OnAMlNE^.. 



287 



Tropi.al MM.l sul.trupi."il conntries seem io he the lands of its hirth As \t 



becomes acclimateci farther uorth. the ears diminish in size, ami the who e 



plant becomes dwarfed. In the warm regions it reaches the height of "2 to 



Io feet; m Maine anrl southern Canada it ranges from 3 to 4 feet The ears 



m Canada seldom exceed 8 inches in length, while in the southern United 



States the length is from 8 to 15 inches. "^"'tcu 



Et,jmolo,jij. — Ze<i is from the Greek Caw, 



. live, alluding to the capacity this grain has to 



sustain life. Mays and maize are derived from 



inahiz, the name b}- which the American 



aborigines called this plant, — the meaning of 



whicli is obscure. Indian corn is a name 



given by Europeans, on account of the use of 



the jjlant by the aborigines of America. 



///s/o/y. — This cereal is undoubtedly of 

 American origin. Attempts have been made 

 to show that in an old Chinese book found 

 in the national library in Paris there is a 

 figure of a plant identical with corn; and 

 hence the inference is drawn that it is also 

 indigenous to Asia ; but there is good reason 

 to doubt that it was known in the Old World 

 before the discovery of America, or before 

 Columbus introduced it into Spain in 1520, 

 twenty-eight years after the discovery of the 

 New World. Humboldt and other good au- 

 thorities do not hesitate to say that it origi- 

 nated solely in America. In a marvelously 

 sliort time it spread over southern Europe, 

 northern Africa, and western Asia, showing 

 conclusively that had it been known in Asia 

 It would have reached Europe before the 

 discovery of America. It is found in the 

 tombs of the ancient Peruvians, and in the 

 mounds of the Mississippi. C. Darwin found 

 It buried with shells fifty-five feet above tide- 

 water. It is nowhere found wild, propagatin<r 



Itself. r r e, to 



Cultivation. — Maize delights in a light 

 loam, which cannot be made too rich by fer- 

 tilizers. In the well-worn lands of the Atlantic 

 States large supplies of fertilizers are neces- 

 sary to abundant crops; but in the rich allu- 

 vial bottoms of the Missi.ssippi Valley nothing is nce.led to insure an abun 

 dant harvest but to plough and plant, and stir the soil. It is n ^ te inZ' 

 mtersections of cross-drills, four feet apart each wav, bv ^.^Z^ 



thirt^y to forty bushels to the acre are a satisfactorv vield ; fiftv an.l seventv- 

 fi;e bushels are frequentlv reached ; in the bottoni lands of the MiSl S 

 \ alley, sixtv to eighty bushels are not uncommon. i'^^'^^Mppi 



In the Atlantic States north of New Jersey the vellow and white fiint varie- 

 ties are grown, but in the lowlands of New Jersey and further south the 



7.KK MAYS (Indian Corn). 



