ESSEX SOCIETY. 113 



gantic size, and beneath all, spring lilies and bulbous plants, as 

 if not an inch of soil could be spared. Here also, the endless va- 

 riety of creeping plants rise through the twining limbs with their 

 myriads of brilliant flowers. Thousands of species still remain 

 undescribed, and there may be thick and tangled forests which 

 the foot of civilized man has never trodden. Nor is this rich 

 luxuriance for a season alone ; for the spring, or the summer, or 

 the autumn. It is everlasting. The unfading verdure hides 

 the very appearance of death. The trunks of the decayed trees, 

 matted, and heaped together, form only rich beds for the living, 

 to spring forth in the newness of life. The eye is sated with 

 beauty. The air is filled with perfumes, and one is lost in 

 wonder and amazement at nature herself. This is the native 

 country of maize. A country unparalleled in the magnificence 

 of its flora, and unequalled in the depth and richness of its 

 soil ! 



The importance and value of Indian corn are too well known 

 to every practical agriculturist, to need illustration. Upon 

 this part of our subject we shall dwell but briefly. On every 

 part of the globe where the hand of civilization has broken 

 the turf, this beautiful grain receives a large share of attention. 

 In the western continent it is raised from Canada to Patagonia, 

 and the islands of the South Sea, through almost every variety 

 of climate and people, and over an extent, from north to south, 

 of more than seven thousand miles. It was introduced into 

 Africa by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and is culti- 

 vated more or less, from the Mediterranean Sea and the Libian 

 Desert, to the„Cape of Good Hope. In Java and the Asiatic 

 Isles, it forms an important product. In Central Asia it is 

 known and valued, as well as in Australia and fhe islands of 

 the Indian Ocean. In Europe it is extensively produced, in 

 Hungary, in Lombardy, in France and Spain, and we might 

 almost say, from the Ural chain to the Atlantic. No grain 

 could secure such favor from all parts of the world, except 

 from its intrinsic value. No other grain, in fact, except rice, is 

 so extensively cultivated. 



Its flexibility of organization makes it very easy of adaptation 

 to climate and soil. Though it prefers moist and rich soils, 

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