IMPKOYEMENT OF YAEIETIES. 



THE capability of improvement that belongs to 

 Indian corn well deserves the attention of cultiva- 

 tors. Progress seems to be a law of its nature, and 

 there is probably no variety at present known, how- 

 ever poor or however excellent, that may not be made 

 better by adopting the appropriate means. 



This progressive tendency is clearly seen on com- 

 paring the better sorts now in use with the primitive 

 grain cultivated by the natives of this continent at 

 the time of its discovery. The further we go back 

 into antiquity, the fewer the sorts, and the poorer the 

 quality appear to have been ; and if the genealogy of 

 this cereal could be traced to its source, it is extremely 

 probable that all the existing varieties would be found 

 to have sprung from one original stock, which was 

 doubtless as much below the present standard as the 

 untutored red man is inferior to the cultivated white. 



The progress thus indicated in the past history of 

 maize points clearly to an advancement in the future. 

 The law impressed upon it at the start has never 

 yet been suspended. Throughout animated nature 



