78 COBN CROPS 



in China. References to corn in Chinese literature indi- 

 cate its culture in China for some 350 years, although 

 just how or when corn was introduced into China is a 

 question. 



When the first white settlers came to America, at 

 Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620), they at once took 

 up the culture of corn, procuring the seed and learning the 

 method of culture from Indians. It soon became the 

 most important cereal crop of the colonists, gaining its 

 popularity by reason of its simple culture, its sure produc- 

 tion, and the ease with which the crop was harvested and 

 preserved. 



DEVELOPMENT OF VARIETIES 



57. In 1898 Sturtevant listed 507 named varieties and 

 163 sj^nonyms. It was not possible for Sturtevant to 

 secure all varieties in his day, and it is probable that a 

 complete catalogue of all varieties at present would 

 almost double this number. Of these varieties listed by 

 Sturtevant, 323 were classified as dent corn, 69 as flint 

 corn, 63 as sweet corn, 27 as soft corn, and 25 as pop corn. 



It is known that at least a few varieties of all the five 

 principal groups were in cultivation when America was 

 discovered, with the possil)le exception of sweet corn. 

 The earhest record we have of sweet corn is in 1779, when 

 it was mentioned as lieing in cultivation near Plymouth, 

 Mass.' However, it could easily have been overlooked 

 bjr the early explorers and has prol^ably been in existence 

 for a long period. 



It appears that the Intlians inhabiting what is now the 

 northern part of the United States and southern Canada 



' Sturtevant, E. L. U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Exp. Sta., Bui. 

 67 : 18. 



