Dent Corn Seeds – Cocke’s Prolific

Description

Zea mays

HEIRLOOM. What was once one of the most cultivated corn varieties in the South because of its reliably high yields and excellent flavor is now back and ready for you to enjoy and save yourself! We hope you will join us in bringing this historic corn back into the spotlight it deserves. It produces at least two good-sized ears of heavy, white-kernaled corn, perfect for cornmeal and hominy.

Thought to be extinct for decades, Cocke’s Prolific corn was rediscovered in Inman, SC by then Sow True Seed manager, Angie Lavezzo. After some historical digging and verification by food historian Dr. David Shields, we are very proud to be reintroducing this variety to the public for the first time since 1951. This corn was stewarded by Mr. Manning Farmer on his land in the Dark Corner region of South Carolina for most of his 99 years. First grown by his uncle and his father, Mr. Farmer had been growing and keeping this seed pure since the 1940’s, and we are very grateful to him for it.

Cocke’s Prolific was developed by John Hartwell Cocke, who was a proficient and prolific agriculturalist in the first half of the 1800’s. Many of his breeding projects made their way to his friend Thomas Jefferson, who grew them (including the Cocke’s Prolific corn) at Monticello. While this corn was grown widely after its introduction, the descendants of John Hartwell Cocke that we’ve spoken with report that it didn’t reach legendary status until his enterprising daughter, Lucy Cocke realized that she could market it as high quality horse feed. This made her a very wealthy woman and helped launch this fantastic corn into fame. It is now thought that all modern dent corns have roots in Cocke’s Prolific gene stock as it was so popular as a parent plant. Modern hybrids and the odd shift towards primarily yellow dent corn contributed to this variety becoming almost completely extinct.

Packet weight – 1/4 lb – packet contains about 240 seeds.

SMALL FARM GROWN by Bender Farms, Norlina, NC 

Voted into the Slow Foods Ark of Taste for 2019!