94 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



cooked and eaten. At this time it is one of the most 

 nourishing and digestible of all vegetables. When fully 

 ripe, the grain is ground into meal and used as food. 

 This also is very nourishing. 



Corn satisfies our need for nourishment more perfectly 

 than rice does, because it contains more fat and more 

 proteid, but not so much starch. The grain is used for 

 the manufacture of starch. Maize is largely used in 

 making alcoholic liquor and for other purposes. In 

 America the fruit of maize is the most important food 

 for beasts. The stalks and leaves are also fed to cattle, 

 and are called fodder. 



Production. According to a rough estimate by the 

 Department of Agriculture in Washington, the pro- 

 duction of maize in the world is : 



Europe .... 350 million bushels 



Asia .... i million bushels 



Africa . . . . 15 million bushels 



North America . . 2300 million bushels 



South America . . 225 million bushels 



Australia . . . 10 million bushels 



A bushel of maize is 25.4 kilos. In most years the 

 United States produces more than three fourths of all the 

 maize in the world. This crop is worth 2,500,000,000 

 pesos yearly to the American farmers. Maize is grown 

 in all parts of the Philippines. It is most important in 

 Cebu and the neighboring islands and in the Cagayan 

 valley of Luzon. 



