MAIZE, 

 party-coloured, and there are voristie* with blood red and even 



A plant generally bears two full ears, th* grain* of 



wluch ran greaU* in number : some of the largest ear* iu America 

 eoaUinatleaMMOgnin*. 



TbU plant in It* wild state U met with in Paraguay, according to 

 Augtwtv J St. Hilair*. It waa also found uu the continent of North 

 America bt the European! on their arrival there. 



It s*em* that there U a particular line on the continent of Eim-p.- 

 north of which the mate doea nut thrive. To the aouth of thi* line. 

 which passes through Nancy, formerly the capital of Lorraine in France, 

 it ha* in a great measure superseded wheat and rye a* the common 

 produce of the land. The bread made from mail* U not no palatable 

 a* wheat or rye bread; but by mixing it in certain proportion* with 

 wheat U make* a Tery pleasant food. In the United SUte* uf X..rth 

 America, Indian corn form* almost the only bread eaten by many of 

 and in the tlaveUU it i the only bread that the 



negro** eat. It U not however in the shape of baked bread that maiie 

 U tuost generally o*ed in Europe, but in boiled messes and au|>*, an 

 paw are with u* : It i* not onlv the ripe grain whioh u eaten, but the 

 ear in erenr *Ule, from that of a green vegetable to an unripe com. 

 It i* boiled, stewed, and baked : it U a sulwlitute for cabbage or green- 

 pea* in it* early stage ; and i* used in some way or other to it* com- 

 Nothing can be better than ripe maize to fatten hog* 

 or poultry with ; and the young stem cut down quite green give* one 

 of the Le*t and most abundant varieties of green food for cattle-. 



A plant which give* such a return cannot be expected to ripen it* 

 grain* in poor land, or without attentive cultivation. The land must 

 be naturally fertile, or made so by art ; it must be well prepared to 

 receive the seed, and sufficient manure must be given to recruit it. A 

 light, moiat, and warm soil suita thus plant best. It thrives well on 

 laud broken up from grass, a* i* the cue with moat plants. As it i* 

 always sown in rows, and the plant* thinned to a considerable distance, 

 the interval* may easily be ploughed, or stirred with the horse-hoe, by 

 which moans the weed* are kept down, and the earth fertilised by 

 exposure to the air. The seed should be taken from the largest and 

 best formed ears ; those at the end should be rejected, a* less perfect. 

 They should not be taken off until they are wanted for sowing, and 

 then steeped in water to soften them. If the seed were steeped in 

 brine and dried with quicklime, a* is usually done with wheat, it might 

 probably bo advantageous, as this grain is subject to smut and brand 

 as well as wheat ; but Uu* is not often done. The time for sowing 

 maize in the south of Prance is the month of April ; farther north it is 

 sown later for fear of frost, which would entirely destroy the plant on 

 its first appearance above ground : this is one of the reasons why it 

 could not safely be sown in England before the middle or end of May, 

 and it could scarcely be expected to ripen iU seed* before the winter's 

 frost set in. 



The distance between the rows of maize varies from two to four feet. 

 In good ground the latter distance has produced the heaviest crop. 

 The seed i* sometime* sown in the furrow after the plough, and some- 

 time* put in with a dibble. The latter seems the beat way, and, aa the 

 rows are wide and the seed* need not be put in nearer than a foot 

 apart in the row*, an acre will be soon dibbled by hand. Two or three 

 inches deep i* sufficient to make the seed germinate readily. In warm 

 moist climate* the plant i* very soon above ground. In fine weather, 

 and when the seed has been steeped, it will be above ground in five or 

 aU day*. When the plants are three or four inches out of the ground, 

 and no frost i* feared, they are thinned out to two feet apart, aud in 

 very rich soil* three feet U better. In this osne throe or four ears may 

 be expected to ripen on each stalk. In thin soils on a retentive subsoil 

 the earth i* raised in ridges, or, what is better, in mounds, by crossing 

 the ridge* with the plough, sud three or four seeds are put into each 

 hillock, which are two or three feet apart. As the plants rise, only 

 one, or at most two are left in each hillock, and the earth is carefully 

 moulded up to the stems ; thus deep dry bed is provided for thu 

 plant, and there is sufficient moisture from the impervious subsoil 

 This method might perhaps be adopted with advantage in England, in 

 experiment* on maize, when the situation admit* of its cultivation. 

 Mais*, however sown, must be repeatedly hoed. At the first hoeing 

 Ike pUiiU which are too close an pulled up, and where there i* n 

 dencMficy they are planted in : at least, this la the practice in Kurope ; 

 tmt m America the general practice is to plant fresh seeds in the vacant 

 When the plants are a foot high then is a seoond hoeing, the 



ing. th_ 



are then cut up, and some earth is drawn towards the plant* 

 and raised around the stems. The reason of thin is, that there are 

 several juinU very near each other at the bottom of the item, and from 

 each of UMM fibres ctrike out into the soil which is brought into 

 contact with it, and form additional rooU to the plant, a* they do from 

 UM crown of the ruoU of wheat. When the flower* are rva-ly t 

 expand, a third noting U given, to kill weeds and open the surface of 

 UM .*! iizbtly. The earth which is raised around the stem* should 

 U flattened a liltlc at top, and even slightly hollowed out bear the 

 stem, to collect the dews and rains in dry seasons. If any tillt-n or 

 boot* appear farm the bottom of the stem they should bo carefully 



-.-.:.';. 



main Um. A fourth hosing and earthing up, at the time when the 

 need begin, to swell, is useful, but seldom given, for fear of unnecessary 

 ID many countries they tow or plant various vegetable* in 



MAJOR. 4M 



*h* interval* between the rows of maiae, of which the most advantageous 

 are turnip* and cabbages, which may be sown or planted between the 

 maize, after the last hoeing. French beans, except they be dwarf*, are 

 not so proper, aa they shade the maim and prevent its maturity. In 

 warm climate* cucumbers and melon* are often raised there. In 

 ,'iri-lina, where they boo their maize only twice, a running weed spring* 

 up rapidly, which i* much relished by cattle, and U cut several time* 

 jefore winter. 



The time of flowering is very critical for the maize : a cold damp 

 atmosphere may make a great part of the crop fail. In MH. 

 when this is to be feared, it U safe to sow maize at several time*, with 

 a week'* interval : thus the risk is divided, and it is not so likely that 

 :he whole crop will be in flower in uiigeuial weather. 



The male flowers, just as they expand, are excellent food for cattle ; 

 and it U usual in many places to cut off a great portion of them for 

 thi* purpose. If it be dune judiciously, there is no danger, provided a 

 sufficient number of male flowers be left to impregnate the females : 

 one in a square of about fifteen or twenty feet is thought sull. 

 After the seed is set it is customary, in many places, to cut oil' thu 

 whole top of the stem, with the upper leaves, aud give UK-HI to the 

 cattle ; but this i* by no means to be recommended : tbc wound thus 

 made bleeds, and much of the sap is lost. Beside*, the upper leave* 

 serve to elaborate the sap and assist it* circulation ; they should there- 

 fore be left on as long as they are green, and other food found for the 

 cattle. 



All plants whioh stand too close or have no ears upon them should 

 It- pulled up and given to the cows, to give air to the rest ; all those also 

 that are very late and have abortive ears should be taken up, u 

 would at all events not ripen their seed. The young ear is preserved 

 as a pickle, like young cucumbers : when a little advanced it is roasted 

 on the coals, or before the fire, and U pleasant to eat : in the green 

 state, when the grains are still soft aud milky, it is boiled, and used a* 

 a vegetable, and ia considered a delicacy. 



Maize ia subject to diseases similar to those of wheat and 

 groin ; and it is supposed, as observed before, that the steeping and 

 liming may prevent them in a great measure. 



When the maize is fully ripe, which it is not until the sheath of the 

 ear opens and appears quite dead, the ears are twisted off by hand and 

 laid in a dry place ; they are turned occasionally that the sheath may 

 not become musty, and are then stored in a dry place : the seed keeps 

 better so than when it is separated. The taking off the seeds from t ln< 

 ear is a laborious operation ; it may be done by the Hail, but U most 

 easily accomplished by an old blunt sword or iron hoop fixed over a 

 tub. The ears are rubbed hard over this edge, and the seed* fall into 

 the tub. They have a simple machine in America, which doea the 

 work quickly. The core or rachis is only fit for burning iu thu o\eii. 

 The leaves are gathered for fodder a short time before the ears are 

 pulled. In America and in Italy they stuff mattresses with the dry 

 sheath, which makes a cool and elastic bed. 



AU animals are fond of maize, especially horses, pigs, and poultry j 

 it gives the flesh of the two last a peculiarly fine flavour. The most 

 profitable way to use maize in fattening animals U to grind it into 

 meal, and mix it with warm water into a pottage ; and. lor horses, to 

 soak it twenty-four hours in water before they ore fed with it. In 

 the dry state it is so hard that it wears their teeth, and iu young 

 horns is apt to produce blindness by thu exertion of the muscles of the 

 jaw in chuwing it. 



One of the most important uses of maize in Europe is to sow it 

 thick, to be cut green as food for oows, oxen, and aheep. In a proper 

 nlimate there ia no plant which gives so great a mass of green food aa 

 maize. The produce i* most abundant and uutritn.-. 'I'h-- largest 

 varieties should bo chosen. The seed may be sown iu drills in Aj.nl, 

 and in September a crop might be mown, which would give adinirubla 

 fodder for every kind of cattle. It is said to exhaust the land ; but 

 what will not exhaust it, more or less, which gives much nourishment I 

 Maize will well repay thu manure which may be required to restore 

 the humus it has consumed. If it ia sown early, a seoond crop 

 may be raised the same year ; fur it does not spring up again, like 

 grass, after being cut. Where the land lulmiU of irrigation, the growth 

 of the maize ia most rapid and luxuriant. The timo to cut it is w Inn 

 the male Sowers are just appearing out of the sheath in which they are 

 enveloped in the early stage of their growth. It may be dried into 

 hay, and will keep good for a couple of years ; but in this state it must 

 be bruised or soaked when given to cattle, as the stems get very hard 

 in drying; they may however be cut, as the cane-tops are in the sugar- 

 , ... 



MAJOK (Latin), Greater, in music, a term applicable to the in,| t 

 feet concords, but chiefly to the interval of thu 3rd. It U also used to 

 distinguish the mode which takes a major or sharp 3rd, from that 

 having a minor or flat one. The major mode has always a great' 

 that is, a 3rd consisting of two tones ; and the minor mode has 

 always a minor 3rd that ia, a 3rd consisting of a tone and a semitone. 

 [Kl.Y ; .Mnpt; TllIKD.J 



MAJOlt, a uald-omcer next in rank below a lieutenant-colonel, and 

 immediately superior to the captain* of troop* in a regiment of calvary, 

 or I-, thu captains of companies in a battalion of infantry. His duty U 

 to superintend the exercise* of the regiment or battalion, and, on parade 

 or in action, to carry into effect the orders of th* colonel The major 



