The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-07-26
The Romance of Indian Corn.

| comparatively few even OF those to
whom corn is one of the most common
OF all objects, and who are in the habit
OF handling more or less of that noble
grain every day, kno. i how romantic a
history it has. While there is no cues
ton as to its antiquity, there is much
doubt about the place of its origin. 1t
has been found in the tombs and ruins
OF South America, in the caves of Ari-
iona, and in the mounds of Utah. The
Smithsonian Institute has an ear of
corn found in the tomb of a mummy,
near Ariquipi, Peru, and Darwin men
tons the head of stalk found imbedded
in sea-drift, eighty-fve feet above the
level of the sea. Petrifed stalks and
ears were found, perfect in appearance,
in working stone quarry near La
Prairie, in Illinois. In neat and use
full little manual, issued by j. c..
Vaughan, it is said that those who
claim Asia for the original home Of
maize, point to the representation of the
plant found in an ancient Chinese book
in the Royal library in Paris, and tell
of the grain being found in cellars of
ancient houses in Athens Rifaud
speaks of finding the grain and ear Of
maize within the tomb of mummy at
Thebes in 1919. Some, like Corbett,
claim that it is the corn of Scripture,
and in support of the claim quote the
following: "And it came to pass that
he went through the cornfelds on the
Sabbath day; and His disciples, as they
went, began to pluck the ears of the
corn" Again, from Leviticus, H., IA:
''And if thou offer meat offering of
thy first fruits unto the Lord. thou shalt
oRer for the meat offering of thy first
fruit, green ears of corn dried by fire,
even corn heated out of full ears"
Leviticus, xiii, IA: "And We shall eat
neither bread nor parched corn, nor
green ears, until the self same day that
We have brought an Offering unto your
God. " Genesis, XXI, 5 Concerning
Pharaoh's second dream): "And he
slept and dreamed the second time; and
behold, seven ears of corn came up
upon one stalk, rank and good" Job,
xiv, "a. says the wicked are ''cut Of
as the tops of the ears of the corn"
Botanists say that plants of one
family usually inhabit common
locality. Wheat, rye, oats, barley,
millet, Indian rice, sorghum-all the
allied family of corn-are of Eastern
nativity. If of Western origin, corn is
separated from all its kindred. If from
the East, how it came to the Americans
can only be guessed Some scholars
believe that it came from the East by a
northwestern highway connecting Asia
and America. Mexican tradition tells
that when their Fair God, god of
peaceful arts, lived upon earth an ear
OF corn was as much as a man could
carry. This god is supposed to have
been a Caucasian, brought to American
shores by some storm or other cause
unknown. Another romantic theory is,
that once there was continent eX-
tending from America almost or quite
to the Azores, and that that mysterious
civilization which built the ancient
cities of Central and South America
brought with it from that lost continent
| those plants which are, and have been
from time beyond the memory of man,
cultivated in the Old World and in the
New.
An unimpeachable history of Indian
corn can never be written, as the sub
ject is full of counterfactS, contradic-
tions and speculations. Learned au-
thorities, both early and late, have
differed as to its origin--some claiming
it as native of Asia, others of America
-ChjcaQo Tribune.