CHAPTER III 

 CORN OR MAIZE 



HISTORIANS tell us that when Columbus landed in 

 Hayti in 1492 he found the natives growing a plant which 

 they called Mahiz. So unusual was this plant that ears of 

 it were among the numerous presents taken back to Spain 

 and presented to the queen as trophies of the new world. 

 Columbus called the plant maize after the Indian name, or 

 Indian corn, to distinguish it from the corn plants of the 

 Old World. Writings of the early explorers of America 

 tell us that maize or Indian corn was one of the staples 

 of primitive agriculture at the time of their explorations. 

 One of the first Spanish explorers to visit Mexico wrote 

 extensively about the culture of corn by the native Indian 

 tribes, who were growing it around their temporary 

 dwellings, making use of it in various ways. The account 

 includes a description of several kinds of cakes and breads, 

 and also tells of both fermented and unfermented drinks 

 made from it. All students of American history are 

 familiar with the important part played by this cereal 

 in the lives of the early English colonists. That corn was 

 grown a long time before the discovery of America by 

 Columbus is evident from the discovery of the ears in the 

 burial mounds of the prehistoric tribes of Ohio, of the 

 cliff dwellers of southwestern United States, and in the 

 mounds left by the early tribes that inhabited the west 



