TROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 221 



maize, or rather tliat produced on the sacred islands in Lake Titicaca, and 

 on the Peninsula of Copacabana, was dedicated lo the Inca, and made into 

 bread for him by the Virgins of the Sun. It was also used in the rites of 

 the ancient religion. 



" But the maize par excellence of Peru is that produced in the deep val- 

 leys of the snowy Andes, through which the head waters of the Amazon 

 have their course. Tiiese valleys are relatively warm, even at the altitude 

 of from 9,000 to 10,000 feet. They are very narrow, often nothing more 

 than gigantic chasms, where the rivers flow between almost precipitous 

 walls, but sometimes they widen out and give strips of intervale land, 

 which the Incas widened by terracing up the sides of the adjacent moun- 

 tains. In these places the soil is usually rich, and is pressed up to its full 

 measure of production by careful irrigation. This valley, most famous for 

 its maize, is that of Yucay or Urn Camba, about eighteen miles to the 

 northeast of Cuzco, the old Inca capital, through which flows the River 

 Yilcanote, one of the principal sources of the Amazon. This, though small, 

 is j>erhaps the finest and richest valley in Peru. It was here that the Incas 

 had their royal gardens, their baths — in short what might be called their 

 country seat. The lands are all beautifully leveled, and nowhere in the 

 world is there so fine and symmetrical a system of terraces, or so complete 

 a system of irrigation. Flanked by mountains of disintegrating limestone, 

 the soil of the valley is wonderfully rich, and here is found the celebrated 

 maize seal or royal maize of Yucay, of which I present some average 

 specimens. 



" The stalk of this maize is rather thick and stout, the leaves rather 

 broad than long and very fleshy. It grows no higher than good corn in 

 New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The ear, as will be seen, is short, but 

 very thick, and the grain twice or three times as large as that of our 

 largest varieties of maize. Five or six ears of nearly equal size on each 

 stalk is a common product, and makes this maize probably the most pro- 

 ductive in the world. The pellicle or skin of the grain is thin, and the 

 interior farinaceous to an unequaled degree. The same varieties of color 

 exist here as on the coast, viz: white, yellow, dark red, and black or blue 

 black. The black variety is sweetest, and hence is most sought for pur- 

 poses of fermentation, in making chich'2. Tlie white is usually boiled, the 

 pellicle peeled off, and then eaten with pepper and salt or with sugar. I 

 may mention that the maize in the Sierra of Peru is planted in rows, and 

 not, as with us, in hills. It is drilled very thick and afterward trimmed 

 out by hand. The tools used in its cultivation are extremely rude, the 

 plow being a cro(jkcd stick pointed with iron; just such, however, as is 

 now in use in half of France. The hoe is more like a small adze, such as 

 carpenters use, than anything else, and this is worked with one hand. The 

 rows are about as far apart as with us. I cannot state the yield; it must 

 be light, for manure is not much used. The Peruvians sell guano, the}' do 

 not use it extensively. Eaten in a green state this corn is very nutritious. 

 I advise every one present to take a few grains and plant them, and see 

 what the product will be here. 



