Cultivated-Plant Study 



661 



discovered. In those early days of American colonization, it is doubtful, 

 says Professor John Fiske, if our forefathers could have remained here had 

 it not been for Indian corn . No plowing, nor even clearing, was necessary 

 for the successful raising of this grain. The trees were girdled, thus kil- 

 ing their tops to let in the sunlight; the rich earth was scratched a little 

 with a primitive tool, and the seed put in and covered; and the plants 

 that grew therefrom took care of themselves. If the pioneers had been 

 obliged to depend alone upon the wheat and rye of Europe, which only 

 grows under good tilllage, they might have starved before they gained a 

 foothold on our forest-covered shores. 



THE CORX PLANT 



In studying'the maize it is well to keep in mind that a heavy wind is its 

 worst enemy; such a wind will lay it low, and from such an injury it is 

 difficult for the corn to recover and perfect its seed . Thus, the mechanism 

 of the corn-stalk and leaf is 

 adapted for prevention of this 

 disaster. The corn-stalk is, prac- 

 tically, a strong cylinder with a 

 pithy center; the fibres of the 

 stalks are very strong, and at 

 short intervals the stalk is 

 strengthened by hard nodes, or 

 joints ; if the whole stalk were as 

 hard as the nodes, it would b.- 

 inelastic and break instead of 

 bend; as it is, the stalk is very 

 elastic and will bend far over 

 before it breaks. The nodes are 

 nearer each other at the bottom, 

 thus giving strength to the base; 

 they are farther apart at the top, 

 where the wind strikes, and where 

 the bending and bowing of the 

 stalk is necessary. 



The leaf comes off at a node 

 and clasps the stalk for a con- 

 siderable distance, thus making it 

 stronger, especially toward the 

 base. Just where the leaf starts 

 away from the stem {here is a 

 little growth called a rain-guard; 

 if water should seep between the 

 stalk and the clasping leaf, it 

 would afford harbor for destruc- 

 tive fungi. The structure of the 

 corn leaf is especially adapted to 

 escape injury from the wind; the 

 strong veins are parallel with a 

 strong but flexible midrib at the 

 center; often, after the wind has 

 whipped the leaves severely, only stalk of com with ear and tassel. 



