Sweet Corn 



425 



sweet corn seed is particularly liable to rot in cold and 

 damp ground, it is well to make the first planting rather 

 heavy. It is never transplanted. The early plantings 

 are usually made of the . extra -early 

 varieties, as the Early Minnesota, Early 

 Vermont and others. The main crop is 

 usually secured from the later or main- 

 season varieties, of which the Stow^ell 

 Evergreen is the standard. Succes- 

 sional plantings maj' be made at inter- 

 vals of one to two weeks, particularly 

 for the home garden or for a contin- 

 uous supply for the market -garden. In 

 market - gardening, the value of the 

 green -corn crop is often determined by 

 its earliness. Two or three days in time 

 of ripening may make a difference be- 

 tween the profitable and unprofitable 

 crop, particularly when one is under 

 strong competition with neighboring 

 gardeners. In such cases the grower 

 secures the early crop by means of the 

 very earliest varieties and particularly 

 by having quick and well-prepared land 

 to which only quickl}^ available fertilizers have been 

 added. If the land is inclined to be hard and rough, 

 it is well to turn it up loose in the fall. 



Although corn is a hot- weather plant and thrives in 

 the fullest exposure to sunlight, it nevertheless is not 

 able to withstand drought as well as potatoes and many 

 other crops. This is because it is relatively a surface 



Fig. 137. Plant of 

 sweet corn. 



