The first sweet corn should be planted early in April, and should be of
some small-growing, very early variety, such as the Cory or Minnesota.
This corn will have to struggle with the frost and chilling nights, but
with the aid of the ever-present worm, which inhabits each ear, will
be ready for use long before any of the really fine kinds can be had.
There is only one good thing that I have been able to discover in the
worm’s favor in connection with his labors in horticulture, and that
is the way in which he assists in ripening all the earliest specimens
of the different fruits. To be sure, his efforts in this line are
not always appreciated, but he is always there when you find a fruit
ripening before its regular time. About the third week in April a
second sowing of this early corn should be made, and at the same time
should be planted some early large-eared variety, such as Crosby’s
Twelve-rowed, and an equal amount of a late variety, such as Stowell’s
Evergreen. Thereafter a planting should be made every ten days or two
weeks, of a favorite sort, which, with me, is Stowell’s Evergreen,
although I plant other kinds throughout the season, for the sake of
variety. These plantings should be kept up until the 10th of July,
after which the late kinds will hardly mature; but if the ground can be
spared, I would keep on planting until the 10th of August, as, if the
fall should be late, it will come in very acceptably. Most gardeners
exhaust their supply about the middle of September, as they do not
continue to plant late enough. If there is danger of heavy frost early
in the fall, the corn that has well-set ears that have not yet ripened
should be cut off at the ground and stacked against the south side of a
fence or building; it should be stood up nearly two feet in thickness,
to prevent freezing, but should not be thicker, as it will heat too
much and will be awkward to handle when sorting over for the good ears.
Treated in this way it will provide ears for use well into November,
but of course they will not be of as fine a quality as those matured in
the ordinary way.
As the earliest varieties only grow about three feet high and have
the ears set close to the ground, the best way of planting them is to
drop the seed ten inches to one foot apart, in drills. Sow plenty of
seed, and if it comes up too thickly it can easily be thinned out when
hoeing; all suckers should be broken off at the same time, so as to
throw the strength of the plants into the ears.
If two rows are planted across the garden at each planting they will
furnish an ample supply for the average family. If it is needed for
canning or drying, an extra large planting should be made early in May,
which will mature after the heavy harvest work is over and before the
fall fruit is ready to preserve.
If some fine compost is placed in the drills or hills, it will help
greatly to give the young plants a good start until they can reach the
manure with which the garden has been dressed; where this compost is
put in it should be covered with an inch of soil before the seed is
sown.
The climbing snap beans may be planted in the hill with the
tall-growing corn, or hills of pumpkins; squashes or cucumbers may
be made in every fourth hill and every third row, although the vines
will be very much in the way of continued cultivation if the ground
is inclined to be weedy. Sweet corn should not be planted within one
hundred yards of field or pop-corn, as the pollen will be sure to mix
and spoil the quality of the table corn. It will sometimes mix at
greater distances, but this distance would be safe in most cases.