III. 



CHAPTER III. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 

 To the wise man all the world's a soil. — Ben Jonson. 



CHAP. 35. Geographical Distribution. — In the preceding chapter we 



have seen that maize requires a hot, sunny climate ; it thrives 

 best between the 40th parallels of latitude. Early ripening 

 breeds are grown for grain in warm-temperate regions as far 

 north as the 48th parallel in the northern hemisphere, and for 

 fodder, still farther north, in the cool-temperate zone. 



The value of maize as a cereal crop for man and his 

 domestic animals has led to its world-wide distribution in the 

 brief space of time since the discovery of America. Although, 

 as already pointed out (11 10), maize was probably first grown 

 in New Granada as a cultural crop, and has only been known 

 in Europe since the beginning of the sixteenth century, to-day 

 three times as much is produced in Europe as on the whole 

 of the South American continent. 



The countries mentioned in Table VIII are the leading 

 producers of maize-grain ; the figures given are for the year 

 1906, which was a record year for maize production in the 

 northern hemisphere ; they are taken from the Year Books 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture {U. S.D.A. 7) 1 

 and other official publications, and are stated in United States 

 standard bushels of 56 lbs. In the case of Mexico and the 

 African continent, the figures are only approximate, through 

 lack of precise data. 



Maize is also grown, but to a lesser extent, in the Province 

 of Quebec (Canada), Central America, the West Indies, Brazil, 

 Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Nyassaland, Uganda, British 



'The U. S.D.A. Year Book omits entirely the production of British India, 

 which is larger than that of Mexico and Canada combined. 



46 



