ADAPTATION TO THE WANTS OF MAN. 41 



fourfold more nutritious than the potato, which has 

 so long been the great staple and staff of life with a 

 numerous class, both in this and other countries ; and 

 it has been proved by experiment that corn meal will 

 sustain a workingman longer, when fed upon it ex- 

 clusively, than any other grain. 



The numerous preparations and manifold forms in 

 which maize is fitted for the table, contribute to ren- 

 der it the most various and valuable, as it is with one 

 exception the most abundant article of human food. 



There is, however, a noticeable difference in the 

 properties of the several varieties of this grain. While 

 the constituents remain nearly the same in all, the 

 proportions vary in which they are combined, and 

 this fact still further increases its adaptation to the 

 requirements of man and animals. 



" For the colder half of the year," says the Amer- 

 ican Agriculturist, " the oil and starch of the corn are 

 better adapted to the wants of the body, than the 

 large amount of gluten in wheat. Corn contains all 

 the elements needed in the body, and in just about the 

 proportion they are required in winter, while they are 

 nearly suited for food in warm weather." 



The writer might have added with much truth, 

 and making the case still stronger, that tke Southern 

 varieties, having a smaller proportion of oil than the 

 flint corn of the North, are thereby rendered a softer 

 and cooler food for the climate that produces them ; 

 while the presence of a larger amount of vegetable oil 

 in the maize of higher latitudes imparts to it the very 

 quality that fits it for the region of its growth. It is 



