Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-16
NIONDAMEN.
Our national oscutcheon displays an

! SlIOpgS "" 'AS
kingdom to bespeak the hope and
hardihood of the New World, where
would the selection fail? The plant
to be promoted to the place of honor
must possess the virtue OF accommodate
ton, growing rapidly north, south,
east and west; be notable for its fruit
fulncss: Il right hand rcliance of the
pioneer; above AL. ii must tie an i'm
memorial occupant OF the soil. The
| Western continent has prodlced the
| potato, The pumpkin, and ihc tobacco
plant; also maiza, The first, prone in
its ways, and frui:ing aGbterrapcously,
would do wrong to our national gen
ius; the second. a golden braggart,
with its earth-embracing habits-atar
be its suggestion! The third would
but c~onjure up Il vision of Columbia,
Tapped in nicotian haze ana vagarics,
inviting the nations to smoke with
her! There remains only the maize,
and how we Il do better than to
adopt as our aSmorial device the ln-
dams own planlp Behold the blonde
D~lumc-waVlng stranger, whom first the
fasting Hiawatha wrestled with, over
came, and gave due rites OF burial
lIondamin, fort CONNIE IN tlirc, yet
noble in his bearing; urbane and gen.
tie, though a savage! No other spc-
cies in the list OF cultivated cereals APP
pears to such good advantage, in the
isolated individual. a single full
grown plant of Indian corn, though
but a ileeting. annual growth, possess
es presence and dignity no less than
does the oak itself. It stands erect,
poised, sufficient, its green blades
Sweeping right and left in the curve Of
beauty, and ready at the winds excit-
alton to engage in a mock battle OF
scythes with its neighbors.
But we are over-hasty. Mondamin
must first be laid under ground. Year.
ly we bury the handsome youth, who
soon springs up and helps to make the
yet unwritten history of the rural
summer. Though we have made I'M
doubted Improvements in this direct
ion, it is not uninteresting to learn how
his obsequies were conducted III remote
times. ''The Indian method of plant
ing corr was to make q @conical hillock,
in the top of which the corr was plac-
ed; and being used repeatedly for the
anne purpose, these hills became SO
hard that they have, in some old fields,
lasted till to-day. In some places in
Michigan a heavy growth of maple has
sprung up since, and yet the old corn
hills are clearly marked" Still Mon
DAMN ~eDjoius itupon its conquerors to
watch his grave. As of old, the body
snatchers are abroad, -"Kahgahee, the
King of Ravens" and his ''black ma
rauders!' Nor does that connecting
link between genus homo and hobgob-
lin, the scarecrow, avail to stay the
miscreants; even making IN example
of Kahgahgee, by suspcnding his dead
body from i pole in The midst of the
field, scarcely checks the pillage. That
which was planted one day frequently
comes up by the next. Nor are the
crow and the blackbird alone in evil
doing, but are refrained by the chip
munk, a brownie that harvesls untime-
ly. Tame ducks, also, have been
known to exercises stealthy ingenuity,
with their bills probing the ground di-
agonally until the kernel was reached
and snapped off, leaving the tender
shoot above ground to wither without
apparent cause. The farmers best &c
sort against the horde of fcathered
trespassers seems to be a boy with a 4,
shotgun. Unless it were Minnehaha's
magic circle, no way Of blessing the
corntields so etlcctually as this!
First the blade. It must be an eve
indifferent to contrast in color that will
not take distinct delight in those little
pennons Of sunshiny green, tluttering
above the rich lumber Of the soil, and
signaling the welcome intelligence,
Corn is up" Every stage of its
growth. as in the life OF some lovely
child, is interesting and repays atten-
ton, from the time when the blades,
clasping the stalk, first from chalices
to hold the rain, to its midsummer
pride of twoiold lioweragc, yellow or
brownish tassel above, aud flowing
silk below. What strides Of growth it
makes from evening to the next days
light! A sly, silent bacchanal, it gets
drunk upon the dew every blessed
night. BY and by, it is seer standing
on tlptoe; toes white, or sometimes,
prettily roseate. (The farmer, l am
bound to say, sees only "brace-roots,"
the botanist only ''aerial roots" ex-
tending from the first joint of the stalk
downward until they fasten themselves
in the soil; yet it will be evident to
n who makes corn q sympathetic
study that it stands a-tiptoe, out of
pure good spirits and valance, Its
leaf, closely scanned, shows, not one
uniform green, but streakings of paler
and deeper color. Hold the blade be-
tween you and the light, and you will
see on each side of the strong, straight
midrib an equal number of lucid hair
line channelings. The upper surface
is roughish, being set with minute
hairs; the under surface is OF q cool
smoothness. A. day Of NINETY in the
shade" tells upon the leaves, causing
them to curl their margins upward, as
though to shut out the glare of the
sun; but the night does not fail to
bring restoration.-E0llA n. Thomas IN
September AUuatic.