The Old and the New in Corn Culture. 5 



traders and explorers, probably would have found it impos- 

 sible to carry on their operations without the food (prin- 

 cipally corn) obtained from the village Indians of the upper 

 Missouri Valley. 



Corn came to us as a gift from the Indians. Doubtless no 

 other word in the Indian vocabulary is so important to the 

 Indian, since for generations corn was the main food plant. 

 The Indian's regard for corn is really a veneration. In the 

 Middle West, the Corn Priest proclaimed the time to plant 

 and to harvest the fields of corn and from time to time 

 prayed that the crop might be a productive one. In the 

 Southwest, corn shrines, corn dances, and numerous corn 

 ceremonies are evidence of the regard of the Navajo, the 

 Hopi, and the Zuni for their favorite cereal. 



A study of the methods of corn culture of the various 

 Indian tribes is of interest as showing the beginnings of 

 what are now widely adopted practices. It also affords us 

 an idea of primitive adaptation to conditions. 



KINDS OF CORN GROWN BY THE INDIANS. 



The Indians grew two main types of corn, Zea mays in- 

 durata, or the the fliiit corns, and Zea mays amylacea, or the 

 flour corns. Inasmuch as corn was mainly used for human 

 food, each type had its particular use. Flint corn was raised 

 mainly for the making of hominy. Flour corn, because of 

 its soft, starchy composition, was very easily ground in mor- 

 tars. It was, therefore, especially valuable for parching and 

 making into soups, puddings, and corn bread. 



A distinguishing feature of the primitive Indian corns 

 was their various colors. Among the kinds of corn grown 

 were the following: Red-streaked flour, pink flour, white 

 flour, red flour, blue flour, spotted flour, yellow flour, salmon- 

 colored flour, white flour with kernels tipped with black, 

 white flint, yellow flint, and pink flint. It must not be 

 understood that all of these various kinds have passed out of 

 cultivation. On the contrary, practically all of them can 

 still be found, having been planted in small quantities from 

 year to year, even up to the present time. An endeavor 

 was made to keep the various kinds separated b} 7 planting 

 in fields apart from each other. 



