to plant an acre. The cost of seed varies with varieties. The average cost
of seed for the 1960-61 season ranged from $7.28 per acre in the Everglades
to $8.33 in the Zellwood area.

 Fertilization practices.--Nearly all Florida soils are deficient in
the so-called essential plant foods, namely nitrogen, phosphorus and potash.
The muck soils ordinarily contain a good supply of nitrogen but are
deficient in manganese and copper.

 Sweet corn growers in the Everglades area apply from 800 to 1,000
pounds of a 0-12-16, 0-10-10 or 0-8-24 mixture per acre. Their average
cost per acre for fertilizer was $28.41 in 1960-61. Growers on sandy soils
apply from 1,000 to 3,000 pounds per acre of a 4-12-6 or 4-8-8 fertilizer.
In addition, there may be one or two applications of 100 pounds of
ammonium nitrate or nitrate of soda per acre. Fertilizer costs on sandy
soils average around $75 per acre. Growers in Zellwood used about 1,500
pounds of a 4-8-12 to 5-10-15 mixture and 300 pounds of nitrate of potash
per acre at an average cost of $43 in 1960-61.

 Cultivation.--Corn is cultivated two to three times with multiple-
row equipment. Some growers in Zellwood are using pre- and post-emergence
weed killers to reduce weeds and grass during harvest. Everglades' growers
apparently feel that they cannot use chemical methods of weed control as
effectively.

 Insect and disease control.--The control of insect pests and plant
diseases is a major problem in the production of sweet corn. All growers
follow an active control program, applying insecticides and fungicides
mainly in the wet spray form. The majority of growers use multiple-row
power-driven sprayers. Airplane sprayers and dusters are also used to.a con-
siderable extent, particularly when fields contain an excess of moisture.

 Sweet corn is subject to insect attack from time of seeding until
harvest. Corn earworms, fall armyworms, corn-silk fly, cut worms, wireworms,
stem weevil, lesser corn-stalk borers, webworms, aphids and sugar cane
borers all attack sweet corn. Parathion, DDT, toxaphene, aldrin and
chlordane are used in the spray program in controlling these insects.13
Helminthosporium is the major disease of sweet corn in Florida. "Results of
experiments and the experience of growers have indicated that leaf blights
can be effectively controlled by timely applications of sprays containing
nabam (plus zinc sulfate) or zineb."14

 Most growers follow a preventive rather than a control program for
insects and disease. The crop is sprayed or dusted at two- to seven-day
intervals depending upon season of the year, current weather conditions and


 13I. A. Hills, et al., Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 520, July 1953,
pp. 16-28.
 141. N. Stoner, et al., Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Circ. S-3O, January
1954, p. 5.