PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 97 



green state ; between which every farmer will se- 

 lect according to circumstances. If the market for 

 pease be brisk and high, he will harvest, thresh, and 

 sell the grain ; if, on the other hand, pease be low 

 and pork high, the moment the pods fill he will turn 

 in his hogs upon them, and with the following ad- 

 vantages : 1st, the hogs will feed and fatten them- 

 selves, without any additional interposition of his 

 labour ; 2d, no part of their manure will be lost ; 3d, 

 the remains of the crop, refused by the hogs, will 

 be given back to the soil ; and, 4th, the rooting of 

 these animals, which in other cases is an injury, 

 will in this be a benefit. 



VIII. Of Indian Corn. 



This is a native of South America, and was in- 

 troduced into Europe in the 16th century ; where it 

 is known by the names of wheat of Turkey, Indian 

 wheat, Spanish wheat, &c.* Its productiveness and 

 other good qualities have brought it into general 

 use ; for it is now found in every part of the globe 

 where its cultivation is not forbidden by the cold- 

 ness of the climate. With proper culture, it grows 

 well in a great variety of soils ; but prefers old 

 and rich pasture-grounds, artificial meadows, warm 

 loams, and moist vegetable mould. 



There are many varieties of this grain, denomi- 

 nated from its colour, number of rows, and differ- 

 ent periods of ripening. The white and the yellow, 

 of eight and twelve rows, are the varieties general- 

 ly preferred. 



Corn, from its bulk, its prolific character, and sys- 

 tem of roots, must necessarily be a great feeder, 

 and draw much of its supplies from the earth; 

 whence arises the rule that it ought not immediate- 



* This is the Zea of the botanists. In what does this differ 

 from the zea or semen of the ancients ? The favourite dish of 

 the Romans was alica ; and " Alica fit e zea, quam semen ap- 

 pellavimus" Alica is made of a grain called semen. Plin. 18 

 L. Nat. Hist. 



