52 
REVIEW OF PROFESSOR JOHNSTON’S NOTES ON AMERICAN AGRICULTURE CONTINUED. 
find in the evening no mean addition to their 
length. This rapidity of growth causes the crop 
of oats to be generally a poor one; it grows 
so rapidly that there is no time for the grain to 
fill properly. A farmer in the state of New 
York informed us that with all his care, and in 
spite of all his knowledge of the crop, (he had 
been a Scotch farmer,) he could never depend 
upon a good return. And yet, his meal was fast 
getting into repute. The Americans are gen¬ 
erally fond of oat meal; indeed, it fetches a 
high price; but yet the supply is exceedingly 
defective.” 
The rapid growth of vegetation under the 
genial showers and hot sun of America is 
always a matter of surprise to one accustomed 
to the long, slow growth of crops in England. 
But is the writer correct in saying “ the crop of 
oats is generally a poor one ?” What is a good 
one % Is fifty to eighty bushels per acre, with 
a growth of straw which gives an enormous 
quantity of forage for cattle, a good crop or a 
poor one ? If good, then the crop is not “ gener¬ 
ally a poor one.” Perhaps some of that “ Scotch 
farmer’s” Yankee neighbors, who better under¬ 
stand the climate of New York, can beat him 
every year in the oat crop. 
Since when, are “ the Americans generally 
fond of oat meal?” It must be within the last 
year, if ever, since the first settlement of Amer¬ 
ica. According to our notions, oat meal never 
will be generally used here. Millions of Amer¬ 
icans eat the finest wheat flour, of grain not 
worth fifty cents a bushel. Other millions eat 
that sweetest, cheapest, and most nutritious 
human food, Indian corn, when the average 
market price is less than one shilling sterling 
per bushel. None live upon potatoes, though 
they might, at half that price per bushel. In 
the same districts, the average price of rich, fat 
beef and pork, for the last half century, has not 
been equal to two pence a pound; and sheep 
are annually butchered by the thousand for 
the hides and tallow, while the meat is thrown 
to the hogs to make cheap pork. Do you think 
people in such a country will eat oat meal % No. 
They cannot afford it, except by way of some¬ 
thing new, as a luxury. 
The very next sentence, from the same article 
tells the reason why “Indian corn is the sta¬ 
ple commodity of American farms; it is used 
in all kinds of ways. One variety is taken in 
its,green state and boiled. Its flavor is remark¬ 
ably fine, and resembles very much that of 
green peas. Judging from our own experience, 
we should say that it would take some time for 
a European to relish the vegetable; it is too 
sweet and rich for all tastes. The Americans 
are amazingly fond of it. Indian corn is sown 
in what is called “ hills.” Some species grow 
very high; we have seen stalks ten to twelve 
feet in height. It is a noble-looking plant. The 
varieties are very numerous. Dr. Brown, of 
Philadelphia, enumerates upwards of forty kinds. 
The editor of the “ Maine Cultivator ” says that 
it would be an easy task to make out sixty 
varieties. The growing capabilities of the vari¬ 
ous species differ very much. Some spring up 
quickly, and soon ripen; others spring up more 
slowly, and ripen later. Some have six or eight 
rows of grain in the ear, others have as many 
as twelve and fourteen. In some, the grains 
are all of one color, in others, variegated—yel¬ 
low, mixed with red, scarlet, purple, and black. 
These are, however, very small. Indian meal 
is much relished throughout the states. Indian- 
meal porridge, or “ hominy,” as it is there called, 
is very delicious, when taken with new milk. 
Pumpkins are generally grown between the 
“ hills ” of Indian-corn plants; they require very 
little tending, and grow to an immense size. A 
yard, and even a yard and a quarter, is no un¬ 
common size to be found. These pumpkins are 
wholesome and nutritious food, both for man 
and cattle. ‘‘Pumpkin pie” is considered a 
great treat.” 
Upon this we comment. First, Indian corn is 
not the staple commodity of American farms. 
Thousands and thousands grow none for expor¬ 
tation, while other thousands do not grow 
enough for their own use while engaged in pro¬ 
ducing the staple crops of American farms, 
known in commerce as cotton, hemp, tobacco, 
rice, sugar, wheat, beef, butter, cheese, wool, 
stock, fruit, grass, and even potatoes, all, and 
each of which are staple commodities upon 
some American farms, where corn is only a 
secondary crop. Did the writer intend to slur 
the “ corn crackers ” by conveying the idea to 
his countrymen that America produced but 
little else; and that the principle human food is 
Indian-meal porridge, or hommony, or Indian 
corn in some shape l He says “it is used in all 
kinds of ways,” and might have added, one of 
which is to send our surplus millions of bush¬ 
els to feed the starving millions of potato and 
oat-meal eaters, of a country which boasts of 
her good farming and productive acres. “ One 
variety is taken in its green state and boiled A 
So are fifty-nine others of the sixty varieties 
that might be named; though we prefer that 
known as sugar or sweet corn, for the very 
