LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
135 
form; the coh, or pithy placenta, which remains 
after the grains have been shelled off, is as large 
as a full ear of the northern corn. It is now in 
that agreeable condition already alluded to, called 
roas ting-ear ; ” the grains being formed, but yet 
quite soft and pulpy. Some now go into field and 
gather the ears, and bite off the grains while raw, 
when they have a sugary taste ; but they are more 
commonly used as a culinary vegetable, roasted at 
the fire, or boiled and shelled like peas, and eaten 
with melted butter. It is considered a delicacy ; 
but as the ripening corn rapidly hardens, it lasts 
only a few days. Not only squirrels, but rabbits, 
bears, and many other wild animals, have a similar 
taste for roasting-ears, and do not scruple to 
indulge their partiality at the farmer’s expense. 
Corn is almost the only bread-stuff raised here, 
the wheaten flour used being imported chiefly 
from the north. Cotton and corn divide the 
plantations. 
The steep banks of many of the winding creeks 
and branches are densely clothed, for considerable 
portions of their darkling course, with tall canes 
{Miega macrosperma ) . When the country was first 
settled, the cane-brakes were much more extensive, 
and only penetrable by means of the axe. But 
many of them have been cut down; and the depre- 
dations of the cattle, which are very fond of the 
plant, eating otf the tender and succulent shoots, 
keep down its growth, and prevent its attaining 
anything like the height and size which formerly 
characterised it. The whole plant has the appear- 
ance of a gigantic grass, with long, narrow, spear- 
shaped leaves, of a beautiful green, crowned with a 
bunch of seedy-looking flowers like those of a rush ;• 
