86 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



2 3 4 -3 ) ■_> inches: midrib quite broad, deeply furrowed and prominent ; 

 sheath distinctly longer than internode. Tassel long and slender, 

 18-20 inches, not colored at the base; terminal spike erect; lateral 

 spikelets nearly erect to slightly drooping, many, moderately long, 

 rather crowded and usually simple; bracts pale green striped with 

 dark green and occasionally ringed with red at the base; anthers 

 uniformly yellow pinard yellow : 85-90 days to anthesis. 



Ears borne at 7th and 8th nodes, usually one ear per stalk 

 with one or two nubbins usually present. Shank short, 2-3 inches, 

 slender but moderately tough. Husk leaves occasionally few present, 

 very short and light. Silk abundant, medium long and red in 

 color, fairly easy to remove. Husked ear moderately long and 

 moderately slender, 8-9 x 1 1 .>1 3 4 inches, nearly cylindrical with 

 slight taper near tip; base rounded and somewhat tapering; rows 

 16-18, regular, straight, distinctly crowded around cob. 



Kernels at milk stage pale yellow, small, medium depth but 

 narrow and thick; at dry stage almost lemon yellow, narrow, short 

 and thick, .82 x .74 x .38 cm. (225 seeds per oz. ) ; distinctly triangular; 

 crown slightly rounded; surface crease-dented, usually quite smooth 

 except for an abundance of very minute wrinkling of the seed coat; 

 set rather firmly, but not crowded. 



Red Cob Golden Bantam. Refs. 56, 112. Syn. 

 Briggs' Red Cob Bantam. 

 The variety of sweet corn first recorded and culti- 

 vated by the early New England farmers had one very 

 undesirable quality: that of possessing a red cob which 

 might have stained the table linens. With this in the 

 ancestral background we can understand, how, in 1914, 

 a Mr. Briggs of Newton, Massachusetts, could find an 

 ear of Golden Bantam with a red cob and then could not 

 resist the urge to save it and attempt to develop some- 

 thing new. Joseph Breck & Sons, first listed it in 1917 

 as a rather early variety of extreme sweetness and 

 tenderness. Grey, Childs, and Stumpp & Walter 

 offered it in 1919. The edible ears were very similar 

 to ears of Golden Bantam, but in the dry stage could 

 be differentiated by the presence of a red cob and 

 kernels with a crimson hue. 



Spanish Gold. Refs. 115, 118, 119, 540. 



The variety resulted from a program of crossing 

 sweet corn started in 1924 at the Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station at New Haven. One 

 parent, characterized by a dark green sturdy plant 

 bearing short well-filled ears with 12 to 16 rows of 

 bright corneous kernels, came from the Pyrenees 

 Mountains of Spain. That ancestor, a flint, grew near 

 the sky on sunny slopes where spring comes late and 

 winter comes close to summer. It was called " Cin- 

 quantino " after the Spanish word for 50th on which 

 day it was reputed to ripen. 



This variety, in all probability, is the same as that 

 reported in the United States Department of Agriculture 

 Annual Report for 1854, as follows: 



"Forty Day Maize (Mais Quarantain), a dwarf 

 variety from the south of Spain, reputed once to have 

 ripened high up in the Alps in forty days after planting. 

 The object in introducing this grain in the United States 

 was on account of its quick growth, early maturity and 

 sweet flavor in the green state, as well as the delicacy 

 of the bread made from its meal. Besides, it appears 

 to be well adapted to the high latitudes and elevated 

 valleys in many parts of the country, where most of 

 the other varieties of corn will not thrive, and with a 

 chance of a successful result in crossing it with the 



larger sorts, to which it might impart in a degree, its 

 quality of early ripening if not its taste." 



To obtain that earliness and vigor, the amber 

 Spanish corn Cinquantino was crossed with Crosby. 

 Golden Bantam, Whipple's Yellow, Golden Giant, and 

 Black Mexican. The seed of the hybrids having all 

 yellow, sugary kernels were mixed and grown in one 

 field in 1928 and allowed to interpollinate naturally. 

 The process of selecting the earliest plants producing one 

 good sized ear was continued for 3 years. " The Latin- 

 Yankee union proved, like so many exotic mixtures, to 

 foster a genius. The progeny matured remarkably 

 early and was good to look upon and delicious to eat." 

 The name Spanish Gold was chosen previous to its 

 introduction in 1932 by F. H. Woodruff & Sons. 



Edible ears were obtained at Geneva in 62 days. 

 10 days earlier than Golden Sunshine and 1 day later 

 than Golden Gem. Plants of this variety were quite 

 individual, possessing stalks much more zigzag and 

 nodes more prominent than those of any other sort. 

 Considerably more red was present on the sheath and 

 margins of the leaves as well as on the exposed portions 

 of the internode. The husked ear is more plump, 

 contains more rows, but is about equal in length to 

 Golden Gem. The variety is of too recent origin to 

 have established a definite utility among the various 

 groups of growers. Its extreme earliness and increased 

 size of ear in comparison to other varieties in its class, 

 however, qualifies it for a thorough test. 



Plant medium tall, 5-5 ' 2 feet, stalks slender and distinctly 

 zigzag: nodes 7-8, exposed, prominent, internodes shaded with red 

 over exposed portions. Brace roots present and complete on one 

 node, very slender. Tillers few to none, often terminate with a 

 small ear. Leaves medium short and narrow, 24-26 x 2 3 4 -3 inches, 

 colored at the margin; sheath much shorter than internode. Tassel 

 moderately long and slender, 18-20 inches, terminal spike erect; 

 lateral spikelets moderately erect to horizontal, few present, moder- 

 ately short and scattered; bracts green, distinctly striped with dark 

 red, also ringed at the base with the same color; anthers mixed; 

 48-50 days to anthesis. 



Ears borne at 3rd and 4th nodes, one ear per stalk with an 

 additional nubbin usually present. Husks few, quite heavy, 

 moderately long and tightly wrapped. Husked ear moderately 

 short and moderately plump, 6—7 x 1 3 4 -l " % inches, slightly tapering; 

 tip abruptly conical; rows 12, regular, straight, crowded around the 

 cob. 



Kernels at milk stage light yellow, small, thick, and fairly deep; 

 at dry stage bright yellow, short and narrow, .93 x .90 x .42 cm. 

 1 136 seeds per oz. ; usually triangular; crown slightly rounded; 

 surface rather finely and abundantly wrinkled; set moderately 

 tight on cob. 



Sunnybrook. Refs. 83, 348. 



The twin sister variety to Burpee's Delicious ( white) 

 came from the garden of Herbert Hoffman of Merchant - 

 ville, New Jersey. In the fall of 1916, while stripping 

 off some seed ears in a patch of Golden Bantam, Dr. 

 Hoffman found an ear which showed all the character- 

 istics of that variety but which had a few white kernels 

 on it. The white kernels were separated from the 

 yellow and planted separately the next year. Both 

 came perfectly true and, while the ears grew consider- 

 ably larger than those of Bantam, the twin sports had 

 the same meaty, luscious sweet flavor of the parent. 



