Super Ear?

[W. Gray]

1,440 grains is .21 or a fifth of a pound. I have not weighed an ear of corn lately so don't know how this might compare to some of the super strains bought in the supermarket.

At this point in time, the Elk County Ledger was in Elk Falls.

Oskaloosa Independent, Oskaloosa, Kansas, September 25, 1875.

[Wake-up!]

If grain is referring to weight, this ear comes in at 3.3 ounces. I have a narrow, 6-inch ear of corn in my freezer. It weighs 5.2 ounces. So this ear in the newspaper would not be super, it would be mini, maybe a 4-inch ear.

Is it possible grain is referring to kernels? Corn is a cereal grain. The seeds of other cereals are referred to as grains. Maybe corn was also, back in the day. If so, 1440 kernels of 12-row corn would have 120 kernels, or grains, per row. Assuming 5 kernels or grains per inch, the ear would come in at 24 inches. Now that would be super.

A 16-row corn would have 90 kernels or grains per row, or an 18-inch ear. Not bad either!!

The internet claims most ears of corn today have about 800 kernels. Regardless, if grains might equal kernels, that was a big ear of corn, worth reporting.