Pod Corn, an early form of our modern 

 corn. The kernels are enclosed in separate 

 glumes, or chaff. 



Courtesy of Scientific American 



Continued from page 11 



Southwest a Rich Source 



Almost any records before 1500 

 A.D. must be mostly archaeological 

 in nature, and because of climatic 

 conditions, the dry Southwest is by 

 far the richest source of such mate- 

 rial. 



Thus, old caves, cliff dwellings, 

 and other Indian camp sites have 

 become "treasure islands" where 

 modern corn breeders can uncover 

 hidden corn cobs that may harbor the 

 secret of the first corn. 



Stakes High 



Corn remains are yielding some 

 potentially useful facts on the his- 

 torical development of our present 

 maize races. The work is relatively 

 slow, but the stakes involved give 

 this otherwise purely scientific en- 

 deavor the fascinating aspects of an 

 exciting treasure-hunt. 



80,000,00c 



The rose may bloom for Engla 

 The lily for France unfold: ; 



Ireland may honor the shamro ; 

 Scotland her thistle bold; 



By HRANT YEGIi 



Ed. Note: This article is concerned mainly 

 with field corn for animal consumption. 



ENOUGH corn is grown in the 

 United States today to cover the 

 six New England States, New York, 

 New Jersey, and Delaware. 



This No. 1 crop covers more acres 

 than any other crop, supplies more 

 food for animal and human consump- 

 tion, and brings more money to the 

 farmers. 



Early Corn Quite Similar 



Our corn plant or maize is quite 

 like that found by the first settlers. 

 All the main types of corn known 

 today — flint, pop, dent, and sweet 

 corn - — were grown by the early In- 

 dians. Modern varieties differ mainly 

 in their greater uniformity. 



In four and a half centuries we 

 have developed an outstanding open- 

 pollinated variety. (In open-pollina- 

 tion, the source of pollen is un- 

 known.) Despite this accomplish- 

 ment, corn production was not sub- 

 stantially improved until the very 

 recent introduction of modern hy- 

 brid corn, which has increased yields 

 about 20 percent. 



It was from the open-pollinated 

 varieties that scientists obtained foun- 

 dation stock to develop modern corn. 



12 



