MAIZE. 



MAIZE. 



two/*,' and sometimes toasted. There is a 

 sort of it large and round, which the Spaniards 

 eat toasted ; they also grind it and make cakes, 

 which they eat hot; and these, in some places, 

 they call ' arepas? They also make bread, to 

 keep, and sweet cakes of it." 



As Acoste died in 1600, at Salamanca, in his 

 60th year, this must be regarded as very early 

 testimony upon the subject. He surely would 

 not have been so very particular in his descrip- 

 tion of this grain had it been previously known 

 in Europe. Indeed entire ears of Indian corn 

 have been found enveloped in Peruvian and 

 Mexican mummies, preserved long before the 

 discovery of America. 



It is probable that some inferior species of 

 the genus to which maize belongs, have been 

 found in Guinea, Turkey, and other portions 

 of the Old World; but that the kinds now so 

 highly valued and generally cultivated were of 

 American origin, there can be no doubt, both 

 from the strongest negative and positive evi- 

 dence. Maize is now extensively cultivated 

 in Asia and Africa. In Europe, it is only in the 

 extreme southern parts, France, Spain, and 

 Italy, that the crop can be raised so as to be 

 profitable. 



Varieties of Indian Corn. The varieties of 

 corn cultivated in the United States are very 

 numerous. A list embracing many of these 

 has been furnished by P. A. Brown, Esq., in 

 an interesting Essay on Indian corn. (See 

 Fanner's Cabinet, vol. ii.) The following va- 

 rieties, distinguished by peculiar characteristics 

 of the grain, cob, &c.. are included in Mr. 

 Brown's enumeration. It is an interesting 

 fact, that the rows of grains on a cob, however 

 numerous or limited, always present even 

 numbers. 



Yellow Corn. No. 1. The yellow gourdseed, 

 so called from the resemblance of its long, 

 narrow grains to the seed of the gourd. This 

 has 24, and occasionally even more rows. Mr. 

 Brown makes 7 varieties of this according to 

 the number of rows regulated by admixture 

 with other kinds of corn. No. 8. The genuine 

 King Philip corn, so called from the celebrated 

 chief of the Wampanoags. It has 8 rows, the 

 lowest number found on any kind of Indian 

 corn. It is a hardy plant, the seed of which 

 was originally obtained from the Northern In- 

 dians. No. 9. The Sioux or yellow-flint corn 

 with 12 rows, derived from the Sioux tribe of 

 Indians which formerly resided in Canada. 

 No. 10. The Sioux variety grown in Pennsyl- 

 vania. No. 11. The Sioux and gourdseed 

 mixed 16 rows. 



White Indian Corn, a division in which Mr. 

 Brown includes the white flint, ichite flour-corn, 

 and white sugar, or sweet corn. He has 

 omitted the white gourdseed, which is by far 

 the most common corn raised in the South, 

 where it is sometimes found with from 24 to 36 

 rows of grains upon the ear. No. 12. Genuine 

 white-flint, 12 row corn raised in Virginia, j 

 No. 13. White-flint, 10 rows. No. 14. Early 

 white flint, and white flour corn, 12 rows. 

 No. 15. Peruvian corn, 8 rows. No. 16. Penn- 

 sylvania, 8 rows, called in Maryland, Smith's 

 sarly white. No. 17. New Jersey 8 rows. 

 No. 18. New Y->rk. 10 rows, and Mandan In- , 

 744 



dian corn. No. 19. Mandan corn, and white 

 sugar corn. No. 20. Early sugar corn, with 

 shrunken grains and 12 rows. 



Hcemetite, or Blood-red Indian Corn. 21. Com- 

 j mon sized haemetite, with 12 rows and red cob. 

 i 22. The red cob with white grains. 23. Red 

 cob with yellow grains. 24. Red cob with 

 brown grains. 25. Red cob, with white gourd- 

 seed. 26. Red cob with gourdseed and yellow 

 flint. 27. White cob with red grain. 28. Speck- 

 led red and yellow grains on a white cob. 

 29. The same on a red cob. 30. The dwarf 

 haematite, commonly called Guinea corn. 

 31. Blue corn, with 10 rows. 32. Texas corn, 

 each grain of which grows enveloped in a 

 distinct covering or tunic, the whole ear being 

 also enveloped in a husk. 33. Mexican corn, 

 found in the envelope of a mummy. 34. Cora 

 raised in England by William Cobbett. 35. The 

 celebrated Dutton flint corn. 



The remarks of the late John Lorain, in his 

 Practice of Husbandry, convey so much infor- 

 mation relative to the kinds of corn chiefly 

 cultivated in the United States, the various me- 

 rits of each kind, and the modes of culture, that 

 we cannot refrain from giving a condensation 

 of them. 



There are five original corns in use for field 

 planting, in the Middle and Southern States, 

 to wit : the big white and yellow, the little white 

 and yellow, and the ivhite Virginia gourdseed. The 

 cobs of the two first mentioned are thick and 

 long, the grains are much wider than deep, and 

 where the rows of grains meet and unite with 

 each other, their sides fall off almost to nothing. 

 This gives the outside ends of the grain a cir- 

 cular form ; and communicates to the ear an 

 appearance somewhat like a fluted column. 

 This formation greatly diminishes the size of 

 the ends and sides of the grains; and is the 

 cause of the hard flinty corns being less pro- 

 ductive, in proportion to the length and thick- 

 ness of their cobs, than the gourdseed corn, 

 As the little white and yellow are formed much 

 in the same way, and the cobs considerably 

 smaller, they are still less productive than the 

 big white and yellow, but ripen earlier. 



The grain of those four flinty kinds are very 

 firm, and without indenture in their outside 

 ends. The two smaller kinds seem to be still 

 more hard and solid than the larger ; and the 

 colour of the little yellow deeper than that of 

 the big. 



The ears of the Virginia gourdseed are not 

 very long, neither is the cob so thick as that 

 of the big white and yellow. But the forma- 

 tion of the grain makes the ear very thick. 

 They frequently produce from thirty to thirty- 

 two, and sometimes thirty-six rows of very 

 long narrow grains, of a soft open texture. 

 These grains are almost flat, at their outside 

 ends, are also compactly united from the cob 

 to the surface of the ear, without any of that 

 fluted appearance between the rows of grain, 

 which causes the flinty corns to be much less 

 productive in proportion to the size of the ears. 



The gourdseed corn ripens later than any 

 other, but is by far the most productive. It is 

 invariably white, unless it has been mixed 

 with the yellow flinty corns. Then it is called 

 the yellow gourdseed, and too many farmer* 



