391 
Indian Corn (Zea Mays) of which there are four kinds. 
1. India Maize grows eight or ten feet high; the ears before they are 
quite ripe, are eaten, roasted. 
2. Portugal Maize. This grows also in Spain and Italy. These two 
are cultivated in our gardens, more for curiosity than use; and are sown on 
a moderate hot-bed in March or April, and transplanted into the open ground 
in May. 
3. German Maize. This has been cultivated in the field, both in Eng¬ 
land and Ireland, with success. 
4. North American Maize. The Americans cultivate five or six sorts, 
which grow of different heights. A short kind, called Mohawks-Corn, 
ripens its seed in the more northern parts, though sown so late as June. 
The American seed varies very much in colour, and that not only in the 
same field, but in the same ear: this may be prevented, by sowing only 
one colour, at a good distance from fields containing another coloured corn. 
The first of these grows naturally in the islands of the West Indies; and 
has a very large strong stalk, rising the height of about ten or twelve feet. 
The leaves are long, broad, hang downward, and have a broad white midrib. 
The male flowers come out in the branching spikes at the upper part of the 
stalks; these are eight or ten inches long. The female flowers come out 
from the bottom of the leaves on the side of the stalk; they are disposed in 
a close long thin spike, and are covered closely with thin spathes or sheaths; 
out of the end of these covers hangs a small long bunch of threads. When 
the seeds are ripe, the spikes or ears are nine or ten inches long, and some¬ 
times a foot; but these rarely ripen in England. 
Mr. Miller says he has not seen any variety of colours in this, but 
that it is very probable there are the same varieties in the grain as in the 
others. This being less common in Europe, we are not so well acquainted 
with it. 
The second is cultivated in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The stalks are 
more slender, and seldom more than six or seven feet high. The leaves are 
narrower, and hollowed like the keel of a boat, and their tops hang down¬ 
wards. The spikes of male flowers are shorter, and the ears of grain are 
slenderer, and not more than six or seven inches long. The grain does not 
come to maturity in England, unless the season prove very warm, and it is 
sown early in a warm soil and situation. 
