72 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



Plant moderately short, 4*2-5 feet; stalks slender and moder- 

 ately straight; nodes 7-8, covered, not prominent. Brace roots 

 and tillers usually absent. Leaves moderately short and narrow, 

 25-27 x 2JO-3 1 o inches; sheath longer than and occasionally equal to 

 internode. Tassel short and slender, 12-15 inches; terminal spike 

 erect; lateral spikelets nearly erect, few, short and scattered; bracts 

 and anthers variable in color; 48-50 days to anthesis. 



Ears borne at 2nd and 3rd nodes, one and occasionally two 

 ears per stalk. Shank medium in length, 3-4 inches, slender. 

 Husk leaves many, long and heavy; husks few, rather short and 

 wrapped moderately tight. Husked ear moderately short and 

 slender, 6-7 x l^-l'j inches, nearly cylindrical, slightly tapering; 

 base compressed and tip conical, occasionally capped; rows 8-10, 

 regular, straight, occasionally paired on 8-rowed specimens. 



Kernels at milk stage yellow, moderately small and distinctly 

 shallow; at dry stage bright, orange-yellow, moderately broad and 

 short, .86 x 1.05 x .37 cm. (135 seeds per oz.1; broad oval in shape; 

 crown rounded; surface abundantly but rather shallowly wrinkled; 

 set moderately tight on cob. 



Burbank. Refs. 68, 69, 112, 335, 348, 492, 562. Syn. 

 Burbank Bantam. 



Luther Burbank, for whom this variety was named, 

 at one time was a market gardener depending largely 

 on producing his crops earlier than his neighbors. Living 

 at Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and marketing most of 

 his produce at Fitchburg, he experimented with various 

 cultural practices and later with crossing in order to 

 obtain an earlier and larger eared sweet corn. The 

 crosses were made between 1870 and 1875, at which time 

 he says, " the varieties Black Mexican, common sweet 

 corn, and New England Yellow field corn were used." 

 Nothing of promise was noted. Later from a cross 

 between Early Minnesota and a yellow field corn some 

 yellow hybrids were produced which retained the 

 character of sweetness. Before these characters could 

 be thoroughly fixed Burbank moved to California 

 where the pressure of other work necessitated the cur- 

 tailment of his corn breeding experiments. 



It is quite probable that after the turn of the century 

 Burbank again experimented with sweet corn and that 

 the variety first distributed as a " New Bantam " 

 came from a series of crosses. The Burbank catalog of 

 1921 in announcing the variety as " Burbank " states 

 that there were 16 years of careful selection work before 

 its introduction or naming. The variety has not made 

 progress in the listings of popular varieties, and where 

 10 years ago it was commonly found, it is seldom offered 

 today. 



Edible ears were produced in 81 days, 2 to 3 days 

 later than Golden Bantam, but ordinarily it can be 

 considered in the same season. The variety is used to 

 some extent by canners and also by market gardeners 

 whose trade requires an ear with more rows than regular 

 Bantam and which will retain much of the quality. 

 The variety most resembles the 10- to 14-rowed Golden 

 Bantam, although the number of rows per ear will 

 average greater. The stalks are usually heavier, slightly 

 shorter, and less inclined to tiller. Ears are slightly 

 plumper, contain a greater number of rows, and are 

 more aburptly tapered at the tip. 



Plant moderately short, 4 1 _>-5 feet; stalks coarse, moderately 

 heavy and straight; nodes 8-10, covered, not prominent. Tillers 

 few, much shorter than central stalk. Leaves medium long and 



narrow, 28-30 x 2%-3 x ■! inches; sheath longer than and occasionally 

 equal to the internode. Tassel short and slender, 12-15 inches; 

 terminal spike erect; lateral spikelets nearly erect, medium length, 

 moderately many, and crowded; bracts green, moderately striped 

 with red; anthers light reddish brown (terra cotta); 62-64 days to 

 anthesis. 



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

 ears per stalk. Shank short, 2-3 inches, brittle. Husk leaves few 

 and short; husks moderately few, heavy and short. Husked ear 

 medium long and plump, 7-8 x 1?4~2 inches, moderately tapering 

 and partly cylindrical; base slightly enlarged and compressed; tip 

 abruptly conical; rows 12-16, moderately straight but often dis- 

 tinctly irregular at the base, crowded around the cob. 



Kernels at the milk stage light orange yellow, medium width 

 and depth; at dry stage dull yellow, medium size, slightly broader 

 than long, 1.0 x 1.1 x .35 cm. (104 seeds per oz.); roughly triangular 

 in shape; crown slightly rounded; surface moderately wrinkled, 

 often rather shallow; set slightly loose on cob. 



Burpee. Refs. 84, 298, 345, 346, 348, 475, 534. Syns. 

 Earliest Yellow, Golden Pacific, Tangerine. 



This is one variety that did not originate in or near 

 New England, the cradle of sweet corn varieties. In 

 fact, it was near the little town of Nooksack located 

 within a few miles of the very northeast corner of the 

 state of Washington that George G. Shelton began his 

 experiment that led in 1927 to the introduction of 

 Burpee. Mr. Shelton in 1917 planted some hills of 

 Metropolitan next to a dent corn called Bloody Butcher. 

 This is described in Ebeling's catalog as with stalks 

 medium in height, fairly heavy, ears with 14 rows, color 

 of kernel a deep cherry red with white cap. A further 

 note says " worms and birds do not bother Bloody 

 Butcher very much and for that reason it is much 

 sought after by the southern planter." At harvest 

 time some of the ears of the field variety were kept for 

 seed. On one ear there were 10 or 12 grains of sweet 

 corn. These were planted the following year next 

 to some Golden Bantam. Only two stalks grew and 

 one of these developed two ears of a chocolate color. 

 The next year in 1919, seed from the ears were planted 

 in two short rows adjacent to Golden Bantam and 

 again crossing occurred. The plants of the chocolate 

 corn tasseled early and were hardy and productive. 

 For 3 years the process of selecting and planting the 

 yellow kernels from the chocolate-colored ears was 

 repeated in an attempt to fix a yellow sweet corn. In 

 1924, the seed was moved south to Wapato in the 

 Yakima Valley, and after 2 years of selection, a com- 

 paratively pure strain became established. This Mr. 

 Shelton named Golden Pacific, but when in 1927 the 

 variety was introduced, the name was changed to 

 Burpee by the seed organization bearing that name. 



Edible maturity was reached at Geneva in 72 days, 

 6 days earlier than Golden Bantam and 10 to 12 days 

 later than Golden Gem and Spanish Gold. It is used 

 as an early productive sort of more than ordinary 

 quality. Although the ears are small, they are rather 

 delicately kerneled and attractive, rendering the variety 

 of value to the early trucker and home garden enthusiast. 

 The plants are about 1 foot shorter than Golden Bantam, 

 produce more tillers, and therefore present the appear- 

 ance of being more bushy. Kernels are more narrow 



