AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 299 



deducting expenses of the Committee, to the owner of the farm 

 which shall excel in these particulars, viz : Variety of Produc- 

 tion; Amount of Production; and Extent of Surface Cultivated. 

 We are anxious to let the world know what has been and what 

 can be done west of the Mississippi River, and make this offer in 

 good faith and with a full determination to carry it out. xill ne- 

 cessary preliminary arrangements will be made in a liberal man- 

 ner. Who will enter the list l Communications with reference 

 to the above may be made directly to John Sigerson & Bro- 

 ther, or to E. Abbott, Esq., editor of The Valley Farmer, St. Louis, 

 Mo. This farm will be a formidable competitor, though it has 

 only been in cultivation ten years. It is located on the old Cawn- 

 doht Commons, a tract as barren and useless as the Hempstead 

 Plains, and is situated about seven miles from St. Louis, in a 

 Slave State, but cultivated by free labor. 



EXPORTING INDIAN CORN. 



Solon Robinson— Another letter inquires how long American 

 grown Indian corn has been exported to England, and if it is 

 generally used by the English as an article of food or as feed for 

 fattening cattle, &c. 



Judge Meigs— In 1845, during the Irish famine, the first to any 

 extent was exported. It is not well liked as food there. 



Henry S. Clubb— That is because it is so apt to spoil on the pas- 

 sage. It has not that sweet taste there that it has here. 



The Chairman— That is a good deal owing to the cooking. 

 Those unacquainted with corn meal never cook it enough. Mush 

 needs two hours boiling. 



Solon Robinson— It is also the fault of grinding it too fine. 

 The English grind the corn and bolt it like flour. That abso- 

 lutely spoils corn meal. Exported corn should always be kiln 

 dried. 



Chairman— The account given of jee-about plowing is nothing 

 new. 



Henry S. Clubb, Esq.— Indian corn seems difiicult of introduc- 

 tion into Great Britain as food for men. Whatever may be the 

 foundation of the prejudice against it there, one thing I know 

 from experience is, that most of the Indian meal I tried there was 

 actually damaged, whether by going over the ocean or otherwise, 

 it all had an unpleasant acid taste. They feed stock with it. 



The Secretary— This club took a deep interest in the Indian 

 question during the late fiuuine in Ireland, when many distin- 



