CHAPTER VII 

 EARLY CULTURE OF CORN 



Indian corn was unknown to Europeans until the 

 discovery of America. At that time it was found tq be 

 in general cultivation by the Indians of both North and 

 South America. In fact, corn was the principal crop 

 cultivated by the native Americans, as they had neither 

 oats, wheat, nor barley, and very few of the cultivated 

 vegetables. The most ancient evidence of the culture 

 of corn is found on the western coast of South America 

 and in Mexico. In Peru specimens of corn have been 

 found in connection with ancient ruins or geological forma- 

 tions, which are probably at least two or three thousand 

 years old. The f 3,ct that corn was buried in the tombs, as 

 well as other evidence, indicates that it had an important 

 place in the religious ceremonies of this semicivilized 

 people and was probably their most important cultivated 

 plant. 



56. During the fifteenth century the earliest white ex- 

 plorers of America took corn back to Europe, where in 

 time it came to be extensively cultivated, especially in 

 those countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. 



When corn culture began to spread in Europe it had 

 many curious names, as Italian corn, Turkish corn, 

 Spanish wheat, Guinea wheat, and others, probably indi- 

 cating the places where its culture first became extensive. 



Collins has recently described a type of corn cultivated 



77 ^ 



