Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-09-08
ORIGIN OF CORN
A STUDY IN BOTANY.
-
BY BENZ. HILL HuNNIcUTT.
BY BENZ. HILL HuNNIcUTT.

on that fateful day of 1892, he found
poor savages cultivating a plant that
was new to the Sraniards. Later,
when they saw the Islanders gather
dng from the stocks a material which
they used for food, the Spaniards took
curious interest in their actions
This plant which the natives called
"Mahiz'' was wholly unknown to Eu-
rope or any other part of the old
world. Afterwards the Spaniards
themselves cultivated this plant for
food, calling it maize" by which
name 1t has since been known in the
botanical world. In this small way
began what is now the most impor-
tant and most valuable crop in the
civilized world.
Looked at from the standpoint Of
the botanist, strange fact is dis
closed in considering the habits as
well as the habitats of this celebra-
ted cereal. 1t was Indigenous TO the
two Americans, but at the time of the
conquest had made little progress to-
wards the wonderful development it
was subsequently to attain.
The Indian tribes in various Sec
lions, from the Canadas to Patagonia,
were found to be acquainted with it's
merits. They cultivated in little
patches, planting it in hole in the
ground made with a stick and from
it made certain dishes afterwards ia
hoecake."
What is especially noticeable is the
fact that no other grain or vegetable
has such difficulty in reproducing it
self unaided as maze. Left to It.
self it is difficult to see how it could
keep alive. The. grain being encased
in a thick and close-fittfng shuck and
growing closely to the cob, can not
reproduce unless in falling it becomes
shattered and covered Birds and
other animals might help some in this
process but not enough to greatly eX-
tend the area of it's productivity.
The aid of man is needed, not only
to plant, but to cultivate the corn,
and it is questionable whether if left
ungathered the whole of the fields in
our mighty belt would spontaneously
bring forth next season a single ear.
Fortunately, the savages In a linn
tied way assisted this wonderful
plant sufficiently to keep it alive in
many places until the white man
came with his hoe and plow to do
the work on an extensive scale.
It is just possible that but for the
Indians it might have been lost en-
tirely to man. It's only chance of
survival would be in the tropics
where the first grain that fell and be-
came covered would escape freezing
and thus sprout in the returning sea-
son for its propagation.
1t Is a far cry from the little
patches On Gunnahain Island, to the
corn fields now smiling over the Uni
ted States preparatory to a produc-
ton of 3,000,000000 bushels this fall.
These fields occupy an area greater
in extent than the German Empire.
Though every State and Territory
In the Union produces corn. the prin-
cipal crop comes from Indiana, Illi-
nois, Iowa. Missouri and Nebraska,
which constitute the far-famel corn
belt"
1t is estimated that if all corn pro-
duced in one year in these six States
were shelled and loaded in wagons,
the train would extend nearly 10000
miles, betting the earth six times and
1000 miles of wagon to spare. Iowa
alone has produced crop equal in
value to the annual output of gold,
silver, and lead in this whole coun-
try, or more than the net earnings
of all the national banks.
Our farmers may understand what
is meant by improved corn culture,
when it is understood that an in
crease of one ear in every ten in
the five principal corn States, that
would mean an addition of $44000,000
a year to their wealth.
Though the origin of corn is very
ancient, it's use on a large scale is
very modern.
Darwin, the great naturalist, while
travelling in Peru, found an ear re-
posing in metal vessel eighty-five
feet below the present surface of the
soil. Others have been found with
mummies in the tombs of the Incas.
The natives of Mexico, long before
the conquest, worshipped a goddess
corresponding to the Greek Ceres,
and the method was for sun virgins
to sacrifice corn cakes in her honor.
The North American Indians believed
that corn was a direct gift from the
Great Spirit.
This inspiring belief was embodied
in a poetica1 legend to the young
warrior fasting in the wilderness
prayed for gift for his people, when
a spirit in the form of a young man
CARRIED in glistening green with flow
ing plumes, descended in response
and brought the grain of grains as
Cultivation