Education
Quiz Answers

1. An acre of forest is more beneficial to the environment than an acre of corn.

FALSE An acre of corn is as beneficial to the environment as an acre of forest trees. Both have a large leaf areas that absorb lots of carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the entire summer period. The plant residue left after grain corn harvest is returned to the soil as organic matter.

2. Grain corn can be harvested approximately 60 days after planting.

FALSE This is true of sweet corn. However, grain corn is left standing in the field to fully mature and dry. Grain corn is usually harvested in October or November.

3. The corn plant has both male and female parts.

TRUE The silk is the female part while the tassel is the male part.

4. Corn is part of the grass family.

TRUE Theory has it that kernels of corn once had individual floral parts like oats, and cobs that broke apart easily - unlike the ears and husks which we know as corn today.

5. Grain corn by-products can be found in over 2,000 items.

TRUE In a typical 10,000 item grocery store, corn can be found in at least 2,500 products.

6. Sweet corn and grain corn are the same.

FALSE Sweet corn has a higher sugar and water content and its use is for corn-on-the-cob, frozen and niblet corn. Grain corn has many uses for both edible and non-edible products.

7. Acreage for sweet corn exceeds acreage for grain corn in Ontario.

FALSE Sweet corn accounts for about 5% of the total corn acreage grown in Ontario.

8. Popcorn is grown only in the central part of the United States.

FALSE Popcorn is grown in Ontario - moreso in the southern part of the province.

9. Typically, you can get six ears of corn or more per stalk of corn.

FALSE In ideal growing conditions you may get two fully matured ears of corn. Normally one fully matured ear is harvested and a second ear can be seen, but is not well developed.

10. Corn develops from a small seed to a plant that is typically 2-3.5 m (6.5-11.5 ft) tall.

TRUE

11. The word "corn" can refer to maize, wheat, oats and grain sorghum.

TRUE However, in Canada and the United States, "corn" usually means maize. The scientific name is Zea mays. Other names are "mais" (French) and "maiz" (Spanish).

12. Each kernel of corn, when planted, will produce 300-1,000, or more, kernels.

TRUE A ear of corn when matured will normally have 10-18 rows of kernels with up to 50 kernels per row. Good growing conditions in Ontario will mean ears with 600-800 kernels of corn.