The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-08-25
Ne 0zVe him a large
debt for AIR. kuozv-
ledge Of earn culture
and are still learning
from Tim b0zv to in
crease yields ofg1uM

GOD we must have for ourselves and
our allies, and that We can make this
country the granary of the world Is
Il due to that magician Of the globe
the aboriginal Burbank-the North
4 - American Indian
k...o.o1af There are many who hail the red
AXRSS2H man as the greatest of agricultursts
N~A4A$f for his work on this continent in de-
veoping and cultivating food plants
has been nothing short of colossal Not only staple
products, but also numerous varieties OF edible
grains vegetables and fruit. owe their present
useful forms to his skill. 1t is popular falacy
that the Indian was merely hunter, that he lived
q haphazard and hand-to-mouth existence by fish
ing and the chase and that his tng the soil was
only an incident of his communal life Ii Is late
day to give the guerdOn of recOmpense TO race
which so many times kept our forefathers from
starvation and furnished the cornstalk bridge on
which civilization came to these shores, and yet
even now credit should be given where 1t Is due
Most of the valued articles of diet of which the
discoveries and explorers of the early day round
the Indian in possession was not indigenous at ALL
and many of them came originally from tropical
countries many thousands of miles distant Inc
Indian tribes made frequent war excursions to
the lower ATTITUDES and brought back grams ana
vegetables of all kinds which they used as seed
Maize or Indian corn, in its present form repre-
sents one of the great achievements OF prlhluve
planters. 1t came originally, 1t Is now generally
accented from southern Mexico and was eaten by
the MAYA tribes. At first 1t was nothing more than
a coarse grass on which were tiny ears resembling
the ton of the wheat stalk. Each grain had Its own
enyelope of husk Occasionally even now grains
of corn are found which have their lndl'iouai
ihusk thus showing how the maize OF our gay
,reyerts to type The plant essentially tropical
and even now after centuries of culture IN the te
.perate zone 1t Is sensitive to frost
The tribes of North America saw the possiDih
tics of tho grain and fastened its evolution There
has been crossbreeding since by white farmers We.
as matter of fact the corn culture OF the present
day is practically as 1t came from tne manu- u VIC
INDIAN He has adapted and modined II 10 various
sections Of the country by process u e"' Gun
selection.
An the kinds of corn which exist today are de-
,scrbed in the accounts of the white setuers'
Black and red corn, the white corn ti'e SeA""
corn are all mentioned, not forgetting the sui
,sweet variety the sO-called gunmy eorh Vi 'no
indians The culture OF corn was nioie 80
,farming--it was a religion. The seiectioh OF 'he
lod for rho next planting was done with such
icora tho various colorings were so studled anu
modified that there grew up veritaDe inaize ~"
Idition =, .,,o, over
An tho methods of raising corn were taken over
directly by the early settlers, ana aithoush me-
hoyo come into being mechanical appliances loi
' a'e ,ontino and harvesting, the methods
spp "Iy NOT changed since they were de
,,-o,oned nv the Indian. The ground was looseheu
i,,J+h hoes made either Of wood OF OIL JUNO -
iant,er or flint with wooden hahuies'
chosen grains were put in holes made by planting
,sticks If the planting season had peeh oeiaSeu
t, frost the Indians soaked the grain In "ate, ~
itbot LOST time might be made up IN gerhihation
,EreouentJy q little hellebore or some otner po".
!ful drue was added to the water Ihis uiu ho' ~
i,uro tho grain and either stupefed or kllleu any
of the crows which might dig up the SEED oi'en
snaras were laid for the feet OF the pirus' anu
later fantastic human figures were piaceu III ~
corn clearings, the precursors of the mooerh s'a
io,ours The weeds were hoed away from the young
GIANTS and as the season advanced the young corh
ms killed. The main work of cutlvaths soin
o dome nv women among the Eastern trlpes
,rb,e in the tribes of the West and the oouln"e''
tho cron was looked after by the men.
The planting of the corn was III reaiits -
.,oI &c was the harvesting The success which
ot+ondad the development Of the scraggiy ht'ie
+ronica plant TO the splendid stalk often 10 lee'
tall and with ears foot and hall long as spec,
MONS of the raising of the Iroquos are descrioeu'
os dino 70 the zeal and the scrupulous care OF the
PLANTERS inspired by romance corn III .lie ilui"n
t.adition became the food which came direct from
- hroos4 of Mother Earth The Keeping Oh the
o,or coed was q matter of sentiment anu Vi
ea;th Mighty Mondamin, committed 10 the grave
los 70 rise again. and it was the duty OF the uiiefs