MAIZE. 105 



United States of America about the middle of May, 

 so as to avoid the mischance of its experiencing 

 frost after it is once out of the ground. The Indians 

 who inhabited the country previously to the forma- 

 tion of any settlement upon its shores by Europeans, 

 having no calendar or other means of calculating 

 the efflux of time, were guided by certain natural 

 indications in their choice of periods for agricultural 

 operations. The time for their sowing of maize was 

 governed by the budding of some particular tree, 

 and by the visits of a certain fish to their waters, 

 both which events observation had proved to be such 

 regular indicators of the season, as fully to warrant 

 the faith which was placed on their recurrence. 

 These simple and untaught people discovered and 

 practised a method of preserving their grain after 

 harvest, which afforded a certain protection against 

 the ravages of insects, and which might be advan- 

 tageously adopted in other situations, and in climates 

 where this evil is very prevalent. Their method was 

 to separate the corn from the cobb as soon as the 

 harvest was finished ; to dry it thoroughly by expo- 

 sure to the sun, and to a current of air 5 and then to 

 deposit it in holes dug out of the earth in dry situa- 

 tions, lining these holes with mats of dried grass, and 

 covering them with earth, so as completely to prevent 

 the access of air. 



With the exception of artificial irrigation, to which 

 recourse is not had in the United States, the method 

 of sowing and managing maize is there singularly 

 analogous to that pursued in Mexico. The propor- 

 tionate produce, from a given quantity of seed or a 

 certain breadth of land, is smaller, however, than 

 that realized in Mexico, although the practice of 

 manuring is universally followed. As compared with 

 the yielding of other kinds of grain, maize cultiva- 

 tion is, nevertheless, highly productive in the United 



