PI 311237—The most popular open pollinated heirloom corn variety in the world is this 10 row white dent corn on a white cob with uniform rows and large kernels. A. O. Lee of Bartee, Virginia premiered Hickory King in 1880, naming it after a nearby small town, Hickory, Virginia. The slender cob contrasted with the massive size of the kernels immediately riveted the attention of corn farmers.
By 1888 it had become a nationally famous variety. Below I have reproduced the 1888 introduction to the variety in Samuel Wilson’s Catalog reveals the enthusiasm of Pennsylvania seedsmen to the corn. Hickory was unusual in that the amount, density, and quality of starch in the kernels more resembled a flint corn than most flour or meal corns Hickory King’s kernels (the largest of all dents, round, and flat) made it a favorite hominy corn, shine corn, and toasting corn for corn nuts. The taste of Hickory King is among the most agreeable of the non-sweet varieties—a judgment shared in Africa and Europe where the variety was exported in the early 20th century. It is also a judgment shared by animals and fowls in the feed yard, where Hickory King has been devoured avidly since shortly after its introduction. While made older corn varieties passed into disuse because of their modest yield in comparison with post 1950 hybrids, Hickory King has remained in use, and its seed stock maintained on a commercial scale for about 140 years. There are several reasons: its ability to produce on poor soil. The other important southern white dent varieties performed well on rich tilth, less well on clay bottoms or rocky land. It also enjoyed good resistance to a range of diseases and pests. There are several attributes (thin stems, few bracing anchor roots) that showed that the corn had been bred a fair ways away from the old eastern dent landraces. The typical height in soil of average fertility was eight and a half feet, but richer tilth produced taller corn. The tightness of the husk inhibited insect depredation. But if the husks are penetrated, the kernels lacked the surface toughness to resist insect invasion. Virtually every heirloom seed broker maintains a line of Hickory King.