108 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



arated, and rises during the fermentation, and is used for 

 burning and other purposes, 15 or 16 gallons of oil rising, it is 

 said, from every 100 bushels of corn. 



Starch is also extensively manufactured in this country from 

 Indian corn. The importation of starch into the United States 

 in 1857, amounted to only 118,838 pounds, valued at $3,695. 

 Most of this, or 51,000 pounds, came from Scotland, 44,000 

 from Holland, 14,000 pounds from England, and the remainder 

 from Mexico, Cuba, France, Canada and China. 



A patent was issued in England in the year 1855, for the 

 use of finely ground and bolted Indian meal for sizing, stiffen- 

 ing and finishing textile fabrics, such as cotton and linen goods. 

 This is a substitution of corn for wheat flour for these purposes. 



The husks of corn are soaked in warm water, and then 

 twisted and plaited into durable and serviceable house mats. 

 They are also extensively used for making mattresses, being 

 split for this purpose like straw for braiding. The finer they 

 are split the softer they are. 



A beautiful writing paper has been made of corn husks in 

 Italy. A greyish paper can be made from all parts of the 

 plant. Cobbett published a book printed on paper made from 

 Indian corn. 



A good purple dye is sometimes made from the purple 

 varieties of corn. 



But it is as a food for fattening cattle, swine and poultry, 

 that Indian corn rises to paramount importance as a cultivated 

 crop. The flavor of corn-fed beef and pork is better than that 

 of any other, and the flesh has greater solidity and substance y 

 while in France it is thought, and not without reason, that 

 poultry fed and fattened on it acquire a high flavored flesh, 

 like that of the English pheasant, and that their eggs are of a 

 superior color and flavor. 



Nor is it less important for feeding to stock of other kinds, 

 and for other purposes than fattening, as for dairy cows, &c., 

 and, for the raising of young stock, well-cured corn fodder is 

 not only one of the healthiest, but in every other respect, one 

 of the most economical articles of food. 



Indian corn began to be imported more extensively into Eng- 

 land in 1843, in which year it received 81,000 bushels, but in 

 1854 there were imported into Great Britain 10,797,584 bushels 



