8 
B URBAN ICS 1919 NEW CREATIONS IN SEEDS 
A New Creation in Corn — "Sorghum Pop" 
Our common corn, Zea Mays, has shown a wonderful adaptability to various 
soils and climates and also to the various uses for which it is grown, much more 
so than any other grass or grain. Next to it in variability are the Sorghums, which 
include the various Kaffir corns, broom corns, and annual sugar canes. These are 
two very distinct species, one of which is a native of Africa, the other of America, 
and there is no record of any new variety having been produced by crossing. 
Five years ago, after numerous trials, a few kernels were produced on an ear of 
Burpee's improved StowelPs Evergreen Sweet Corn, from pollen of the white 
"goose neck" Kaffir Corn. These precious kernels were carefully planted one by 
one the next season and all but two were StowelPs Evergreen to all intents and 
purposes, but two ripened weeks earlier and were almost true Kaffir corns with 
compact, crooked, drooping "heads," containing many scattering hard, round 
kernels, also bearing "goose neck" drooping ears, somewhat resembling popcorn. 
The next season all were planted and a new corn, in many respects resembling 
white rice popcorn, but with more nearly globular kernels, was produced, but the 
ears were branched or "many fingered" and bore kernels, not only on the outside, 
but on the inside of the ears, producing an enormous number of kernels to the 
cluster. As the cobs had to be crushed to obtain the corn, selections were made 
of short "stubby" ears which bore kernels only on the outside. 
We now offer this most unique corn, and you will find it early, quite uniform, 
and one of the best popping corns. It pops out pure white, sweet, and with a 
whirlwind of vehemence. This amazing production is of great interest, not only 
to growers, but also to botanists. 
Packet of 100 seeds, 15c; ounce, 25c; pound, $1. 
Lonsdale, Minn., Dec. 25, 1918. The "Sorghum Pop" I ordered of you is really a 
surprise to me as to how it pops. There is absolutely no hard portion of the kernel 
left when it is popped. Considering its quality, earliness and productiveness, I 
think most of the older varieties should be discarded. J. P. V. 
Rainbow Corn 
The leaves of this beautiful corn are variegated with bright crimson, yellow, 
white, green, rose, and bronze stripes. A really wonderful decorative plant, as 
easily grown as any common corn and is fully equal in beauty to the most expen- 
sive greenhouse dracsenas. Packet, 10c; ounce, 30c; pound, $1. 
Papago Corn 
A corn which produces more fodder and more corn from each kernel than any 
other. A yellow, wrinkled, sweet corn growing about eight feet high and bearing 
a dozen or twenty succulent stalks with abundant foliage. Ten to twenty ears 
from a single kernel is usual. The best corn for silos and fresh green feed, and is 
also a fairly good sweet corn for home use. Plant only one kernel to each hill and 
see what a forest of feed results. Packet, 10c; ounce, 15c; pound, 40c; ten pounds 
or more by express, 20c per pound. 
The Sunberry 
The Burbank Sunberry, an absolutely new species of Solanum created on my own 
farms, is an annual berry plant of the easiest culture, thriving even on rather poor 
soil. The berries are almost exactly like the large, sweet huckleberries of the East- 
ern slates. The plants bear enormous quantities of berries which are highly prized 
for cooking, canning, etc. Grown and treated same as tomato plants, but with 
much less care. The Sunberry is especially prized in the cold North and in hot 
desert countries where other berries do not thrive. 
The berries, like some blackberries, should be well ripened two weeks after 
turning black if to be eaten raw, when they become very sweet and delicious, and 
