2l8 FIELD NOTES IN SEED TIME. 



corn was indigenous to the American continent, 

 and the only species now in the genus Zea ; no 

 other grass is nearly like it. It stands apart, cast 

 in a different mould, and a king among them all. 

 The conditions of soU, climate and culture have, 

 indeed, changed it into many varieties. In the 

 stalk, ear and grain there is a wide difference 

 between the stinted, red pop kind and the gigantic 

 Kansas Dent; or a Brazilian specimen with ears 

 no larger than a common little finger, and ker- 

 nels the size of mustard seeds, besides a Peruvian 

 variety with grains an inch in length. The cobs 

 may be either long and tapering, or short and 

 blunt, with kernels of various colors, sizes and 

 shapes ; soft, smooth or wrinkled, but all having 

 that specific quality of Mays, which attracted 

 many hundreds of years ago, the attention of some 

 wise savage, to whom we should be grateful for 

 preserving such valuable grain. 



The names of several favorite varieties in differ- 

 ent localities in New England are suggestive of 

 their origin, and show how highly they were val- 

 ued and cultivated, even by the half-civilized 

 tribes of Indians. There is a golden Sioux or 

 Northern Yellow Flint, obtained of the Sioux 

 Indians of Canada. The ears are twelve-rowed. 



