The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1896-12-14
WILD INDIAN CORN.
HAS THE PARENT PLANT OF THIS
GRAIN BEEN DIscovEREDi
Interesting Recital Of Facts Gathered Con-
cerning Ono Of Our Staple Cereals-Cul-
tivation Has Done Wonders With Corn.
MANY Varieties.


oerning One Of Our Staple CereaIs-Cul-
tivstion Has Done Wonders With Corn.
Many Varieties.
Many years ago researches were made to
establish the fact that maize belonged ex-
clusively to this country and was of Amer
lean origin. 1t was believed In 1887 that
the plant In Its wild state was extinct,
and thus one Of the strongest arguments to
prove 1t indigenous was lost No evidence
could be found In Europe, Asia or Africa
to show that the plant existed prior TO the
voyages Of Columbus, In 1892, or Pizarro,
In 1924. Both of these navigators saw it
growing, and we have now reason to be-
lieve that the Indians and incas made use
of the grain many years before these visit
ors arrived. We have corn that has been
preserved for several hundred years, and It
may have been grown over 900 years ago.
In dry state this grain appears to be in-
destructible, and have In my possession
some Peruvian corn that Is certainly sew
eral hundred years old. 1t Is dry and fri
able, is of red color and yields white
meal. 1t was buried with a so called
mummy prior to the year 1856, and hoI
long before history does not tell Peruvian
corn was in small ears, from to inches
long, and bore grains pointed on the top,
not in rows, bat somewhat imbricated. 1t
was evidently far removed from the wild
| stock.
Primitive corn, or wild corn, which has
been found in several different regions CT
this continent naturally reproducing itsels,
has character Of growth that fits 1t for
long preservation in a mild climate, al
though IL planted and cultivated for few
years all the characteristics of wildness
gradually disappear The cobs of wild
maize are tLin and hard, covered with
lines of mushroom shaped elevations each
having wirelike pedicel growing from
the top, attached to a glume inclosing q
small pointed grain, or fat grain, smaller
than any popcorn. These kernel husks
overlap each other toward the point Of the
/ ear, like the shingles on the roof of a house
| The imbrications are largest and longest
! at the butt of the ear and gradually be.
oome less pronounced as they advance in
| distinct rows to the point The individual
! glumes are from an inch to 2 inches long
and are much longer than this where the
grains are not fortified, particularly If the
entire ear Is Of this character, as Is proved
by specimeli in my collection. Over thUse
imbrications is the outside husk, as we
have it in ali cultivated corns. OF course
| the barn and the corncrib soon make win
ter protection by the glumes unnecessary.
Originally there may have been but one
variety of corn, and iu was attached to q
mild climate. But, judging from analogy
and the effects of cultivation, we are of the
| opinion that there were subvarieries, and
| In them the grains were of a different col
or and the glumes striped. The incas and
, Indians had different varieties Of corn, aid
| grew ears Of several oolors, some uniform
and others mixed, but their cobs were thin
and sometimes the ears quite short. Six
varieties of the wild corn found growing
| In unfrequen bed localities have been de-
scribed, five Of which have seen, and sew
eral of which have been grown. All have
pedicels attached to the glumes and the
| glumes inbricated
| The word corn in many languages sim
| ply means grain. Indian corn Is Indian
| grain distinctively, as tho Indians had no
other. They had beans, squashes, pump
| kins, gourds and melons, but wheat, rye,
oats and barley belonged to the old world,
and had to be imported. The Indians grew
corn over a wide range Of country and
wherever the climate was adapted to It,
Cultivation has done wonders with this
grain both In its form and color, SO that
uOW VIC nave pcrndpS lOO NdTi0bios no
plant varies from IN to Is feet in height,
and the ears from inches to Is inches in
length We find in modern Indian growths
ears that are of uniform gamboge yellow,
white, black, blue and red, besides mixed
colors We have also several varieties of
popcorn, sugar corn and field corn. Most
of the corn grown by Indians is in small
rounded grains, except that of the cliff
dwellers, who appear to have been, In q
measure, an agricultural people. Their
cobs were thin and their grain in rows
but the individual grains were larger and
square ended. Indented corn seems also
to have been known among them.
Every people must have a drink, and II
the process of distillation Is unknown they
resort to fermentation. Primitive Amer
lean races made drink out of corn anal
ogous to beer, by fermentation Of the ear
in it's green state or after It had dried.
This was Intoxicating to certain extent,
but fortunately much less 80 than the
modern distillate from the same grain.
The drinking mugs of the cliff dwellers
bear testimony to their having had this
habit. Great improvements have been
made by the white race in growing this
cereal, and one of the chief of these Is In
the diameter Of the cob, which hos been
made to hold as high as "a rows.
From four to six ears have been grown
on ono stalk, and ears produced Of very re-
markable length. Sugar corn was intro
duced In 1879, and now 1t and popcorn
have entered into the race, and larger va
rieties are being produced. The CONNER
cial variety known AZ turkey corn Is not
maize, and does not bear its grain on an
ear, but on the top in the tassel, as the
broom corn does. Turkey corn Is about 8
feet high and bears a small, rounded grain,
which Is either white or pinkish. In the
east 1t is known by the name of dura. The
Turks and Egyptians grow Indian corn, 1t
Is true, but 1t was originally obtained
from America. Turkey corn and maize
have often been copfounded by botanical
writer's. "Ble de Turquie" Is a distino-
tive grain. Robert p. Harris In Garden
and Forest.
Creole Girls Charming English.
1.-THE creole gentlewoman will charm
Ar s,.t.x tk.l, Il. t~..k