 

 dry stage dark reddish purple (dark vivid purple), also some nearly 

 black, small, shorter than wide, .93 x 1.1 x .41 cm. (100 seeds per oz.); 

 short, broad oval in shape; crown rounded, almost semi -circular; 

 surface finely and abundantly wrinkled; set tightly on cob. 



Champion. Refs. 22, 97, 121, 221, 238, 240, 241, 350, 

 403, 405, 456, 513, 514, 515, 517, 518, 533. Syns. 

 Champion Early, Champion Sugar, Improved 

 Early Champion, New Champion, New Early 

 Champion. 

 In a letter from Henderson, the origin of Champion 

 is credited to Everett B. Clark of Milford, Connecticut. 

 It was introduced by Vaughan's Seed Store, Chicago, 

 in 1894 and was soon listed by most of the leading seed 

 houses of that period. Vaughan continued to list it until 

 1931 but its period of greatest popularity was during the 

 first 10 years of its existence. Favorable reports of its 

 performance were received from all parts of the country 

 and these encomiums and trial ground records led Hender- 

 son to install the variety as a leader among the medium 

 early corns. As originally introduced, it seems to have 

 been a 12 -rowed variety, but Rice in 1918 describes 

 Champion as 2 weeks later than Mammoth Cory; ears 

 large, 14 to 16 rowed, with broad grains of fair quality. 



Chase, The. Ref. 165. 



A small eared variety similar to Cory in earliness, 

 but with foliage heavily shaded with dark red. It was 

 first offered by R. & J. Farquhar & Co. of Boston in 

 1913, and discontinued in 1918. 



Chicago Market. Refs. 22. 89, 91, 121, 126, 137, 238, 

 274, 367, 368, 397, 412, 487, 508, 514, 533, 535, 

 536, 538. Syns. Ballard, Ballard's Early, Bal- 

 lard's Extra Early, Ballard Red Cob, Chicago 

 Early Market. 

 This is one of the older varieties, introduced about 

 1890 and having a run of popular notice until 1910. It 

 was listed by Vaughan in 1889 and by Burpee in 1892. 

 Neither the originator nor the introducer are known but 

 according to a brief write-up in the catalog for 1892 of 

 the Mohawk Valley Seed Co., Canajoharie, New York, 

 it was a cross between Early Pratt and Moore's Concord. 

 This would account for the occasional appearance of a 

 pink cob. The variety was sometimes listed as Ballards 

 Early and the name Ballard Red Cob occurs in the 1894 

 catalog of the Perry Seed Store, Syracuse, New York. 



