434 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
619. Cultivation. — If rain falls after planting- and be- 
fore the plants are up, a weeder (Fig-ure 6) should be 
used to break the incrustation. This implement may be 
employed with good results until the plants are a foot 
or more high. An occasional plant will be damaged, 
but the benefits are much greater than the injuries. The 
damage will be least if the weeder is used in the middle 
of the day, when the plants are less rigid, than earlier or 
later. Various other tools, the spike-tooth type and the 
riding cultivators, are employed in caring for the crop, 
and some hand hoeing is usually required. 
620. Suckering. — Results of experiments indicate that 
suckering of sweet corn is not a profitable practice since 
it does not increase earliness or yield, or improve quality. 
Some varieties sucker more freely than others. 
621. Marketing. — Sweet corn is often harvested before 
it is ready. The kernels should be plump, but not hard. 
It pays to exercise care in regard to this matter, for uni- 
formity in size and degree of ripeness is an important 
factor in commanding remunerative prices. The crop 
is shipped in barrels, hampers and crates of various sizes. 
622. Returns. — Sweet corn, under favorable conditions, 
is a profitable crop. Prices paid by the packers range 
from $9 to $15 a ton, and about $3 more when the husks 
are removed. Maine canneries pay 2 cents a pound for 
the corn cut from the cob. This is the fairest way to sell 
sweet corn. It also encourages good breeding. Prices 
on the market usually vary*from 10 to 35 cents a dozen 
ears. Gross receipts haA-e been known to run as high 
as $350 an acre, but this is very unusual. A gross return 
of $100 makes corn a profitable crop, especially when 
the fodder is used properly on the farm. Many general 
farmers, who grow sweet corn on a large scale for mar- 
ket or for packing, cut the fodder into silage as soon as 
the crop is sold. 
