The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-28

49, az liz sees l1oI1. AnO
thus, multiplying and growing strong
and bold and independent, he broke
the Old World shackles, having first
thrashed the Old World soundly, set
up Tor himself an exampler, a shining
light to the whole world. And at his
teck the world 9prang forward a thou
sand years in a day. For not only
We're the shackles of the body then
broken, but those of the mind like
wise.
Man is now a-quiver with energy,
c~onquering the earth. the waters and
the air above them largely because he
feels his keep-because corn in its or
lginal form or in the form of meat
enables him, in the large, to feed
himself SO easily and so we'll, to pro-
vide so snugly for today that he has
a vast surplus energy to plan and
work for tomorrow.
Nimble Witted Japan sees that she
must eat meat in order to keep step
with the world, the progressive. meat
eating world. Hence her recent pro-
vision to greatly increase the raising
Of meat producing animals. China has
been moribund for millions for the
lack Of meat. Lin her great nav
with meat nj she will open her eyes,
burst her cerements and strike forth
the giant Of nations.
n world, or at least an unusually
sc pIOpOI y OIL II, at 1dSI mas us
fill of energiZing food, Simpy because
the billions of bushels Of corn annu-
ally produced renders it possible to
fatten enough meat to fill the worlds
stomach. To fatten sufficient meat
otherwise would be impossible, and if
it could it would not be the same tasty,
generating meat as that corn fattenS.
So largely is American civilization
IL on corn and or corn bread,
SO typical is the very plant itself of
America and of the American charac-
ter, that the corn tassel should by all
means be adopted as q national flower,
as was once SO strongly recommended.
In it's ability to overcome difficulties,
to make good and thrive where all
other useful plants fail, corn is simply
emblenatic of the New World man.
Where do we find a more striking
symbol Oh democracy than the corn
plant, each sturdy stalk, s~elf-sustain-
ing, independent, standing for itself.
It's streaming silk is the red cap Of
liberty and it's white tassel, the plume
Of right and justice. And where is
the eye so dull that it cannot in the
red, white blue corn grains see pre-
figured the national colOrs?
Moreover, of all the great staples,
corn alone is a product of the New
| World. The Indian brought tobacco
with him from Asia, it's home, by way
of the West. The white man brought
the others in by way of the East. The
other continents divided their energies
between the O~rigination of divers sta
pies. America concentrated her ener-
| gies on one, into which she breathed
the very essence OF her nature, all her
strength and her hustle. And the
moribund Old World ate of this body
of the New and was made oun
There is a belief among primitive
men, quite worldwide, that we par
take of the nature, Of the very spirit,
of that which we eat. The yellow
nomad of the Asiatic Steppes eats the
heart Of a brave foe to make him
brave. The red men of the American
wilderness ate the deer to make him
fleet, the bear to make him strong,
stunning the numbering Ok, lest it
make him dull and slow. The brown
man of Tahite ate the missionary to
make him good. And where is the
mind so illogical that it cannot see that
this strange, new energy which is so
fast re-making the world was not
drawn from corn, either at first land
as bread or at second and as the meat
it fattened? And this leaves unestInat-
ed eau it is inestimab1e, the eff
fectS of corn in it's concentrated, it's
llauifed, it's glorified form. In this
euise it is, (to cite only one ~instance)
SO potent that it makes a Colonel Of
every male citizen Of certain States
VINO pdTLakeS Ol IL, JUST DIS SFCIy
| beekin tina tastes of a certain magic
| bee-food becomes by and by a queen.
I mean of that grand state.
Where the corn Is full Of kernels,
| And the Colonies are full of corn"
kentucky, Of course.
(The recent definition Of a colonel,
quoted in this paper, as a male citizen
| CT Texas or Kentucky, is good as far
as it goes, but it does not go far
| enough. A colonel is a male citizen Of
Texas or Kentucky, especially Of Ken
lucky, III loves good liquor.) Take
| from American craftsmanship what it
| nwes to corn bread and from An1eri-
| can oratory what it owes to corn
liquor, what, my dear sir, will there