112 



" Unlike other cereal grains, naturalists are at no loss in deter- 

 mining the native region of maize, which is confidently held to be 

 America ; the Indians throughout that continent having been 

 found engaged in its cultivation at the period when the new world 

 was discovered. It is found growing wild in many of the West 

 India islands, as well as in the central parts of America ; and 

 there can be no doubt of its being a native of those regions."* 



As to its growing wild, authors are not agreed. Who has seen 

 it ? Some, like Lankaster, speak positively of its existence in a 

 wild state in various parts of North America ; and mention, as a 

 peculiarity of that condition, the glume which covers each grain, 

 and which, as they assert, disappears after cultivation. Others, 

 that it has not been found growing wild. 



Although it is not my purpose to write an Essay upon corn, yet 

 in consideration of the vast importance of this grain, and the 

 quantity raised in this country, its excellent qualities and the 

 many uses to which it is apphed, I may be excused if I offer a 

 few additional observations. No other cereal has a wider range. 

 It is cultivated successfully from 40 degrees South latitude to 49 

 North. We have seen large and handsome ears of reddish-yellow 

 corn, that were raised at Pembina, Dacotah Territory, in latitude 

 49. It is generally understood that it will ripen wherever the 

 average heat is sixty-five degrees through July and August. 

 Our own Norfolk County is admirably adapted to its culture. In 

 ordinary seasons it ripens well, and is usually considered a remu- 

 nerating crop. Its cultivation for several centuries would seem 

 to settle that point. Have New England farmers for seven gen- 

 erations been pursuing an unprofitable branch of their business ? 

 And have they now, for the first time, discovered that their own 

 peculiar, indigenous grain cannot be grown to advantage ? 



In this County more than a hundred bushels to the acre have 

 been raised again and again ; and fifty bushels are not considered 

 a AYonderful yield. If we look beyond our limits, we find that 

 premiums have been given for larger crops : — in Plymouth County, 

 118 bushels ; in Vermont, 113 bushels ; in New Hampshire, 130 

 bushels ; in Maine, 108 bushels ; in Kentucky, nine competitors, 

 each cultivating ten acres, gained premiums for the average of 

 121 bushels to the acre ; in New York, IGO bushels ; in Ohio, 

 162 bushels. I should hesitate to copy the last figures, unless I 

 had found the facts reported in respectable agricultural journals. 

 In Berkshire a farmer reports his average yield to be 75 bushels 

 of eight-rowed Canada corn, which, with him, has never been 

 injured by frost. 



Though we may not bring our average yield up to a hundred 



* Vegetable substances used as food for man. p. 102. 



