338 



THE BOOK OF CORN 



ending with 1900 of 153,600,000 bushels. It is the 

 leading cereal crop of the country and its volume 

 shows marked increase in recent years. During the ten 

 years ending 1890 the average crop was 110,000,000 

 bushels, showing an increase of forty per cent between 

 the two periods. Hungary produces the great bulk of 

 the crop, and it is in this division of the empire that its 

 importance has increased so greatly in recent years. 

 While the country named ranks second in corn 

 production, it consumes more than it grows, there 

 being a net importation nearly every year, and the defi- 

 ciency continues to increase in spite of the phenomenal 

 gain in production during the recent years. The fol- 

 lowing statement shows the Austrian imports and 

 exports in bushels of fifty-six pounds during the past 

 decade : 



Corn Culture in Mexico — Corn is the great cereal 

 crop of Mexico, with a production in some years fully 

 twelve times as great as wheat, its nearest grain rival. 

 That country is also unique in that the original corn 

 plant is still found there in its wild state. The crop is 

 grown for domestic purposes only, and in years of 

 ordinary results the production about suffices for home 

 requirements. The domestic use is mainly as human 

 food, and as it forms the principal grain food of the 

 people any crop shortage is followed by correspond- 

 ingly large importations from the United States. This 

 importation in recent years has ranged from 154,644 



