The Divine Design of Corn
March 6, 2013
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143,
fbns@wayoflife.org
zz_corn_03_06
The Bible says that man was made by God and placed in a world that was designed for his well-being, and the evidence for this is on every hand. 

God uses corn to illustrate the blessing of Christ’s kingdom.

“... I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you” (Ezekiel 36:29).

One seed of corn typically produces a stalk bearing two cobs, each with 400 to 600 kernels or seeds. Thus, it multiplies itself 1,000 fold and more in one generation. If you replant the seeds from one corn stalk and each grows to maturity--each stalk bearing two cobs with an average of 500 kernels per cob (2,000 X 500)--you get one million kernels of corn. That’s just the second generation. And if you plant those one million kernels and each stalk grows to maturity, you get a billion corn seeds in just three generations! This is merely one example of the bountiful way that God has blessed this world for man’s benefit. 

“Such is the tremendous reproductive power of DNA, especially in primary producer plants that must generate sufficient food-web biomass so all consumers--including we humans--can survive” (Kenneth Poppe,
Exposing Darwinism’s Weakest Link, p. 33). 

Corn is self-pollinating, in that each stalk has both male and female flowers. The females are the ears that send out strands of silk that grow out of the top of the ear. (The flower is actually composed of the kernel, which is the ovule, and the silk, which is the stigma.) 

Each kernel of corn is individually pollinated by a strand of silk, which is covered with fine, sticky hairs that catch the pollen. The male flowers on the tassels release their pollen into the air. The pollen is held in anthers which contain large numbers of pollen grains, and when released the grains usually settle within 20 to 50 feet of the stalk. Thus it is advised to plant corn in blocks rather than in long rows. 

Each tassel contains from 2 to 5 million pollen grains, which translates to 2,000 to 5,000 pollen grains for each silk of the ear shoot. 

The emergence of the silk and the release of the pollen further demonstrates the amazing intelligence the Creator has programmed into the plant’s DNA. It must be precisely timed, for example. The pollen shed usually begins two or three days prior to silk emergence and continues for five to eight days, and it is shed in late morning after the dew has dried off the tassels (Ohio State University Agronomy Facts). The pollen shed responds to climatic conditions, stopping when the tassel is too wet or too dry and beginning again when temperature conditions are favorable. By this means the pollen is rarely washed off the silk by rain since it doesn’t release during wet conditions. 

These amazing processes have enabled the corn plant to survive and thrive for man’s benefit.

Corn is used to feed humans and livestock. (Nearly 4,000 food items in a large grocery store contain corn ingredients.) But there are are hundreds of uses for this versatile plant beyond that, including bioplastics, biofuel, adhesives, ceramics, antibiotics, aspirin, surgical dressings, leather tanning, metal plating, shoe polish, rayon, disinfectants, cosmetics, soaps, paint, dyes, printing inks, plywood and wallboard, sandpaper, linoleum, rubber substitutes, rust preventatives, drilling fluids, dusting agents, insecticides, textiles, carpeting, paper products, antifreeze, solvents, and explosives.

“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches” (Psalm 104:24).



- Receive these reports by email
- www.wayoflife.org

______________________

Sharing Policy: Much of our material is available for free, such as the hundreds of articles at the Way of Life web site. Other items we sell to help fund our expensive literature and foreign church planting ministries. Way of Life's content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, O Timothy magazine, FBIS articles, and the free eVideos and free eBooks. You are welcome to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. You may also post parts of reports and/or entire reports to websites, blogs, etc as long as you give proper credit (citation). A link to the original report is very much appreciated as the reports are frequently updated and/or expanded. Things we do not want copied and distributed are "Store" items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, print editions of our books, electronic editions of the books that we sell, the videos that we sell, etc. The items have taken years to produce at enormous expense in time and money, and we use the income from sales to help fund the ministry. We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy. "For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward" (1 Timothy 5:18). Questions? support@wayoflife.org

Goal:Distributed by Way of Life Literature Inc., the Fundamental Baptist Information Service is an e-mail posting for Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. Our primary goal with the FBIS is to provide material to assist preachers in the edification and protection of the churches.

Offering: Offerings are welcome if you care to make one. If you have been helped and/or blessed by our material offerings can be mailed or made online with with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Paypal. For information see: www.wayoflife.org/about/makeanoffering.html.



Bible College
Information

Way of Life Literature

Publisher of Bible Study Materials

Way of Life Literature

Publisher of Bible Study Materials

Way of Life Bible College