12 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture. 



are to be commended. The Indian had no means of record- 

 ing time. He watched the forces of nature in planning his 

 agricultural work. Seed was prepared and corn was planted 

 when the wild turnips began to bloom, when grass became 

 green, when plums, wild grapes, or juneberries began to 

 blossom, or when the leaves of the trees began to uncurl. 



In lieu of our modern tillage machines, the squaws of the 

 tribes worked up the ground with tools wrought from wood, 

 bone, or stone. The number of kernels planted per hill has 

 not materially changed even to this day. The principle of 

 spacing hills and the distance apart of hills are about the 

 same to-day as in primitive times. Special attention was 

 given to the type of seed ear, the drying of seed, and the 

 testing of germination in primitive testers ; all these indicate 

 an almost uncanny knowledge on the part of the Indian 

 agriculturist, quite in keeping with our emphasis on these 

 points to-day. 



It is a far cry from the cache to the modern well-venti- 

 lated corn crib, but the utility of the cache as a burglar- 

 proof storage house can not be denied. Domestic-science 

 experts, skilled in methods of utilization of corn as a food, 

 must not fail to recognize primitive housekeeping skill as 

 exemplified in the scores of corn foods prepared and used 

 by the Indians. 



CORN AND THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT. 



The story of Indian corn is the story of the struggle of the 

 human race for food in the Western Hemisphere. It is the 

 story of definite rotations where corn is the cultivated crop. 

 The dependence of the Indian upon corn, how it called into 

 play his inventive genius, and its adoption as a crop and a 

 food by the early colonists have been mentioned. Its popu- 

 larity among the colonists resulted at last in a corn surplus, 

 which was sent to the West Indies and South America in 

 exchange for products of those countries. 



A steady influx of population along the Atlantic coast 

 made more agricultural land necessary. The westward 

 movement began, and settlements were made beyond the Al- 

 leghenies, where much of the soil was found to be especially 

 suitable for corn production. The feeding of live stock be- 

 gan, and the surplus corn crop from west of the Alleghenies 



