No. 10. 



jin Essay on Indian Corn. 



151 



No. 26. The red cob with gourd seed 



and yellow flint. 

 No. 27. White cob with red grain. 

 No. 28. Speckled red and yellow grains 



on a white cob. 

 No 29. The same on red cob. 

 No. 30. The dwarf hcernetite, common- 

 ly called Guinea corn, 

 D. Blue corn. 



No. 31. Blue corn. Ten rows. 

 £. No. 32. The corn of Texas ; each grain 

 is enclosed in a pod or husk, ami the ear in a 

 husk. 



No. 33. Corn found in an envelope of a 



Mexican mummy. 

 No. 34. Corn grown near Sheffield, York- 

 shire, England, in 183.5, from seed 

 raised by Wm. Cobbett. 

 No. 35. The famous Button corn. 

 A former collection made by me, and pre- 

 sented to the royal Academy of France, (Par- 

 is,) contained forty-two varieties. 



V. Of the varieties of Indian corn, which 

 kind is preferred for cultivation 1 



Mr. Taylor says, that in selecting Indian 

 corn regard should be had to three circum- 

 stances. 



1st. The most stalk. 



2d. The largest cob. 



3d. Longest grain. 



To which I will add, 4th, early growth and 

 quick culture. 



Upon the size of the stalk he sets a high 

 value. 1st, because it produces some econo- 

 my in labor ; for one man can gather far more 

 grain, stalk, blade, top, shuck and cob, in the 

 same time when the plant is large than when 

 it is small. 



2d. It produces a greater quantity of fer- 

 tilizing matter to be returned to the soil. 



3d. The longest and thickest cob (if the 

 length of the grain is equal) produces the 

 most corn. 



4th. Length of the grain, (supposing the cob 

 to be equally long and large) decidedly set- 

 tles the superiority of the farinaceous product. 



5th. The earliest coru, and that which 

 comes quickest to maturity, is most esteemed 

 by the horticulturist, as it commands the best 

 prices for the table, but it is generally dwarf- 

 ish. 



VI. Capability of preservation and reten- 

 tion of powei of germination. 



That Indian corn, when well dried, will 

 keep for many years and preserve its capabil- 

 ity of germination, is stated by most writers 

 upon the subject; but none of. them that I 

 have consulted, specify the particular time it 

 may be kept, or set any limit to its re-produc- 

 tive property. The ear or spike of corn found 

 in the envelope of the Mexican mummies 

 will serve to put this question to the test, for 

 Mr. Peale has obligingly consented that the 



experiment may be tried upon a few grains. 

 The result will be communicated. 



To prevent the seeds of corn from germi- 

 nating they should be kept dry; no seed can 

 germinate vvithoui moisture. 



No germination takes place in pure carbon- 

 ic acid, hydrogen, or nitrogen gas, or very 

 rarified air, nor do these gasses destroy the 

 seed ; they merely prevent its developement 

 into a plant. 



Nor will any germination take place in a 

 temperature below the freezing point of water. 



VII. The method of cultivating Indian 

 Corn in the United States. 



Col. John Taylor, of Caroline county, Vir- 

 ginia, gives us the following account of the 

 method of cultivating Indian Corn in Mary- 

 land, Virginia, and North Carolina ; [Arator 

 Bait. 1817 ; p. 101.] 



"The rows are never ploughed but in one 

 direction, cross ploughing being wholly aban- 

 doned. Their width is five and a half feet. — 

 The field being once thrown into the position 

 of ridges and furrows, never requires to be 

 laid off again. The furrow is left as deep 

 as po.ssible, and when the field comes again 

 into tillage, the list or ridge is made upon this 

 furrow, so that there is a regular alternity 

 between ridges and tijrrows. If the soil is of 

 a friable nature, a large plough drawn by four 

 horses, and cutting a sod about 12 inches wide 

 and 8 inches deep, is run on each side of this 

 old furrow, and raises a ridge in its centre, on 

 which to plant the corn. The old ridge is 

 split by a large trowel-hoe-plough, having a 

 coulter'on the point,t wo mould-boards, drawn 

 by four horses, and cutting ten inches deep. 

 If the soil is stiff or tough with turf, then 

 first plough with four horses, ridges or lists 

 on the old water furrow, with four furrows of 

 the same depth and width. On the summit 

 of this ridge or list, a deep and wide furrow 

 is run with a trowel-hoc-plough and two 

 mould-boards, in which the corn is planted, 

 and covered between two and three inches 

 deep with the foot. The planting is guided 

 by a string carried across the ridges, with 

 coloured marks at the distance apart intended 

 for the corn. This furrow is a complete 

 weeding of the i-idge, previous to planting, 

 which it should barely precede. The corn 

 receives no more ploughing until it is thinned 

 and hand-hoed along the rows, about two feet 

 wide. After this, a deep furrow is run on 

 each side of it, by a large plough, drawn by 

 two horses, with a mould-board, causing the 

 earth thrown out of it to meet the corn, though 

 the furrow is a foot from it. Thenceforth the 

 tillage consists of a streak or furrow, of a 

 mere weeding plough called a 'skimmer,' 

 cutting with two wings, twenty-four inches, 

 drawn by one horse; and of a central, deep 

 and wide furrow made with a trowel-hoe 



