Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1889-01-03
WlImingtor, Thursday, lan. 5, lsa9,


One OF the little surprises to which an
American is apt to be treated in Europe
Is the discovery that the inhabitants don't
know corn. Here we have been growing
corn in this country ever since the
days of Captain John Smith and
Powha!an and Poeahontas; our an
nuai product is counted by the
Thousands OF millions of buohels; we
export millions of bushels of corn to
Europe eve year; and yet the chances
are that II you speak of "eorn" to an
Englishman on his own native moor he
viii think you are talking about wheat.
II In Germany you talk OF the great
American staple, your native companion
viii put on an air of bswilderment until.
L you are Sufficiently clever at deBcrip-
tion, aided perhaps by pencil drawing
OF an ear or grain, you succeed in get
ting him to comprehend the subject,
when he will answer, 20, you mean
mais" pronounced nearly like the Eng
hsh word "mice'') with an information
that gives you to understand that he re.
CARDS mice" as only fit for hogs to eat.
Even in such work as the EncycIo-
peais Britannica We find lack of infor.
NATION on the edibility of corn. The
Britannica says:
Although rich In heterogeneous matter and
tat, It does not make good bread. A mtx.
tpre OF rye and corn meal, however, makes
an excellent coarse bread, formerly mucn
bread is now the chief coarse bread Of
Portugal and some parts Of Spain. When
the narder mint" varieties are roasted, the
grains pop" the skin bursts, aud the
white interior swells up, emitting a pleasant
odor. 1t Is either baked INTO cakes called
tortilla by the Indians OF Yueatan, or made
INTO kind OF porridge as In Ireland. When
deprived of the gluten 1t constitutes oswego
Twin little o., naizena or corn flour.
And this article was contributed to the
Britannica by Prof. George Henslow,
IA. A., author of Floral Dissections.' u
II will be observed that the distinguished
bofanist has heard vaguely Of oswego
corn starch and of the possibility of pop
ping corn, but he betrays no knowledge
whatever of our delicious pone, our ap-
petizlng jonnDy.cake, our soothing mush
and milk, our glucose, our hominy. our
boiled corn, our corn whisky, our pop
corn balls. For him even the super
animated Uncle Edward, who, we are told
by the poet, had gotten SO far along In
years that The had no teeth for to eat de
hoe.cake wid," II is sad to see had evil
IDENTIFY never existed.
To attenuate the density Of. this Eu
ropesn ignorance Of corn is the laudable
motive Of the New York Produce Ex-
change In arranging for special corn
display at next years Paris exposition.
There the millions Of visitors will be in.
Tsf-s - examine and taste some Of tho
many pslatabie dishes which Americas
are accustomed tc prepare from covn and.
having done this, MUSE their wonder that
they should have remained so long un-
discovered by the cooks of the old world,
II Is business with the produce exchange
to do this the increase OF our corn ex-
ports being the object sought--and the
phiisnthrophy in the enterprise is merely
Incidental, but it Is heavily loaded with
philanthropy notwithstanding, for it
promises not only to pound into ths
comprehension Of the people of Europe
the fact that corn is eaten aud relished by
Americans bat also to convince them. by
the evidence Of their own senses, that
the hitherto despised, because foreign
and not understood, grain is also capable
ottosing made up into dishes that shall
tickle European palates, while at the
same time, cheap enough to compete with
even the poorest laborer's commonest
schwsrzbrod Success to the undertaking
OF the produce exchange aud to the Erst
enterprising man to set up in Londo or
Berlin restaurant or street stand where
hot griddle cakes, popcorn CONNECTIONS
and peanuts, (Which latter are also,
though largely exported for the Gil they
contain, practically unknown in these
cities as edible.) There is fame, ana
possibly fortune, in store for the FIGHT
man who makes the first venture in this
new field.