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     The corn, or maize plant, is one of the most important of the cereals.

     The term cereal comes from Cores, who was the goddess of grain and the harvest. She was the mother of Proserpine, who was a young woman of great beauty. While she was gathering flowers on the plains of Nysi she was kidnapped by the god of the lower regions, Pluto, and carried to his realms to be his queen. Ceres, her mother, was stricken with grief and searched all over the world for her daughter. She finally shut herself up in a temple and refused to be comforted. As she was the goddess of grain and harvest, this caused a universal famine. Jupiter, who was the superior god, finally had Proserpine returned to her mother, but, unfortunately, she had eaten part of a pomegranate, which condemned her to spend a part of her time in the lower regions, but allowed her liberty to be with her mother in sunshine, the remainder of the time.

     In this myth of the ancients, Proserpine represents the grains of seed which must be planted in the ground, "the lower regions." For a part of the time the stalk comes above the ground and bears the grain in the sunshine "the time when Proserpine is with her mother, the Goddess Gores."

     The American Indians have a very beautiful legend about the corn, with which most children are familiar. The story is told in the beautiful poem, "Hiawatha," by Longfellow. It would be a good plan to read this story of Mondamin to the children and have it thoroughly understood.

     Indian corn, or maize, was not known in Europe, Asia, Africa, or any of the eastern world, until after Columbus discovered America. He found the Indian cultivating this strange plant with its golden ears and silken streamers in all parts of the new world from Chili to New England. It is supposed to have originated in the Peninsula of Yucatan or some territory near there. Corn is the same kind of a plant as many of the grasses: Common millet of China, Kaffir corn of South Africa, sugar cane, sorghum, broom corn, etc.

     After arousing an interest in the corn plant, the teacher is then in position to lead the pupils In study and experiment with corn.

Advantage should be taken of the aroused interest in the subject to correlate with other branches. Some suggestions follow for correlating with language, arithmetic and domestic science.

     The picture on page 1 shows in figures and in a graphic way, the comparison of the corn crop of the United States for 1908, with that of Nebraska and Custer county. It also gives a picture of the State Capitol building at Lincoln in about the right proportion.

     The large sack holds the crop of the U. S. (2,643,000,000 bushels). On the same scale, the crop of Nebraska (178,599,789 bushels) is represented by the middle sized sack. The very small sack on the left holds the crop of Custer county, which excels every other county in Nebraska in the production of corn (6,282,000 bushels).

     The crop of Grant county, which grows the least corn of any county in the state (4,427 bushels), would be represented by .00072 sq. in. It is of course, not practical to make a bag to represent too minute a dot, which would not be larger than the point of a pin.

     For the sake of appealing to the eye, the figures are represented by these various sized sacks. To make the illustration more striking a minute picture of the State Capitol at Lincoln has been placed by the side of the sack holding the corn of Custer county. It must be remembered that this smallest sack (Custer county) holds enough corn to fill the State Capitol building from cellar to dome more than three times.

     With this in mind imagine how large the sack holding the crop of Nebraska is, and what a giant sack the crop of the United States would fill.

     As suggested in article one: Teachers should have the children make and fill small bags in the proper proportions for the crop of their own and several other counties. To make this practical, it would be best to take a large enough standard for the State of Nebraska so that the proper size of the bags for the different counties would not be so minute. This exercise will be of value for the work, both in domestic art and In arithmetic.

     If the exercises are conducted with enthusiasm, not only the children, but the whole neighborhood, will become interested. Read article one, and be sure to have the children make the sacks.

     The interest of the pupils is awakened and intensified by the work of their hands in preparing Illustrations and experiments.

     The teacher may have the student write compositions or essays on the familiar crops. I take the following suggestions from a leaflet Published by C. M. Parker, Taylorville, Illinois.

     The corn field I have selected for study is about a quarter of a mile north of my home, and belongs to Mr. John Gates. There are about forty (or other number) of acres in this corn field, which is an average corn field in this neighborhood. The rows of corn are three feet, six inches apart, and the hills are three feet, six inches apart in. the rows (or ether distance the teacher may suggest).

     In most of the hills are three stalks of corn, but in a few there are four, in a less number two, and occasionally one. In walking through the corn, I found three hills that had no stalks, showing the seed corn was not planted, or if planted, it either did not grow or the young plants were destroyed. There was an average of three stalks to a hill. The stalks were five feet, six inches tall and three and a half inches in circumference, having ears three and a half feet from the ground. The ears had shanks of ten inches average length, and the tips, eighteen out of twenty-eight ears, were covered by the husks. The majority of the husks on the ears with covered tips were coarse and harsh, while the husks on the ears with uncovered tips were not so coarse and few in number. There was an average of thirty leaves to the stalk, and the stalks with a larger number of leaves were larger and stronger.

     There seems to he a great difference in size, shape and quality of the different stalks and ears of the same variety, in the same field. No two ears were alike and the largest stalks did not always bear the largest ears of corn.

     1. Select a plot in the field, ten hills by ten hills square. Count all the stalks in the plot, then count all the barren stalks, that is, those that bear no ears: (a) Find the per cent of barren stalks. These barren stalks take the fertility of the soil, but as they produce no corn they are of little use to the farmer. (b) How did this affect the yield per acre?

     2. How many hills in an acre where the corn is planted three feet, six inches apart both ways?

     3. If there were one stalk to every hill and each stalk produced one ear of corn of which the weight was one pound, how many bushels of corn would an acre yield?

     4. How much if there were two stalks to the hill?

     5. How much if there were three stalks to the hill?

     6. How much corn would be produced on 40 acres in each case?

     7. Report to the teacher how many different varieties of corn there are growing in your neighborhood.

     8. How many rows of kernels on an ear of corn?

     9. How many kernels in each row?

     10. Do you find an odd number of rows of corn to the ear?

     11. What is the legal weight of a bushel of corn?

     Statement: A farmer raised 2,000 bushels of corn on 40 acres. On account of the use of poor seed, fifteen kernels of every 100 failed to come up.

     (a) How many more bushels would he have raised if he had planted good seed, and had a perfect stand?

     (b) The price of corn was 80 cents per bushel. How many dollars did he lose on account of planting poor seed?

     (c) How much did he lose per acre?

     (d) Would the total amount that he lost pay the farmer for care in selecting and testing his seed corn?

     (e) By careless cultivation, the boy who cultivated the corn covered up six hills out of every hundred. How many bushels did the farmer lose in the entire field on account of careless plowing?

     (f) On each acre?

     (g) The boy cultivated eight acres per day, and received $1.00 for his work. How much would the farmer have gained by discharging the careless boy and hiring at the same price a careful boy who covered up none?

     (h) How many dollars did the farmer lose on the 40 acre field on account of poor farming?

     The following is from the Nebraska Corn Book, and is the recipe from which so much prize corn bread has been made:

     Three-fourths cup cornmeal, 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon melted butter.

     Mix and sift the ingredients; add milk, egg well beaten, and butter; bake in shallow, buttered pan, In hot oven twenty minutes.

     The above amount will make a cake about two inches thick, it baked in pan 6x8 inches. (Level measurements should be used).

     First: Let each pupil, who cares to, try this recipe and compare any time convenient at school. Then try It again, varying the proportion of flour used, making equal parts corn and flour, etc. Try it again by using graham flour in place of ordinary flour. Try it again, using no sweetening.

     Teachers and pupils will originate other variations.

     It is difficult to give any real conception of the magnitude of our corn crop. If we say that we produced 2,643,000,000 bushels in the

United States last year, it means little to any of us. In the last article an attempt was made to illustrate graphically the comparison of corn crops in the county, state and nation. We can get some idea of the immensity of the nation's crop if we imagine it being all hauled to market at one time. We can put forty bushels of shelled corn in a wagon. We will allow thirty feet for the wagon, team, and a little space between wagons. This would make a string of wagons 375,426 miles long. Starting them eastward from Nebraska the line would extend across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, on and on to New York City and across the Atlantic (if it were possible for them to go across it), on and on across Europe and Asia, through China and Japan, and then across the mighty Pacific to San Francisco, over the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Rocky mountains and then back Into Nebraska. Nor is this all. There would be enough wagon loads to make the line of teams extend eleven times around the world, at Its circumference. In the latitude of Nebraska there would he about 22 lines.

     If we had all this corn piled up in Nebraska and wished to haul It to New York City in wagons and have the last one start when the first one reached New York we would have to have 313 different parallel roads and these would all be full of teams. Just think of 313 different strings of teams, side by side, all the way from Nebraska to New York City just as close together as they could drive.

     Suppose we should wish to send this corn to market in freight cars. How long a freight train do you think it would make? If we allow 500 bushels for a carload and 40 feet to each car, there would be 40,045 miles of freight cars. At the equator the freight train would reach completely around the world and more than half way round again. In the latitude of Nebraska it would reach three times around. Three tracks side by side entirely around the world would stand full of cars loaded with corn.

      If this train passed by your school house at the rate of twenty miles per hour and never stopped, day or night, not even, for coal or water, but rumble on and on and on, it would take three months for it to pass.

     Note: The teacher should be sure that each child understands why the distance around the world is shorter in the latitude of Nebraska. They might find the circumference of the earth at a few different latitudes and make comparisons.

     Corn has had a marked influence upon the history and development of our country. Indian corn was, in many Instances, all that stood between the early settlers and starvation. (The teacher may tell or have pupils find incidents related in history of the use of corn -- how the Indians presented corn to the whites, how the early settlers were at one time reduced to five grains apiece for a meal, etc.) It

would have been long years before Nebraska and the rest of the middle west would have developed but for the bountiful harvests of corn.

     It has sometimes been said that the two kings, "Corn and Cotton," have had more to do with the destinies of the United States than has "Taxation without Representation." It might seriously be questioned whether or not there would have been any people worth mentioning to tax in Nebraska had corn and cotton not produced such wonderful crops in the New World.

     Some people have wondered why the "corn belt" Is bounded as It Is. They know that corn requires warmth and a good soil, and would naturally suppose that the farther south one should go, the more corn he would see. This is not the case.

     (Let the children give as many reasons as they can for the location of the corn belt.)

     Many do not realize that the average temperature has little to do with the growth of corn. It requires a July temperature of 70 or 80 degrees, or even warmer for the best results.

     Do you realize that during the summer Nebraska has much more sunshine than Louisiana? Not only has Nebraska more hours of sunshine each day, owing to its longer days, but every sunshine hour Is a brighter one than in Louisiana. (Explain why Nebraska has longer days in the summer than Louisiana.) The clear atmosphere, the absence of clouds and fogs, give us the glaring sunshine of which we so often complain. This is worth more to Nebraska in developing her nine of "golden yellow corn" than all the gold mines of the Klondike. Immediately after a shower the sun comes out and begins to work the "gold mines." In some parts of our country when it rains, the weather continues murky and cloudy for several days or weeks. (Have pupils tell where.)

     A good crop of corn does not depend so much upon the annual rainfall as upon the amount of precipitation (or rainfall) from April to September. The good soil and the proper distribution of sunshine and showers have done much to make Nebraska the third state in the union in the production of corn. If every farmer and farmer's son ,works hard for the improvement of seed and the proper cultivation of corn, Nebraska may some day rank first. (Have pupils make a map showing the "corn belt.")

     There are many kinds of corn. The one chief of interest to children Is pop-corn. What boy or girl has not been fascinated by watching the little grains burst all at once into a minute white puff that might be taken for a fairy's snowball. Have you ever tried to find interesting

shapes? I have often found cute little sunbonnets and other as interesting forms. Sometimes it requires a little imagination to see the likeness of things, but it makes a most interesting pastime. No matter whether the grain is yellow, translucent or red, the ball Is the same snowy whiteness. How good it smells and what delicious eating! The winter evenings would not be half as enjoyable without pop-corn, and Christmas -- what would Christmas be without strings of popcorn, pop-corn bags and pop-corn balls? Can you find out why the pop-corn. pops when heated?

     Some of our boys and girls make money for themselves by raising a few rows or acres of popcorn to sell. In the Loup river valley in Nebraska sometimes as high as one hundred bushels are raised to the acre.

     This kind of corn is known best by the translucent, horny appearance of the kernels and their more or less crinkled, wrinkled or, shriveled condition and sweet taste. The first sweet corn cultivated In America was secured from the Susquehanna Indians in 1779 by Captain Richard Begnall, who accompanied General Sullivan on his expedition to subdue the Six Nations. (Who were the "Six Nations," and where did they live?)

     Sweet corn Is used mostly for roasting ears and for canning purposes. It is so seldom that we now cook corn in any other way than by boiling or frying, that we scarcely remember why the term "roasting ears" is used. The Indians roasted the corn in the ashes. The husks were left on. Our ancestors found it convenient to roast the corn in the same way in the old fireplace. Camping parties often enjoy this treat.

      It is a matter of Interest to know that Nebraska produces more sweet corn for seed than any other state in the union.

     This is a very hard variety with smooth grains. It is grown most where the climate is cold and the seasons short, as it matures earlier than the dent varieties. It is the kind that was raised by the Pilgrim fathers in New England. It is sometimes used in Nebraska in the place of sweet corn because it matures early. At some of our corn shows in the west and north parts of the state some excellent exhibits have been made of various colored flint corn.

     The most common field corn in Nebraska Is the so-called Dent corn. It received this name because of the slight indentation at the top of each kernel. This depression is caused by the grain beginning to harden at the point that is in the cob. Flint corn begins like popcorn to harden at the surface, thus leaving a small hard outer surface.

     Dent corn is raised wherever the season is long enough for the corn to mature, because it produces more bushels to the acre and can be handled with less expense. The most common varieties of dent corn raised in Nebraska are Nebraska White Prize, Mammoth White Pearl, Mammoth Golden Yellow, Hogue's Yellow Dent, Riley's Favorite, Golden Eagle, Pride of the North, Boone County White, Silver Mine, Johnson's White, St. Charles White, Bloody Butcher, Chase's White Dent, Golden Row and Calico, Reid's Yellow Dent, and Leaming's Yellow Dent.

Selecting Seed Corn

     By selecting seed corn carefully the yield may be very materially increased. To raise the most and the best corn should be the aim of every farmer, Why should one cultivate a field of corn and be satisfied when he could have a much larger yield by a little care and forethought?

     The best time to select seed corn is just at maturity while the corn is still standing in the field. With a basket on your arm go through the best corn in the best fields and select good, well ripened ears from vigorous medium sized stalks. The ears should not he too high or too low on the stalks. Choose from hills containing two or three stalks rather than from single stalks or those having special advantages. The shank or stem of the ear should he long enough so that the end of the ear hangs downward. The ears should be cylindrical in shape, butts and tips well filled out, rows regular, grains wedge shaped, long and deep. (See 7 In cut).

     The corn should be husked and hung in a dry place. The corn when gathered contains 30 to 40 per cent of moisture. If it freezes while containing much moisture its vitality is impaired. Much of such corn will not sprout and that which does sprout will produce weak sickly plants. Hang the corn in the attic on springs or wires, or place it in a rack where it will be free from mice, moisture and extreme cold weather. It pays to take good care of corn because good seed corn is worth from $2.00 to $4.00 per bushel, and, other things being equal, corn grown at home is worth more than corn brought from a distance, because it is already used to the climate and soil.

     An ear of corn should be cylindrical in shape, tapering but very slightly toward the tip. If an ear tapers rapidly it may contain even five or ten per cent less than if it were cylindrical in shape. An ear should have kernels that are rough. Kernels that are smooth are usually shallow. If the ear tapers rapidly toward the tip and has shallow kernels it is a sign that the corn is degenerating. The shank should be smooth and small, but large enough so that there will be no danger of the ear falling from the stock. The shape of the kernels should be such that they fit snugly together from tip to point. The shape of the kernel has much to do with the net amount of corn that can be grown on a given cob. If the kernels are square, round, or too pointed they de not fit closely together.

     It is important in planting corn to have the kernels the same size, otherwise the planter will not drop the same number of kernels, and the stand will be uneven.

      Teachers could well have a number of contests in corn judging before the farmer's institutes are held in their sections. This will arouse interest and give the boys practice in judging so that they may select the best ears of their own corn, both at county contests and at the state contest at Lincoln, January 17-22, 1910.

     Uniformity of Exhibit.--The ears in an exhibit should be similar in size, shape, color and indentation. For each ear deficient in these respects cut the exhibit one point.

     Shape of Ears.--The ears should be cylindrical or nearly so. Cut the exhibit one point for each ear deviating from this requirement.

     Color of Cob.--The cobs should be uniformly red or uniformly white. For each white cob in an exhibit in which the red predominates, cut the exhibit one-half point. Do the same for each red cob in an exhibit of white cobs.

     Color of Kernels.--For each white crowned kernel in a yellow or red variety, cut the exhibit one-tenth point. For each yellow kernel in a white variety gives the same cut.

     Market Conditions.--The corn should be well matured, firm and sound. For each ear deficient in these respects, cut the exhibit one point.

     Tips of Ears.--The tips of the ears should be covered with regular, uniform kernels. Add together the lengths of protruding cobs on all ears of the exhibit and cut at the rate of one-half point for each inch.

     Butts of Ears.--The rows of kernels should be even and swell out beyond the end of the cob. Cut the exhibit one-half point for each poorly filled butt, and one-fourth point for each fiat butt.

     Uniformity of Kernels.--The kernels should possess similar characters. Cut the exhibit one point for each deficient ear.

     Shape of Kernels.--The kernels should have a wedge shape on the broad side, and on the narrow aide the edges should be parallel. Cut one point for each objectionable ear.

     Space Between Kernels.--The rows of kernels should not be more than one thirty-second of an inch apart at any part of the row. If more than one-sixteenth of an inch cut one-half point, if less than that but more than one-thirty-second, cut one-fourth point for each ear.

     Weight of Grain.--The weight of grain of an average ear should come up to the following requirements:

     Note. The weight of grain may be estimated when it is desired to preserve all ears of corn.

     Length of ear 12 inches and over, weight of grain 17 ounces.

     Length of ear 11 to 12 inches, weight of grain 15 ounces.

     Length of ear 10 to 11 inches, weight of grain 14 ounces.

     Length of ear  9 to 10 inches, weight of grain 13 ounces.

     Length of ear  8 to  9 inches, weight of grain 11.5 ounces.

     Length of ear  7 to  8 inches, weight of grain  9.5 ounces.

     Length of ear  6 to  7 inches, weight of grain  8 ounces.

     For each ounce below the number required by an ear of given length, cut the exhibit two points.

     People in European countries and some other lands had never

seen corn. They knew nothing of its uses and great value. They fattened all their pigs and cattle without corn, never had a johnny cake or Aunt Chlo's corn pone. To create a demand abroad for our corn it was necessary to send speakers and demonstrators to show foreigners how to use corn. If you were sent abroad to get people interested in buying corn, how many uses could you name? The United States bulletins and the Nebraska Corn Book may suggest uses of which you may not think. Corn is used in the manufacture of over 100 different articles.

     The teacher may help pupils trace corn through some of the various processes and to different markets of the world. On the map, follow the possible routes of travel of Nebraska corn products. This can be used for composition work and for geography as well.

     Besides being used to make corn meal, hominy, starch, whiskey, glucose, etc., corn is used for making linoleum, and rubber for heels of shoes. It may be interesting to know that a preparation from the spongy pith of corn is used in making explosives, and another preparation of pith is used under the steel plate of war vessels. It is elastic and tends to stop projectiles from the cannons. If a hole is made below the surface of the water the pith swells and helps to fill it up.

     The husks are used for mattresses and the manufacture of paper. They are sometimes woven or braided into mats. Any district school can afford this material for manual training purposes. Husks may sometimes take the place of raffia for practice work. Pupils will find pleasure in weaving a husk rug for the school house floor.

      We must not forget the great use of stalks for fodder. In some states corn fodder is cut green and stored In air-tight structures called silos, where It is kept until winter when it is fed fresh and green to stock, especially milk cows. Cows fed from ensilage (food from silo) give more milk and more butter fat than when fed on dry fodder.

     The great bulk of corn is fed to animals. The farther from a good market that corn is raised, the larger per cent of it is fed. (Have pupils give reasons.) A bushel of corn will, under favorable conditions, make about ten or eleven pounds of pork. This means more to Nebraska than it does to Illinois because of the difference in freight to Chicago.

     How much farther from Chicago is Hastings than Bloomington?

     If hogs are worth five cents a pound how much can a farmer afford to pay for corn to feed these hogs, counting that a bushel will make ten pounds?

     If corn is worth 60 cents a bushel, how much must hogs be worth per pound in order to make it profitable for a farmer to feed them his corn?

     (1) To show that the corn plant rapidly absorbs water, cut a stalk of vigorous, growing corn, place the cut end immediately in a

vessel containing water, to which red ink or eosin has been added. After a few minutes cut a cross section a little distance from the lower end and the red liquid will be easily seen in the pith. If left for some time the red color will appear in the green leaves.

     (2) To show that there is oil in the corn, take the germ from a kernel of corn, crush it on a clean piece of white paper. After remaining a little while the paper will show a grease spot.

     (3) To show that corn contains starch, first take a little ordinary starch and moisten with a very little tincture of iodine. A bluish, or blackish appearance indicates starch. The test will show better if the starch is first stirred in cold water and then boiling water added to make a thin paste. Crush a few grains of corn and test in the same way. Add the iodine after the starch has been boiled and cooled.

     Teachers need the farmers' bulletins published by the United States Department of Agriculture. Each of the older pupils should send for the following:

     Farmers' Bulletin No. 313, Harvesting and Storing Corn.

     Farmers' Bulletin No. 298, Food Value of Corn.

     Farmers' Bulletin No. 199, Corn Growing.

     Farmers' Bulletin No. 303, Corn-Harvesting, Marketing, Machinery.

     The bulletins published by the University of Nebraska should also be sent for.

     "Corn Plants" by L. F. Sargent, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., is a very helpful book, and the Nebraska Corn Book has information relative to corn plants, especially as applied to Nebraska.

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© 2003 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller