106 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCE'S. 



States. In Pennsylvania, where the average crop of 

 wheat does not exceed from fourteen to seventeen 

 bushels, that of maize amounts to from twenty to 

 thirty bushels to the acre. A writer in the ' Monthly 

 American Journal of Geology and Natural Science ' 

 considers that maize produces the heaviest crops near 

 the northern limits of its range. The American 

 farmers find this advantage to attend the partial 

 culture of maize upon their farms, that the time of 

 harvesting is some weeks later than that of wheat, and 

 that, consequently, the general operations of the 

 harvest may be conducted without great bustle and 

 temporary advance of wages, to be followed by a 

 season of inaction and consequently of idleness to 

 the labourer, evils which are commonly experienced 

 in England. 



The second variety of maize has white grains. 

 This kind, which is cultivated in Spain, Portugal, and 

 Lombardy, is altogether a smaller plant than the va- 

 riety just described, seldom exceeding six or seven 

 feet in height : the leaves are narrower, and the tops 

 hang downwards. The ears or spikes are not more 

 than six or seven inches long. The French, among 

 whom this grain is partially cultivated, have given to 

 it the name of Ble de Turquie, doubtless because their 

 seed was originally obtained from that country. 



Except in unusually favourable seasons, the two 

 varieties hitherto described will not come to maturity 

 in England, although they are sometimes sown as a 

 curiosity in warm spots in gardens. 



The third variety has both yellow and white 

 seeds. It is even smaller than the last-mentioned, 

 seldom rising to a greater height than four feet : 

 the ears do not often exceed four or five inches 

 in length. In ordinary seasons, it will ripen its 

 grains perfectly in England ; arid one reason why it 

 has been presumed that its cultivation would prove 



