A corn maze or maize maze is a

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

cut out of a corn field. Corn mazes have become popular

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

attractions in

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, and are a way for farms to generate tourist income. Corn mazes appear in many different designs. Most have a path which goes all around the whole pattern, either to end in the middle or to come back out again, with various false trails diverging from the main path. In the United Kingdom, they are known as ''

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

mazes'', and are especially popular with farms in the east of

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. These mazes are normally combined with other farm attractions of interest to families and day trippers. These attractions may include hay rides, a petting zoo, play areas for children, and picnic areas. Each year a few of the mazes are featured in national newspapers and TV. In the U.S., corn mazes are typically cut down around the first week of November; in the UK typically in September after children return to school.

Size

Mazes may cover . Larger mazes can have more design details. , the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the largest temporary corn or crop maze was , created by Luc Pelletier in La Pocatière,

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, in October 2022. In 2012, a maze in

Lacombe, Alberta Lacombe ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately north of Red Deer, Alberta, Red Deer, the nearest major city, and south of Edmonton, the nearest metropolitan area. The city is set in the rolling parkland of central ...

, Canada earned the Guinness World Record for the largest scannable QR code on Earth. It was about .

Designs

Designs may be simple lines, or they may produce an overall image that can be seen from above. Many are based on artistic designs such as characters from

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s. Some mazes are even created to tell stories or to portray a particular theme. Complex designs include those featuring popular singers, movies, farming themes, patriotic themes, or historical events. Complex designs may be produced by a specialty company. A large maze may be broken into several sections. This allows people to choose a path with the length and complexity that they want. For example, a family with small children may want to choose a shorter, simpler portion, and others may want to do multiple sections. An unusually large corn maze at Stoney Brook Farms in the US, which covers an area of , has a total of of pathways. The designs may be cut earlier in the season, when the corn plants are shorter (about tall), or during the summer, when they are taller. In other cases, the corn is planted to form the maze, using GPS mapping technology.

Revenue

Corn mazes are usually created because they can bring money into a family farm. Some farms also donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity.

History

The first full-size corn maze is said to have been created in Annville, Pennsylvania in 1993, although the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' mentioned the existence of a corn maze at the R&H Ranch, in Lancaster, California, in 1989.

Creation

In order for farmers to create a corn maze they must carefully plan their production, design, and marketing techniques in advance: # Planting the correct variety of corn is important for the success of a corn maze. Farmers must consider stalk strength and height when selecting the right hybrid to plant. # Farmers must watch for stalk rot since it is one of the most frequently observed

diseases A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are asso ...

. Key factors for stalk rot include improper

fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give ...

, moisture stress, and disease development. # Moderate plant population (about 20,000 plants per acre) would be considered ideal. If moderate plant population is not followed crop crowding can occur. # Since farmers planting for corn mazes are not growing the crop for maximum yield they should not apply too much nitrogen fertilizer. Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension recommends the total

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

rate for the season should not exceed about 125 pounds per acreHeckman, J., & Sciarappa, W. (2004, June)
Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension: Growing an "A-maize-ing" Corn Maze
(

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). Retrieved July 25, 2008 (140 kg per hectare). # Corn maze crops should be planted from mid to late May in the northern hemisphere, or mid to late November in the southern hemisphere. This is two to three weeks later than crops being planted for grain. # When cutting the walkways farmers must cut the internal growing point of the stalk off to avoid regrowth. Some farmers use

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s, roto-tillers, or mowers to cut the walkways.

References

External links

Maize Maze Association
Trade Association for UK Maize Maze owners and operators, lists UK Maize Mazes.
The Cornies
Twelve Czech maize mazes ("Kukuřičáci"). {{DEFAULTSORT:Corn Maze Farms Maize Mazes