706 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



E — Regarding Corn. 



IOWA, THE CORN QUEEN. 



An angel came to earth one day. 



And, seeking erery state, 

 To each ke gave a little gift 



Of value small or great. 

 An ore, a mineral, or a gem. 



With colors like the morn; 

 To Iowa he only gave 



A single grain of corn. 



But while her sister states displayed 



Their gold or silver bright, 

 Their lumps of lead, or copper red, 



Or coal as black as night, 

 She plowed her fertile acres up. 



And in the mellow mold 

 She planted in the balmy spring 



Her seed of living gold. 



It sprouted in the crystal rain 



And ripened in the sun; 

 It gave her back a million grains 



Where she had sown but one, 

 It cleared away the tangled wood. 



And turned the idle wheel. 

 And swelled the seas of commerce high 



With streams of yellow meal. 



A mighty state is Iowa, 



Her fame has traveled far; 

 No fairer lands than hers are seen 



Beneath the western star. 

 And, arource of all her wealth and power, 



Upon her shield is borne. 

 Below the eagle and the scroll, 



A sheaf of golden corn. 

 — Minna Irving, in Leslie's Weekly. 



