CHAPTER XVI 



CORN 



The leading cereal crop of the United States is Indian 

 com. It was cultivated in a rude way by the Indians 

 long before the white man dreamed of such a country as 

 America. The earliest settlers recognized its value and 

 at once commenced to raise it. Forests have been cut 

 down to make room for fields of it ; and swamps and low- 

 lands have been drained that its production might be in- 

 creased. If the com fields of the United States were 

 placed together, they would cover entirely the states of 

 Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 

 Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New 

 Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, with many large fields 

 remaining. 



106. Uses of Corn. — Com is used in four rather distinct 

 ways: 



(1) As a grain ration for domestic animals. 



(2) As fodder, or roughage, for domestic animals. 



(3) As food for man. 



(4) In manufactured products. 



As the grain, with which to fatten the animals that con- 

 stitute our meat supply, corn stands practically alone. 



If the corn plants, both stalks and ears, are cut while the 

 leaves are still green and the kernels are just becoming 

 hard, they make an excellent rough forage for domestic 

 animals. 



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