PART II— GRAIN CROPS 



CHAPTER III 

 CORN 



ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION 



48. Nativity. Com, Zea mays, is a native of America. 

 Though it is a true grass, none of the known native or wild 

 grasses resemble it very closely, and the species from which 

 it was developed has never been determined. All that is 

 known is that it was cultivated by the Indians when America 

 was discovered by Columbus. It is generally agreed that 

 corn was first introduced into Europe by Columbus on his 

 return from his voyage of discovery, and that its growth in 

 Europe and Asia has spread from that original importation 

 and from later ones from this continent. Corn is reported 

 to have been first grown by white people within the present 

 limits of the United States in the colony of Virginia in 1608. 



The term "corn" is used in Europe to designate any 

 kind of grain, as wheat, oats, or barley, and it was so used 

 before the discovery of America. When the cultivation of 

 Indian corn, or maize, was introduced, the same term was 

 applied to it. The confusion in the meaning of the word 

 and the consequent beUef that corn was grown in Europe 

 before the journeys of Columbus to the New World are 

 doubtless due to this use of the word, which is now legally 

 accepted as meaning maize, or Indian corn. It is unani- 

 mously conceded that corn is a native American plant, first 

 grown and used by the Indians of this hemisphere. Con- 

 clusive evidence of its nativity is indicated by its connection 

 with mythological and religious ceremonies of the Indians 

 and the discovery of ears of corn buried with mummies in 

 Peru and Mexico. 



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