DIFFERENT KINDS OF CORN IN MEXICO. 



53 



no general tariff of prices can be assigned to Mexican breadstuffs 

 until some great national market shall be established or Mexico 

 becomes an exporting country. Neighborhoods, at present es- 

 tablish prices. 



Maize or corn, is a gift from the New World to the Old, and 

 is unquestionably the favorite food of the great mass of the inhabi- 

 tants of our continent. In Mexico, every household is furnished 

 with it abundantly, and all classes use it habitually. 



Although this plant is a native of America it is never found 

 growing wild in the republic. Single stocks may be occasionally 

 seen in remote or uninhabited districts, but they are rarely met, 

 and, in all likelihood, have been sown by the flocks of robber birds 

 who ravage the Mexican milpas or corn fields during the ripening 

 season. 



The best cultivated varieties in Mexico, are : 



1st. Maiz de padus ; with small ears, of eight rows, and the most 

 unimportant of all the varieties raised in the country. 



2d. Maiz manchado, or chiniesco ; a productive species with 

 white, yellow and red grains ; — sometimes also entirely blue, in 

 which case, it is called pinto. 



3d. Maiz bianco; a very productive kind, yielding a fine sweet 

 meal. 



4th. Maiz amarillo ; this is sub-divided into: — 1st, maiz ama- 

 rillo grueso, which is very generally cultivated and rarely yields 

 less than two or three ears each, with from three to six hundred 

 kernels or grains. 2d, maiz amarillo pequeno, is smaller and less 

 stout ; but in a fruitful soil its yield weighs from ten to fifteen hun- 

 dred weight, more than the grueso. 



5th. Maiz caarentino ; or quarentine corn; better known in 

 Mexico under the name of maiz tremes, or, olote Colorado, which 

 ripens quickly and may be planted in the coldest parts of Mexico. 



6th. Maiz tardio, or, de riego ; the most productive of all va- 

 rieties, and that which is cultivated around the city of Mexico, and 

 in many moist regions. It sometimes yields five hundred per cent, 

 on the quantity planted. 



Maize succeeds best in Mexico in moist and warm climates ; 

 but it has the great advantage over the other cereal grains that it 

 may be as successfully cultivated in this country in the tierras calien- 

 tes, as in the tierras frias. Its highest limits here are from two to 

 eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, and consequently 

 the time required for ripening is different at different elevations. 

 It varies from seven months to six weeks. 



