CHAPTER XIV 



CORN 



But let the good old corn adorn 



The hills our fathers trod; 

 Still let us, for his golden corn, 



Send up our thanks to God. 



WHITTIER. The Corn Song. 



ALTHOUGH corn is a grass it does not have a hollow stem, and 

 the inflorescence is quite unlike other grasses. 



The new world is the home of the corn plant, and the United 

 States is the greatest corn country of the world, producing more 

 than all other countries combined. Argentine Republic stands 

 second in corn production, where the yield is about one-sixteenth 

 as great as that of the United States. Over two and one-half bil- 

 lion bushels are grown in the United States annually. It is the 

 leading crop of the country in money value and exceeds all other 

 crops, except potatoes, in tonnage. The grain is chiefly used for 

 stock feed and in the production of meal for human food. For 

 stock it is also used as roughage in the form of green feed, dry 

 fodder, stover and silage. The grain is also used as human food 

 in the form of corn flakes and other breakfast dishes. It is eaten 

 as green corn and certain types are used for canning and popping. 

 Starch, corn syrup and corn oil are now extensively manufactured 

 from the grain. The syrup is a wholesome substitute for cane 

 syrup. The oil when refined is used in cooking and as a salad oil. 

 A number of stock feeds are produced as by-products from 

 factories where corn is used. Gluten meal is perhaps the leading 

 by-product. It is a rich stock feed obtained from corn starch 

 factories. Husks and cobs are also useful by-products. 



Figure 130 shows at a glance the distribution of the corn crop 

 in the United States. The area where corn is intensively grown 

 is gradually moving northward. Great attention has recently 

 been given to the improvement of corn through the work of corn 

 contests and boys' corn clubs (Fig. 131) throughout the corn 

 growing states. This has increased and doubtless will continue to 

 increase the average yield of corn in many sections. 



Classes of Corn. There are six main types or classes 

 of corn shown in figure 132. In order of importance the four main 



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