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INDIAN CORN. 



"Maize should always be well manured; from 15 to 20 tons per 

 acre may profitably be employed. Sheep and cattle dung may be 

 applied, decayed leaves, ashes, brick-yard dust, tank mud, which has 

 been thoroughly exposed ; wild indigo, madder leaves, &c., may also 

 be beneficially used. No crop pays better for a thorough manuring. 

 The better the land is ploughed and worked the more satisfactory will 

 be the results. 



" To prevent crows, squirrels, &c., destroying the seed tar it before 

 sowing. Take one and a-half pints of hot water, and add to it one- 

 twelfth of a pint of tar, mix together, and after cooling pour the 

 solution over the seed. After dusting sand, ashes, or sawdust to 

 prevent the seeds adhering together, the grain is ready for sowing. 

 Keep down the weeds during growth, and cultivate between the rows, 

 with hand-hoes and ploughs. 



" On good soils 2000 lbs. of grain may be grown per acre' without 

 extraordinary management. One average-sized Queensland cob yielded 

 more grain than twelve of the cobs of maize usually grown in the 

 Vellore districts. Queensland maize is only a four month crop, and 

 may be harvested in time to allow of a crop of grain (pulse) being 

 grown before the commencement of the hot season. 



" The cobs should be well matured before being gathered. If the 

 weather during the harvesting of the crop be favourable, the skins are 

 best kept on the cobs until the seed is perfectly hardened and glazed. 

 The average cost of production may be estimated at 25 rupees, while 

 the gross return will vary according to the quality of the soil from 

 50 to 60 rupees per acre. The profit may vary from 25 to 30 rupees 

 per acre, according to the quality of the soil. The better the culti- 

 vation the larger the profits. Maize can be sold at 50 rupees (5Z.) 

 per ton, and leave a handsome profit to the cultivator. The large 

 quantity of straw or stalk, &c., yielded by maize renders it a crop 

 particularly valuable in a country like India. 



" Maize can be profitably cultivated on a soil so poor as one con- 

 taining 90 per cent, of sand ; but the better the soil, the better will 

 be the crop." 



The late Judge Buel, of Albany, was a great advocate for the 

 growth of maize. He used to say that it was as indispensable 

 to a Yankee as the potato to an Irishman, or the oat to a Scotchman ; 

 that there was no crop more beneficial to the farmer than Indian 

 corn ; that it was the meat, meadow, and manure crop of the farm ; 

 that it was convertible into human food in more forms than any other 

 grain, and that its value in fattening domestic animals was not ex- 

 ceeded by any other product of the farm. The uses of Indian corn 

 are very numerous ; when very young we are told " the small young 

 stalks of thickly-sown crops are cut over by the Mexicans as an 

 article for the dessert, and almost everyone relishes green corn in 

 its season. Then there are various preparations of the grain, such as 

 johnnycake, hominy, mush, samp, succatash, pop corn, &c. ; and now 

 it is largely used as a substitute for arrowroot, known in Britain as 

 " Oswego flour," and " corn starch." The use of the Indian corn 

 plant for soiling cattle has long been known and recommended ; also 

 for winter fodder, when pasturage and meadow threatened to fail. 



