maybe the corn failed to pollinate? how far apart are your rows? did you plant in groups?

Water was not the problem. A single row of corn can be less successful than a clumped planting because if the prevailing wind blows perpendicular to the row, the row plants do not share blown pollen.

Do these particular specialty varieties require a specific pollinating variety?

One sees corn here and there in the cities; is any nearby corn well-eared?

And you did not mention tassels. Were your healthy stalks tasseled (did the corn bloom)?

That's the weird part; the corn plants are 10 inches apart, in rows three feet apart, forming block plantings of about 12' x 25'. The stalks are five feet tall and fully plumed out with pollen producing tassels.

The healthy green stalks look like sugar cane, not one ear of corn on any stalk or of any size. No thumb-size, no traces of an ear of corn at any length. Straight stalk with a tassel on top.

OK, I've got the complete picture, and no answer; I see you have not posted this question on the vegetable forum, someone there is likely familiar with corn.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe your corn was an extremely late planting and has not formed ears yet. Did the seed packet or catalog description state a very long days-to-yield?

Man o man, am I embarassed. I decided to water the stalks every other day. In less than a week one-inch tuffs of silk appeared. A week later I had mini-ears appear and grow daily.

I've been gardening my whole life and have never seen this slow of an appearance of the ears, the corn was fully tassled out with none showing. Well Gardening 101 for me; just water the plants and they might produce something. ;-)

thanks for all the help and Gene it looked like you figured it out.