76 



Jin Essiiy on Indian Cojm. 



Vol. li. 



Saxon "corn," and the German " Korn," in- 

 cludes "aW seeds that grow on ears, and not 

 in ■pods, and that are made into bread." 

 " Corn," in political economy and commerce, 

 is synonymous with " bread stuti's." All the 

 British statutes r girding grain, are called 

 " corn laws." Th ; words ble and bled in 

 the French, and tli3 word " Tngo" in the 

 Spanish language, c irrespond with the word 

 '•ZeM," as thus e>pl nied. Ble was also the 

 Norman name toi corn.| 



The class Zea is divided into two orders, 

 1st Zea mays. 2d. Zea curaguaj 



The Zea belongs to the 19th class of plants 

 called Monoecia (one house.) because the 

 plants of this class have imperfect flowers, the 

 stamens and pistils growmg on the same 

 plant, but on separate corollas. 



The orders of this class are determined by 

 the numbers of styles and pistils. The Zea 

 mays belongs to the third order " Triandria," 

 three stamens. 



In the natural orders it is arranged under 

 the 4th " Gramina;" family "Cerealia," Ce- 

 real is, any grain from which bread is made, 

 from " Ceres," the goddess of corn. 



In books of horticulture it is ranged under 

 "culmiferous crops." 



Some writers call the Zea mays a " gigantic 

 grass." Col. Taylor of Virginia, speaking of 

 deep ploughing, calls it "a little tree." 



It is generally ranked as the third grain, 

 in point of utility, by European writers; they 

 placing before it, rice and wheat ; but in the 

 United States it takes precedence of all other 

 grains. 



I propose to treat of this valuable plant 

 under the following heads, viz: 



I. To what country did it originally be- 

 long 1 — Is it a native of America ? 



II. Where is it now cultivated? 



III. How much is raised in the United 

 States ] 



IV. Of the varieties of Indian Corn. 



V. Which kind is to be preferred ] 



VI. The capacity it has of retaining its 

 germinating power ] 



VII. The metho Is of cultivating it. 



VIII. Is the Indian corn capable of being 

 improved by culture ! 



IX. Its cultivation compared with other 

 grains. 



X. The different uses to which it is ap- 

 plied. 



1. To what country is the world indebted 

 for this valuable plant? 



Is it a native of America? 



I state the above as two distinct questions, 

 for it might be that the Indian corn was 

 indigenous to different countries. But it was 

 no apprenhension that the Indian corn had 



tK«lhain's Norman Uictionary. 

 5 lieose's C^yclopredia. 



been a native of any other part of the world 

 that induced me to make the suggestion. 



Not to trouble the reader with the nume- 

 rous other writers who have dwelt upon this 

 subject, I will remark that in " Lieber's En- 

 cycloepedia Americana,'''' published in 1831, 

 it IS stated, tliat "the native country of the 

 Indian corn remains still undetermined,'''' 

 )f this be the fact, is it not high time that the 

 question were decided ] 1 believe that there 

 IS on record information enough to put it 

 forever at rest; and mine has been the task 

 to collect and collate it. It is not meet that 

 a nation, who (to use the words of Col. Tay- 

 lor,) have lived " in it,'^ and almost ^'■wpon 

 it,'''' for upwards of two hundred years should 

 be unable to tell their children whether the 

 Indian corn is a native or exotic plant. It is 

 a reflection upon not only the learned, but 

 the mass of the community, that their great 

 sta-ple commodity — the plant that demands 

 and receives the patronage, the skill, and the 

 industry of a large agricultural part, of a 

 great agricultural nation, should be so imper- 

 fectly known. It is no longer to be tolerated, 

 that a crop — which has not been too strongly 

 described, as the meal, meadow, and manure 

 of the American farmer, should be treated 

 with such neglect, that in a scientific work, 

 published in our own days, and in our own 

 country, it should be represented as " an 

 unknown,^^ whose native country is undeter- 

 mined. 



I have therefore taken extraordinary pains 

 to ascertain its history, and after I have given 

 the details, it will be found very easy to pro- 

 nounce, to what portion of the globe the rest 

 of the world are indebted for the Indian Corn. 



I propose to divide this part of the subject 

 into the following heads of inquiry. 



1. Has the Indian corn been mentioned by 

 any Greek or Roman writer ? 



2. Has any traveler, prior to the discove- 

 ry of America, noticed the culture of Indian 

 corn in any other part of the world ! 



3. If it is not a native of America, whence 

 was it derived and when transplanted ? 



4. Was it known to and used by the abo- 

 riginal inhabitants of the West India Islands, 

 and of South and North America before, or at 

 the time of, their being first visited by Euro- 

 peans ? 



b. What is the general opinion of learned 

 persons upon its origin? 



6. Are there any recent discoveries that 

 will bear upon this subject? 



A few words on these questions in their 

 order. 



1. Has the Indian corn been mentioned by 

 any Greek or Roman writer? 



This point has been conceded by the author 

 of the article quoted from Lieber's Encyclo- 

 p«Edia Americana, and in so doing he has 



