140 



An Essay on Indian Corn. 



Vol. 11. 



in this corn (if corn it is,) there has been no 

 intromission nor substitution of any mineral 

 matter, but that a chemical change has taken 

 place similar to that which transforms wood 

 into jet ; and if therefore it is correct to rank- 

 jet among fossils, this may properly enough 

 be denominated fossilized corn. 



II. Where is it now cultivated 1 

 Indian corn is noiv cultivated extensively 

 not only in America, but throughout a great 

 part of Asia and Africa, and also in several 

 countries of the south of Europe, as in Spain 

 and Italy ; and in many of the provinces of 

 France it is said to form almost exclusively 

 the sustance of the inhabitants. [Lieber's 

 Enc. Am. tit. Maize.] 



Arthur Young, in his travels through 

 France and Spain, observes, that the regions 

 of maize exhibited plenty and affluence, 

 compared with those where other crops are 

 cultivated. 



In speaking of this grain or gigantic grass, 

 Johnson says, it is propagated in England 

 as a curiosity. But it would appear from a 

 pamphlet published in 1828,* by Mr. Cob- 

 bett, entitled a Treatise on Cobbett's Corn, 

 that he attempted to raise it England, and 

 in Reese's Cyclopcedia, tit. Maize, an ac- 

 count is given of some experiments in rais- 

 ing this grain in Ireland, by Richard Bucke- 

 ley. Other experiments are there also alluded 

 to, made respectively by M. Duhamel aTTd 

 M. Anaiens, but the place where they were 

 made is not mentioned. 



It is calculated! that in England there 

 are about 34,000,000 acres in oats and beans, 

 and between 2 and 3,000,000 in barley. They 

 raise about three hundred thousand cwt. of 

 hops, and make about four millions of gal- 

 lons of cider annually. 



In Scotland, there are about five millions 

 of acres under regular cultivation, of which 

 not more than one million eight hundred 

 thousand are under grain; of which, one 

 hundred and forty thousand produce wheat. 

 Oats is their staple, and the food of its rural 

 population, which they raise on one million 

 two hundred and sixty thousand acres. Bar- 

 ley occupies two hundred and eighty thou- 

 sand acres, being raised principally for dis- 

 tillation. 



In Ireland they raise wheat and barley, 

 but their main objects are oats and potatoes, 

 of the latter as the staple food of a con- 

 siderable body of the people. 



They raise annually about one million five 

 hundred thousand pounds worth of flax. 



In Denmark the chill atmosphere of the 

 climate is less favorable to the cultivation of 



* I have not been able to get a sight of this pamphlet, 

 but have a specimen of the corn. 



t See ihe Encyclopoedia of Geography, title Produc- 

 tive Industry. 



wheat than barley, rye and oats, all of which 

 afford a large surplus for exportation. 



In Sweden and Norway they have one 

 million three hundred and sixty-three thou- 

 sand acres of land under cultivation, but the 

 annual average of grain sown on each farm 

 does not amount to a bushel, and the produce 

 of the whole country does not exceed seventy- 

 one thousand quarters; hence Sweden, until 

 lately, imported grain to a great extent ; and 

 such was the scarcity before 1812, that the 

 peasantry often ground the bark, and even 

 the wood of the fir-trees into flour. In 1827, 

 Sweden exported thirty-nine thousand, and 

 in 1828, one hundred and sixty-four thousand, 

 tons of grain of every description. 



There is no country in Europe which pro- 

 duces a greater amount of valuable agricul- 

 tural productions than Holland and Belgium. 

 But their climate being humid, the principal 

 objects of culture in the Dutch Provinces are 

 connected with pasturage. 



From careful enquiries carried on by the 

 government of the Netherlands, the agricul- 

 tural capital of the country is estimated as 

 follows : 



A French hectacre is 2.4736 14 acres 

 English. 



France, in regard to internal economy is 

 one ot the richest and most flourishing coun- 

 tries in the world. Grain is raised in sufli- 

 cient quantities to supply their extensive 

 population with food: Maize is mixed with 

 other grain in the southern departments. 

 The following is an average produce of grain 

 from 1800 to 1812 : 



Wheat 

 Rye 



Maize" 



Buckwheat 



Barley 



Potatoes 



Oats 



Hectolitre. 

 51,-500,200 

 80,200,161 

 6,302,315 

 8,409,473 

 12,576,603 

 19,800,741 

 32,066,587 



160,946,081 



