INDIAN CORN. 387 



STATISTICTS OF CORN. 



this great cereal from the early history of the'country to 

 the present time. In an article on the early exportation of 

 dried stuffs, contributed by Dr. Young to the American Ex- 

 porter, he says : 



" The first settlers of Virginia in the early years of the 

 17th century, and ol Massachusetts a few years later, as 

 well as those of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland anr 

 other States, were anxious to raise' sufficient wheat, maize 

 and other cereals to feed their families, so as to be indepen- 

 dent of the mother country as regards food. Many years 

 elapsed before the area of grain crops was sufficiently large, 

 and the richer soils were brought under cultivation to enable 

 producers to raise a surplus sufficient to supply the demand 

 of tropical or semi-tropical countries. The first recorded 

 export of grain from the United States occurred in 1646, 

 when- a vessel of 100 tons burden, built at New Haven and 

 probably bound for the Canary Islands, was lost with 70 

 persons and a cargo of wheat. 



In 1678 there was considerable export of fiour and bread 

 from New York, chiefly to the West Indies. 



In 1682 there was a grist mill at Hoboken, which was 

 owned in New York. Flour and grain were that year 

 mentioned as articles of exports from the eastern section of 

 New Jersey. 



The total exports of bread stuffs from all the colonies in 

 1770, was of bread, flour and meal 458,868 barrels, valued 

 at about $2,862,190; of wheat, 851,240 bushels, and of In- 

 dian corn, 578,349 bushels. This amount Lord Sheffield, 

 after the war doubted the capacity of this country to exceed. 

 Up to that time England had usually exported grain, yet had 

 at different times been forced to depend on supplies from the 

 colonies ; and her West India possessions were mainly fed 

 from this country. Hence in the traffic with the islands this 

 branch of colonial industry was an exceedingly important 



