CORN 



Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. 

 Farmers' Institute Conductor 



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My chief regret in not visiting America is that I shall die 

 without beholding what I conceive to be the most superb crop 

 that grows, as it is, in itself, the most valuable." Sir John B. 

 Lawes, Pioneer of Agricultural Experimenters. 



HISTORY 



Corn is noteAvorthy as being one of the few important culti- 

 vated plants of American origin. J\Iost of the plants of our farms, 

 gardens and orchards were known centuries before the dis- 

 covery of America, but tobacco, potatoes, pumpkins and squashes, 

 some species of beans, the tomato, and most important of all — 

 the maize — are the contributions of the new world to the old. 

 Corn is probably of tropical or sub-tropical origin and has doubt- 

 less been much modified from the wild state, but the American 

 Indian grew it through a vast extent of territory from I^ova 

 Scotia throughout much of South America, and in New York 

 State it was grown to a surprising extent. When the first white 

 men came to Ithaca in 1789, there were then 300 acres of " an- 

 cient maize lands " on the fertile flats at the head of the lake. 

 The white man very quickly adopted its cultivation from the In- 

 dian and today it is the one great cereal that gives the American 

 farmer his pre-eminent place in the world. 



VARIETIES 



Botanically maize belongs to the great grass family. It is 

 merely a gigantic grass with the somewhat unusual character of 

 bearing the fertile flowers — the silk — on the side of the stalk, 

 while the pistillate flowers — the tassels — are borne on top. 

 Botanists recognize four great types or sub-species of corn, and 

 many varieties. These are the dent corn, typical of the warmer 

 areas and the great central basin; the flint corn found especially 



[1707] 



