CHAPTER I 



Briitf l^tatnrg nf % (Eont Plant 



^Z4 NDIAN corn is undoubtedly native to America, 

 41 although for a long time some writers claimed 

 v£J it was of Asiatic origin. But as corn was 

 not known in the old world until after it 

 was found in the new, there can be hardly any doubt 

 as to its original habitat. At present botanists 

 almost unanimously concede that corn originated in 

 America, and it is probable that it is indigenous to 

 Mexico, although some of the South American table- 

 lands present equally favorable conditions for the 

 origination of a species of this character. 



At the time of the discovery of the new continent 

 corn was one of the staples of agriculture from the 

 La Plata valley northward to the United States. It 

 has names in all the languages. The natives planted it 

 around their temporary dwellings where they did not 

 form a fixed population. Indian corn was found as a 

 common food when Europeans first landed in New 

 York. Extensive fields of this grain were cultivated 

 and the grain preserved for food. When Cartier vis- 

 ited Hochelaga, now called Montreal, in 1535, that 

 town was situated in the midst of extensive cornfields. 



