56 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



Old Colony. Refs. 22, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 121, 126, 137, 

 171, 214, 238, 241, 274, 313, 341, 342, 343, 344, 

 350, 397, 404, 411, 417, 418, 433, 507, 508, 510, 

 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 517, 532, 533, 535, 536. 

 Syns. Early Old Colony, " Landreth Sugar," Old 

 Colony Sugar, Sonyea Intermediate. 

 So far as the published records of sweet corns 

 are concerned, Old Colony is indeed one of the earliest 

 known varieties. Its history was carefully noted and 

 most graciously publicized by a communication from 

 the originator, the Rev. A. R. Pope, Somerville, Massa- 

 chusetts, in the Magazine of Horticulture of December 

 1850. After nearly a century since its introduction 

 there can be no improvements nor corrections on the 

 story of the early struggles of the variety to gain stability 

 and fame. The following is quoted directly from the 

 original of 1850: 



" It is a hybrid, as one can readily perceive by 

 inspection, from the Southern White, and the common 

 sweet corn of New England; and exhibits certain char- 

 acteristics of the two varieties combining the size of 

 the ear and kernel, and productiveness of the southern, 

 with the sweetness and tenderness of the northern 

 parent ; ■ — a southern head, rara avis, with northern 

 principles. Indeed, nature seems to have rewarded the 

 effort to improve her productions, by giving more than 

 an even share of the desirable qualities for table use. 

 " The process by which it was attained will date 

 as far back as 1845, when a single kernel, which escaped 

 the denizens of the barnyard, was carried with the 

 compost to my garden in Kingston, (Old Colony) and 

 springing up was permitted, for the novelty to develop 

 its nature in a huge stalk, bearing upon it, more or 

 less matured, five ears of corn, one of the ears having 

 18 rows. The productiveness, combined with the 

 extraordinary size of the ear and kernel, suggested the 

 plan of seeding the cob, when better acclimated, with 

 sweet corn. 



" In 1846 and again in 1847, a few hills were planted 

 and in the later year at the proper time, before the 

 anthers had burst, the stamens or spindles were care- 

 fully removed. As soon as the pistils or silk seemed in 

 a mature state, the opening stamens of sweet corn stalks 

 were carefully brought and the pollen from them gently 

 shaken upon the pistils. At the time of harvesting 

 more than one-half of the kernels bore all the ordinary 

 outward appearances of sweet corn and had the sweet- 

 ness peculiar to that variety." 



Here is the definite story of crossing sweet corn upon 

 field corn. Selection of the sweet corn kernels was 

 followed by planting and careful observation of the 

 resulting plants which proved to be quite variable in 

 height and vigor. Seed was saved from the few plants 

 that seemed to take the middle course between the 

 dwarfs and the giants. In 1849 a new sweet corn was 

 completed and with what satisfaction, having practically 

 no competition all the superlative adjectives could be 

 used in a description of the variety. The editor of 

 Horticulture commented on this wonderful new 

 culinary vegetable with the following sentence: " Yet we 



see what good results have been obtained, simply by a 

 little forethought, combined with a knowledge of the 

 great effects of hybridization." 



Old Colony was truly one of the favorite varieties 

 for the next 50 years, its long keeping quality, its gourd- 

 seed shaped kernels, its sweetness, were only minor 

 details in the general assembly of qualities that caused 

 one writer to say " Old Colony of all varieties is my 

 favorite for that ambrosial mixture called succotash." 



In catalog descriptions it was often reported that 

 the variety was lost and found several times. This 

 might possibly account for the separate listing by 

 Sturtevant, who, in 1884, describes Clark's Old Colony 

 as separate from the Old Colony given by Burr in 1863. 

 Be that as it may, the name Old Colony represented a 

 leading type for many years and has only faded away 

 with the general decline of the white varieties. 



At Geneva Old Colony produced edible ears in 

 90 days, 8 days earlier than Stowell's Evergreen, in 

 season with Columbus Market, and 2 days later than 

 Howling Mob. The plants were 1 to 1 l •> feet shorter 

 than those of Stowell's Evergreen, but otherwise were 

 very similar. The husked ears were 1 to 2 inches 

 shorter but just as plump, while the kernels in the dry 

 stage were not as deep as those of Stowell's Evergreen 

 and lacked the converging crown. This sort was used 

 for many years as a leading canning variety, but within 

 the last 8 or 10 years has been replaced by others. Today 

 it is practically impossible to obtain the true stock of 

 Old Colony. 



Plant moderately tall, 6-6j^ feet; stalks heavy and straight; 

 tillers many, nearly as tall as central stalk. Tassel moderately 

 long, lateral spikelets medium in number, moderately erect, long, 

 rather scattered and multi-branched. Ears borne at 4th to 6th 

 nodes, often two ears per stalk, occasionally an additional nubbin 

 present. Husk leaves few, short and light; husks rather thin, 

 moderately tightly wrapped. Husked ear medium long and plump, 

 7-8 x 2 1 2 _ 2 :i 4 inches, partly cylindrical to slightly tapering; tip 

 abruptly conical to rounded; rows 12-14, regular and moderately 

 straight, crowded around the cob. 



Kernels at milk stage white, moderately broad, thick and deep; 

 at dry stage amber white, rather large, (127 seeds to the oz.), 

 longer than broad; triangular; crown slightly rounded; surface 

 rather heavily wrinkled; set loosely on cob. 



Oregon Evergreen. Refs. 4, 5, 203, 295. Syn. Early 

 Oregon Evergreen. Illus. 62. 



This member of the Evergreen family originated 

 in Los Angeles County, California, and was first offered 

 in 1904 by the Johnson and Musser Seed Company of 

 Los Angeles. It has steadily increased in popularity 

 and on the West Coast ranks in a comparative way with 

 the standing of its cousin, Stowell's Evergreen, in the 

 East. 



At Geneva this variety required 99 days to come 

 into production, 1 day later than Stowell's Evergreen, 

 in season with Long Island Beauty, and 4 days earlier 

 than Cincinnati Market. Oregon Evergreen produces 

 plants as tall as those of Stowell's Evergreen with tassels 

 of equal length, but with decidedly more numerous and 

 crowded lateral spikelets. The husked ears are slightly 

 longer and more slender with a more decided taper. 



