MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN.

125. Maize or Indian Corn.

The rich prairies between the cotton re-
gion and the Great Lakes are in the cool belt.
There the hot and cold seasons are of about
equal length. —

The soil of the prairies is warm and mellow
in summer. Once in a while there is-a very
dry season,

but as arule || vy Dig 7

there is “J Be =
plenty of ay " ry lL
rain. pe

j The prai- “! if

ries are the |@

richest grain :

region on ve

earth. One a

of the lead-

ing grains is
MAaLZ€, OF
Indian corn.

93

When the white men came to America,

- they found that the Indians had large fields

of corn. This useful grain was then taken
to Europe, and later to nearly all lands havy-
ing long and ¢ hot summers.

Chicago is center of the

   
 

  
  
    

 

 

 

What states
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corn grows? a a
Corn is often ground to meal and is»
then made into various kinds of bread.
Green corn is boiled on the cob, and used
as food.
When corn is thickly sown ears do not form,
but the stalks are rich and sweet. These are
used as fodder or food for cattle.
_ Is there a girl or a boy im all our land who
does not know what “pop corn” is? Do you
like to watch the kernels burst with a pop,
and puff into a snowy mass ?
Frost kills growing corn, and cold nights
hinder its growth. For these reasons, it
/ does not grow so far north as some hardier
graims do.

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corn trade in the United States.
Chicago ?

Thousands of shiploads of grain are sent
down the Great Lakes from this city. A large
part of this grain passes through the Erie canal.

Where is

“TIt is claimed that maize was known to the people of
southeast Asia long before the discovery of America, but
this grain did not come into general use till long after it
was found in the gardens of the Indians.