180 MAIZE. 



tween the maize plants appears to authorize the general custom that 

 prevails of interposing som3 other crop in the fields under Indian 

 corn ; that which is most generally interposed is either the dwarf 

 haricot or the potato. I observed the same custom in the more tem- 

 perate valleys of the Andes, where it is almost as necessary as in 

 Europe to leave free spaces between the plants to give them air and 

 sun ; but the plant is cultivated alone in the hotter regions. Soon 

 after maize has sprung it receives a first hoeing, and after it has got 

 to a certain height, a second ; in Alsace, for instance, it is custom- 

 ary to hoe towards the end of June ; but I never saw any operation 

 of the kind performed between the tropics : the only care they 

 seemed to take of their fields of Indian corn, was to pull up foul weeds 

 In Europe it is usual to take away the sprouts which rise beside the 

 principal stem ; this precaution is also unnecessary in equatorial 

 countries where the ground is fertile ; the more lateral stems that 

 rise, the better, as they all become richly laden with grain. I may 

 also say as much for the system of topping which prevails among us, 

 tiiat system which consists in removing the extremity of the stem 

 which bears the male flowers after the fecundation has been efifected. 

 The leaves and heads of stems which are obtained by this operation, 

 compose a forage by no means to be despised. 



The time during which the crop of maize remains on the ground, 

 is greatly influenced by the mean temperature of the climate ; in hot 

 intertropical countries, the grain ripens in less than three months, 

 and there are even farms upon which four considerable crops are 

 gathered in the course of the year. On the temperate plateau or 

 table-land of Bogota, the plant ripens in six months ; in Alsace about 

 the same length of time is required, although at Bechelbronn, in 1836, 

 the maize which was sown on the 1st of June was gathered ripe on 

 the 1st of October. Maize is dried either in exposing the spikes 

 stripped of their covering upon the floor of a well-ventilated gra- 

 nary, or by hanging them up in bunches or sheaves under sheds, or 

 under the eaves of the house. In warm countries the drying is 

 accomplished by one or two days' exposure to the sun, after which 

 the spikes are stored. The maize is freed from the stem with the hand 

 in small farms, with the flail in larger establishments. In America 

 the operation is never done until the moment when the grain is want- 

 ed, as it is said that the grain is less subject to be attacked by 

 insects v/hen it is kept in the ear. When animals are fed on maize, 

 hey are accustomed to separate it for themselves. 



The produce in Indian corn varies greatly, as appears by the fol* 

 lowing table, in different countries : 



Countriei. Produce in butbeli 



per acr«. 



Lavanthal 81 



Carinthia 55 



Austria and Moravia 24 



Hungary and Croatia 42 



Tuscany % 



France (climate of PiVs) 29 



Alsace 43 



Venezuela 147 



