Country Gentleman Sweet Corn
This famous sweet corn with irregular ears of deep white kernels was created in the North by crossing a southern white shoepeg landrace (which gives the kernel shape) and a New England sugar corn, perhaps Old Colony. With its signature irregular array of kernels in the ear, it is one of the most recognizable of heirloom corns. The original form of the shoepeg/sugar cross went by the name “Ne Plus Ultra” introduced by Burpee in 1883 and obtained from a “jealous” farmer in New Jersey. It was very sweet had a pencil cob, but was not a prolific.
There is debate about who precisely tweaked the plant to make it prolific. The name Country Gentleman was first used by Woodruff in 1890. But under the name Little Gem and also Quaker Sweet improved strains were offered in the early 1890s. Prolific Country Gentleman became a national brand in 1894 when seed companies began offering it en masse. It solidified its place in American fields and on American tables as a canning corn. When picked the pearly white kernels were cut from the 8-9 inch long cobs directly into the hot canning liquid. Peter Henderson was the most vocal promoter of Country Gentleman Sweet Corn during its initial decade of production. One of the reasons why Country Gentleman won immediate favor as a grow-your-own garden corn variety was the fact it set from 3 to 6 ears per stalk. In the twentieth century a yellow version of Country Gentleman appeared, but never attracted the following of the clean white original. Seed is available from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.