CHAPTER VII 

 CORN . 



" The rose may bloom for England, 



The lily for France unfold; 

 Ireland may honor the shamrock, 



Scotland the thistle bold; 

 But the shield of the great Republic, 



The glory of the West, 

 Shall bear a stalk of tasseled corn, 



Of all our wealth the best. 

 The arbutus and the golden-rod 



The heart of the North may cheer, 

 And the mountain laurel for Maryland 



Its royal clusters may rear, 

 And the jasmine and magnolia 



The crest of the South adorn, 

 But the wide Republic's emblem 



Is the bounteous golden corn." 



Edna Procter. 



I. CORN, THE GREAT AMERICAN CEREAL 



Indian corn. No one knows the entire history of Indian 

 corn, whose special name is given as maize. The name itself 

 contains a bit of history. Columbus found a strange plant 

 on the Island of Hayti, which the natives called "mahiz, " 

 and from this we have the name maize. Botanists have called 

 the plant Zea mays, the second or specific name being a modi- 

 fication of the old Indian name. 



The early explorers of America found the new corn in 



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