November, 1910.] 



401 



Edible Products, 



was given especially to the Indians. Of 

 course, these legends mean nothing in a 

 historic sense, excepting that the maize 

 or corn plant had been cultivated by the 

 Indians from time immemorial, else these 

 legends would not have developed 

 around it. 



As has been said the original homo of 

 the Indian corn is unknown, but it is 

 supposed to have been tropical America, 

 Bonafous quotes authorities who hold 

 that it originated in Asia, like so many 

 other important food plants and fruits. 

 It is said by Santa Rosa de Viterbo to 

 have been taken by Arabs into Spain in 

 the thirteenth century. A drawing is 

 given by Bonafous of maize, copied from 

 a Chinese work on natural history 

 published in 1562. This was about sixty 

 years after the discovery of America, 



It is not figured in the Egyptian monu- 

 ments, like so many other grains, nor is 

 any mention made of it by Eastern trav- 

 ellers in Asia or Africa prior to the 

 sixteenth century. On the authority of 

 a gentleman who resided for some time 

 in Java Bonafous says it was cultivated 

 from very ancient times in the Asiatic 

 islands, under the equator, that it 

 was received thence into China and so 

 passed west into Turkey, from whence it 

 received the name of Turkey corn, under 

 which title Gerard in 1597 figured and 

 described seven kinds, as well as one 

 called " corn of Asia." 



Both Gerard and Bonafous think it 

 originally came from the East, but upon 

 the discovery of America it was re-intro- 

 duced into Europe. Gerard observes, 

 "These kinds of grains were first brought 

 into Spain and then into other provinces 

 of Europe out of Asia, which is in the 

 Turkes Dominions ; as also out of America 

 and the islands adjoining from the East 

 and West Indies and Virginia." 



Humboldt and others do not hesitate 

 to say that it originated solely in America. 

 It had been long and extensively culti- 

 vated by the natives at the period of the 

 discovery of the New World. It is men- 

 tioned in such records as exist and there 

 are rude carvings in Peru and Central 

 America which have been considered to 

 represent corn. 



The varieties commonly grown in the 

 United States may be roughly grouped 

 in four great classes. The Flint, or hard 

 and glossy surface varieties are com- 

 monly grown east of Lake Erie and 

 north of Maryland. The ears are small 

 and the grain is very hard, with only 

 eight rows, or at most twelve upon the 

 cob. West and South of these points 

 the Dent varieties are grown, so called 

 because there is a dent in the top of the 

 51 



kernel. The yield of this variety is 

 much greater since the rows number 

 many more, sometimes as high as sixty 

 four on a rob, and generally as many as 

 thirty-two. It is a peculiarity of the 

 corn plant that the rows are always in 

 fours. The " Horsetooth " varieties are 

 grown in the South and are raised along 

 with the Dent. The fourth sort is the 

 familiar sweet corn. This is grown 

 practically everywhere and the different 

 varieties of this division are as numerous 

 as the localities in which it flourishes. 



The sweet varieties are not grown for 

 the ripe corn, but for the boiling or 

 green corn. Immense quantities are 

 consumed fresh each year and other 

 immense quantities are canned each year. 

 The consumption of corn in this state 

 increases rapidly and an important indus- 

 try has developed in this particular 

 department of the corn trade. The 

 Indians cooked the field corn green and 

 the coming of the green corn to sufficient 

 maturity for roasting was an important 

 occasion ior rejoicing with them, and 

 this custom was adopted to some extent 

 by the early settlers in New England 

 who had a corn roast each year as one of 

 the festivals of their time. In some 

 degree this festival has been maintained, 

 but now it is nothing like what it was 

 a century or more ago. 



Chemical analysis has shown that corn 

 is a very nutritious article of food, since 

 it is richer in albuminoids than any 

 other cereal when ripe. As an article of 

 food it is one of the most extensively 

 used grains in the world. The annual 

 yield in the United States exceeds 2,000 

 million bushels. Although rich in nitro- 

 genous matter and fat it does not make 

 good bread alone, excepting the famous 

 corn bread of New England and the 

 South. It is mixed with rye and then 

 makes a bread extensively used in coun- 

 try districts and forming a considerable 

 proportion of the food of many in the 

 country districts of Spain, The harder 

 varieties pop when exposed to the heat 

 in a proper manner and this is an impor- 

 tant article of food in some localities 

 under the name of parched corn. It is 

 much used in confectionery, as well. 



It contains more oil than any other 

 cereal, which increases its fattening 

 qualities. In distilling and some other 

 processes the oil is separated and form9 

 an important article of commerce. 



On the treeless Westei n prairies it was 

 once commonly used as fuel. The ex- 

 pense was less than the cost of obtaining 

 wood. This has passed away during 

 recent years, even though the quan- 



