VOL. XI\ XO. 49. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



389 



is, perhaps, our Indian Corn (Zen Mnys, L.) And, 

 indeed, in the districts most favorable to its cul- 

 ture, it may be said to rival wheat itself in impor- 

 tance. Those who are not in the habit of regard- 

 ing the vegetable kingdom ivith a botanicnl eye, 

 may possibly be surprised to hear this plant ennriie- 

 rated among the Grasses ; yet, if they will advert 

 to the definition already given, they will find the 

 Indian Corn to be a genuine member of the Gra- 

 mineous tribe. It presents, indeed, one of the few 

 instances in which the stem is solid wilh pith, in. 

 stead of being hollow or fistular between the nodes ; 

 but in every essential feature it will be found on 

 examination to ben true and undoubted grass. The 

 same remark applies to the Broom Corn, the Sugar 

 Cane, and some others, in which the culm is filled 

 with pith, In a district like this, where every oc- 

 cupant of a field or garden, cultivates his crop of 

 Indian corn, it would be wholly superfluous to 

 dwell on the c.vcellence and manifold uses of this 

 universal favorite. iSutfice it to say, that while it 

 is the most productive of our cultivated grains, 

 every portion of the plant has its value in rural 

 and domestic economy. The largo pithy culm 

 about the time of flowering, is replete with a rich 

 saccharine juice — froin which, no doubt, a conside- 

 rable quantity of sugar might be e.Ttracted. The 

 entire herbage is, therefore, highly esteemed as a 

 nutritious food for cattle ; the ears, or spikes of 

 fruit, afford a choice treat to the epicure, even be- 

 fore they arrive at maturity ; and when fully ripe, 

 yield copious nourishment, in many forms, both for 

 man and beast ; while the very receptacles of the 

 seeds — long considered as mere refuse — may be 

 either ground with the grain as food for stock, or 

 reserved as a convenient auxiliary fuel, in lighting 

 up our anthracite fires. In Pennsylvania, and 

 generally to the North, the farina of Indian corn is 

 not extensively used by itself, in making bread, 

 probably for want of skill and usage; but whoever 

 has etperienced the hospitality of our fellow-citi- 

 zens on the southern side of " Mason and Dixon's 

 Line," knows that corn bread is there admirably 

 prepared and almost universally preferred to every 

 other kind. The inhabitants of the West Indies, 

 also, derive a large portion of their subsistence 

 from our crops of Indian corn. It must be added, 

 moreover, that a vast amount of this grain, in con- 

 junction with rye, is converted by the distilleries 

 into alcoholic poison — and its wholesome proper- 

 ties transmuted into the pestilent ministers to a de- 

 praved appetite. There are two other grain-bear- 

 ing grasses yet to be noticed ; each of which is so 

 eminently valuable to the human race, that it is 

 not easy to say which is entitled to the highest po- 

 sition in the scale of importance. It wilt of course 

 be understood that I refer to Wheat (Triticum sa- 

 tivum, L.,) and Rice (Onjza sntiva, L.) In point 

 of tH<rmsic value, I think there is no doubt that 

 wheat may justly claim the precedence; but as 

 rice is believed to afford sustenance to a larger 

 portion of the human family than any other grain, 

 we may allow it on this occasion to take rank as 

 the first among the Verealia — and therefore, accord- 

 ing to our arrangement of the subject, the last to 

 be treated of. Wheat, however, is clearly the 

 most important of the grains, in the temperate 

 zones, especially in the higher latitudes. I shall 

 not trespass on your patience by enlarging on a 

 subject so familiar to all, as is the value and im- 

 portance of wheat. You are all aware that in the 

 greater portion of our happy country, especially in 

 the middle and western Stales, it is one of the 



prominent objects of our agriculture. So long, 

 I therefore, as our people shall apply themselves to 

 the tillage of the soil, wo may reasonably hope to 

 be exempted from that fearful calamity, a want of 

 j bread. In addition to the supply of food furnished 

 I by wheat, I may remark that our laundresses are 

 j chiefly indebted to its farina for that important ar- 

 ticle in their operations known by the name of 

 starch ; and in the olden time, when, whatever 

 may have been the interior condition of the head, 

 fashion required the exterior, at least, to be con- 

 spicuously decorated, the same amylaceous extract 

 supplied the hair-dresser with his powdtr. As we 

 have neglected the external finish, so elaborately 

 bestowed on the pericranium, by our ancestors, it 

 would seem to be but reasonable that we should 

 give the more attention to the furniture within. — 

 Although capable of yielding alcohol— like all the 

 farinaceous seeds — Wheat is generally too valua- 

 ble, as an article of food, to be desecrated by the 

 process of distillation. 



In our notice of the Ceredia, tho last in order, 

 and, as is supposed, the first in importance, by rea- 

 son of its extensive use, is the Rice plant. The 

 beautiful grain which this grass affords, though 

 considered by us here more as a delicacy than as a 

 standing dish, is the principal sustenance of mil- 

 lions of the human race. Being a kind of serai- 

 aquatic plant, Rice flourishes best in grounds that 

 are low and marshy, or situated that they can be 

 overflowed — though there is a variety called up- 

 land or Mountain Rice, which is much cultivated ; 

 and every where, within the tropical and adjacent 

 regions, where circumstances are favorable to its 

 culture, this admirable grass is to be found. In 

 the southern parts of India — as I have had occa- 

 sion to witness — the dense and squalid population 

 is almost exclusively subsisted upon rice. This 

 plant belongs to a small subJivision of the grass 

 tribe, in which the flowers ure often furnished, with 

 the extraordinary number of six stamens — or pos- 

 sibly they may each consist of two florets concen- 

 trated within the proper envelopes of a single flow- 

 er— by which crowding process, all the parts of 

 one of the florets, except the stamens^ may be sup- 

 pressed, or abortive ; a phenomenon, of which it is 

 believed there are many analogous instances in the 

 economy of vegetation. The seeds are closely 

 invested by the inner chaffy envelope, or paleae, 

 after the manner of oats and barley and while thus 

 coated, are known in the East by tho name of 

 Padda. They are deprived of this covering by 

 |)assing them between mill-stones properly adjust- 

 ed for the purpose, and are thus prepared for the 

 culinary department, much in the same way that 

 hulled and pearl barley are manufactured. The 

 albumen, or farinaceous portion of rice, is of a re- 

 markably pure white — almost translucent — and of 

 a very bland, nutri;ious quality. The gluten which, 

 it contains, enables the Chinese to manufacture 

 from it various ornamental articles of great beauty 

 and delicacy. This gluten is also said to be an 

 important ingredient in the preparation of Japan 

 paper. The art of extracting alcohol from the 

 seeds, has been applied to rice as well as to the 

 other Cerealia. The fiery liquor called Arrack — the 

 generic name, in the East, for alcohol — is obtained 

 by distillation from rice, in conjunction with sugar, 

 or the juice of some species of palm ; and in Chi- 

 na, an amber-colored wine is also made from that 

 grain. 



From the sketch now presented — (which I fear 

 has been tedious,) though extremely superficial 



and imperfect— I think it may be perceived that 

 the simple tribe of plants technically called Grasses, 

 is not only one of tho most abundant, but decided- 

 ly the most valiial)le and import:int to man, of all 

 the many natural families in the vegetable creation. 

 That while its peculiar characters cannot fail to 

 interest the lover of natural science, its uses, abu- 

 ses, and manifold relations to thn welfare of socie- 

 ty must ever give it a strong claim to the attention 

 of the agriculturist, the philanthropist and the po- 

 litical economist." 



NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The editor of "The Agriculturist," (Nashville, 

 Tenn.,) represents us as opposing the locating of 

 the school to be connected with this Society, at 

 Washinfrtun ; and as " vehemently urging the pro- 

 priety of the location being in Yankee land." In 

 this passage our views are not correctly reported. 

 We thought a national society and a national 

 sohool would b(! unwieldy ; and preferred sectional 

 societies, and thought New England sufficiently 

 large for one section ; and of course desired the 

 school for New England to be "in Yankee land." 

 If there be a national school, we can adopt the lan- 

 guage of the Agriculturist in relation to that, and 

 say, " we do not think ourselves very strong stick- 

 lers for suc/i a school, admitting there is one estab- 

 lished, being in any particular section of the coun- 

 try."— En. N E. K. 



BENEFITS OF A CLAY MIXTURE ON SAN- 

 DY LANDS. 



A correspondent of the Western Farmer says : 

 "Several years since, when a resident of New 

 England, I purchased a piece of dry, sandy land, 

 denominated there "pine plains," that had been 

 very much worn. A portion of it, about 1 3-4 acre, 

 was on the verge of a deep ravine, and a little more 

 elevated than the remainder of the lot. This 

 piece had been sown the fall previous to rye and 

 stocked with clover. The rye was harvested — an 

 inferior crop — and the ground, I found in the fall, 

 was not to appearance more than half stocked. — 

 Not having manure for a spring crop, and clay be- 

 ing handy, I carted on to the piece about thirty 

 ox-cart loads of clay ; this, however, was not pure, 

 but supposed to contain about one third sand ; the 

 same was spread upon the surface of the ground in 

 the fall. In the spring it had formed a complete 

 coating over the whole surface ; the result was, a 

 heavy crop of clover. The next spring, about 20 

 loads of yard manure was spread upon it. It was 

 then broken up, rolled, harrowed and planted to 

 corn, about the 10th of May. The result was, 

 ab(>nt ninety bushels of sound corn. I had corn 

 enough for my own use and sold about fifty bush- 

 els for fifty dollars. This was my first experiment 

 in farming. It is nearly eight years since the clay 

 was applied, and I am told the ground is still bene- 

 fited by it. The application was continued on 

 other portions of the lot with equally beneficial re- 

 sults as long as 1 occupied it." 



Time gives wings of lightning to pleasure, but 

 feet of lead to pain, and lends expectation a curb, 

 but enjoyment a spur. It roba beauty of her charms 

 to bestow them on her picture, and builds a monu- 

 ment to merit, but denies it a house; it is the tran- 

 sient and deceitful flatterer of falsehood, but the 

 tried and final friend of truth. — Lacon. 



