INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE 



Corn is one of the great gifts of the American continent 

 to the food products of the world. From prehistoric 

 times it has been grown by the American Indians of 

 many races in various parts of both North and South 

 America, so that when European races first appeared 

 Com was found to be the staple food of the natives. 

 Its value was at once recognized and the plant was 

 introduced to other countries, but North America has 

 always retained its supremacy in Corn growing. It now 

 ^ produces four times as much corn as all the rest of the 

 world. 



There is good evidence that the Corn plant originated 

 in Mexico as a sport or hybrid of Teosinte, a giant grass 

 of that region. When Columbus discovered the island 

 of Hayti he found that Corn was grown and was called 

 *'mahiz" by the Indians. This is the origin of the word 

 Maize, which has been commonly applied to the plant 

 since. In Europe wheat is generally spoken of as corn, 

 but in America the name is always applied to Indian 

 Com. 



Classification and Structure 



Corn is a giant grass with the pollen-bearing or 



staminate flowers in tassels at the upper end of the 



stalk and the seed-bearing or pistillate flowers in a 



spike along the side. The "silks" that project from 



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