INDIAN COEN. 137 



which we have iu great abundance and take with ease 

 at our doors. 



You may see in one township a hundred acres to- 

 gether set with these fish, every acre taking a thous- 

 and of them, and an acre thus dressed will produce 

 and yield as much corn as three acres without fish." 

 In the Jamestown settlement they planted pumpkins 

 and melons in the hill with the corn. 



No wild type of the corn is known, so that its origin 

 is as much unknown as that of wheat. Some have 

 contended that the pod com, in which each kernel is 

 covered with a husk, was the original type of corn. 

 It has been suggested that the original type of com 

 produced the kernels in the tassel as is sometimes 

 seen, especially in suckers. The pod corn has a very 

 marked tendency to produce kernels and fairly well 

 formed ears in the tassel. The transition from ker- 

 Dels in the tassels, each covered with a husk, to ker- 

 nels on an ear without husks on each kernel, is not dif- 

 ficult to imagine. 



Production. — The Indian corn production of the 

 world is not accurately known, but it is probably 2,800 

 to 3,000 million bushels, or about one -half more than 

 that of wheat. Of this quantity the American conti- 

 nents raise three-fourths to four-fifths. Europe raises 

 most of the remainder. There are five states in this 

 country each of which raises more than any nation of 

 the eastern continent. The largest corn- producing 

 nations of Europe are Austro- Hungary, Italy and 

 Russia. Other corn-producing countries are France, 

 Spain, Portugal, Roumania, Algeria, Australia, Mex- 

 ico and Canada. Great Britain and Ireland raise no 

 Indian corn, except occasionally in gardens for table 



