The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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The many excellent properties of Indian corn, as a wholesome
nutritious food, and the rich fodder obtained from the stalk and leaf
for the nourishment of cattle, invite more earnest attention from the
farmer and planter in the Colonies to its better and extended
cultivation.

Though the average quantity of grain from each acre in the United
States is not more than thirty or forty bushels, yet it is known that
with due care and labor 100 to 130 bushels may be obtained.

In feeding cattle little difference is discoverable between the
effects of Indian corn meal and oil-cake meal; the preference rather
preponderates in favor of the latter.

Corn cobs, ground with the grain, have advocates, but this food is not
relished, and swine decline it.

Indian corn contains about the same proportion of starch as oats
(sixty per cent.), but is more fattening, as it contains about nine or
ten per cent. of oily or fatty ingredients.

The following analysis of maize is given by Dr. Samuel David, of
Massachusetts:--

FLESH FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gluten, albumen, and casein 12.60

FAT FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gum, sugar, starch, woody fibre, oil, &c. 77.09
Water 9.00
Salts 1.31
-----
100.

Prof. Gorham, in "Thomson's Organic Chem.," published in London in
1838, gives another analysis:--

Fresh grain. Dried grain.
Water 9.00
Starch 77.00 84.60
Gluten 3.00 3.30
Albumen 2.50 2.74
Gum 1.75 1.92
Sugar 1.45 1.60
Loss 5.30 5.84
------ ------
100. 100.

Professor Johnston supplies a table, which, he says, exhibits the best
approximate view we are yet able to give of the average proportion of
starch and gluten contained in 100 lbs. of our common grain crops as
they are met with in the market.

From this table I extract the following:--

Starch, gum, &c. Gluten, albumen, &c.
Wheat flour. 55 lbs. 10 to 15 lbs.
Oats 65 " 18 lbs.
Indian corn 70 " 12 "
Beans 40 " 28 "
Peas 50 " 24 "
Potatoes 12 " 2-1/3 "

The Professor remarks that the proportion of oil is, in 100 lbs. of

Wheat flour 2 to 4
Oats 5 " 8
Indian corn 5 " 9
Beans and peas 21/2 " 3
Potatoes 01/4 "

Maize is one of those plants in which potash preponderates, for
analysis of its ashes gives the following proportions:--

Salts of potash and soda 71.00
---- lime and magnesia 6.50
Silica 18.00
Loss 4.50
------
100.

Dr. Salisbury has also furnished the proximate analysis of five
varieties of ripe maize or Indian corn:--

Proportions.
One hundred grains of each. Water. Dry.

Golden Sioux corn, a bright, yellow, twelve-rowed}
variety, frequently having fourteen rows } 15.02 84.98
Large eight-rowed yellow corn 14.00 86.00
Small eight-rowed ditto 14.03 85.97
White flint corn 14.00 86.00
Ohio Dent corn, one of the largest varieties of }
maize } 14.50 85.50

COMPARATIVE ORGANIC ANALYSIS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Golden | Ohio | Small | Large | White
| Sioux. | Dent | 8-rowed | 8-rowed | Flint
| | Corn. | Corn. | Corn. | Corn.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Starch | 36.06 | 41.85 | 30.29 | 49.22 | 40.34
Gluten | 5.00 | 4.62 | 5.60 | 5.40 | 7.69
Oil | 3.44 | 3.88 | 3.90 | 3.71 | 4.68
Albumen | 4.42 | 2.64 | 6.00 | 3.32 | 3.40
Casein | 1.92 | 1.32 | 2.20 | 0.75 | 0.50
Dextrine | 1.30 | 5.40 | 4.61 | 1.90 | 3.00
Fibre | 18.50 | 21.36 | 26.80 | 11.96 | 18.01
Sugar and extract | 7.25 | 10.00 | 5.20 | 9.55 | 8.30
Water | 15.02 | 10.00 | 13.40 | 14.00 | 14.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Large quantities of starch are now made from this grain in Ohio; an
establishment near Columbus consume 20,000 bushels of corn annually
for this purpose. The offal of the grain is given to hogs, 500 to 600
head being annually fattened therewith. The quality of the starch is
said to be superior to that of wheat, and commands a higher price in
New York.

A corn plant, fifteen days after the seed was planted, cut on the 3rd
June close to the ground, gave of--

Water 86.626
Dry matter 10.374
Ash 1.354
Ash calculated dry 13.053

By the above figures it will be seen that nearly 90 per cent, of the
young plant is water; and that in proportion to the dry matter, the
amount of earthy minerals which remain, as ash, when the plant is
burnt, is large. This excess of water continues for many weeks. Thus,
on the 5th July, thirty-three days from planting, the relations stood
thus:--

Water 90.518
Dry matter 9.482
Ash 1.333
Ash calculated dry 14.101
(Ash very saline.)

Before green succulent food of this character is fit to give to cows,
oxen, mules, or horses, it should be partly dried. Plants that contain
from 70 to 75 per cent. of water need no curing before eaten. The
young stalk cut July 12, gave over 94 per cent. of water. Such food
used for soiling without drying would be likely to scour an animal,
and give it the cholic.

The root at this time (July 12) gave of--

Water 81.026
Dry matter 18.974
Ash 2.222
Ash calculated dry 11.711
(Ash tastes of caustic potash.)

Ash of the whole plant above ground, 6.77 grains. Amount of ash in all
below ground, 3.93 grains.

So late as July 26, the proportion of water in the stalk was 94 per
cent.; and the ash calculated dry 17.66 per cent. The plant gained
21.36.98 grains in weight in a week preceding the 6th September. This
was equal to a gain of 12.72 grains per hour.

The rapid growth of corn plants, when the heat, light, and moisture,
as well as the soil are favorable, is truly wonderful. A deep, rich,
mellow soil, in which the roots can freely extend to a great distance
in depth and laterally, is what the corn-grower should provide for his
crop. The perviousness of river bottoms contributes largely to their
productiveness of this cereal. A compact clay, which excludes alike
air, water, and roots, forbidding all chemical changes, is not the
soil for Indian corn.

When farmers sell corn soon after it is ripe, there is considerable
gain in not keeping it long to dry and shrink in weight. Corn grown by
Mr. Salisbury, which was ripe by the 18th October, then contained 37
per cent. of water, which is 25 per cent. more than old corn from the
crib will yield. The mean of man experiments tried by the writer has
been a loss of 20 per cent. in moisture between new and old corn. The
butts of cornstalks contain the most water, and husks or shucks the
least, when fully matured and not dried. The latter have about 30 per
cent, of dry matter when chemically desiccated.

COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF THE LEAVES AT DIFFERENT STAGES.

July 19. Aug. 2. Aug. 23. Aug. 30. Oct. 18.
Carbonic acid 5.40 2.850 0.65 3.50 4.050
Silicia 13.50 19.850 34.90 36.27 58.650
Sulphuric acid 2.16 1.995 4.92 5.84 4.881
Phosphates 21.60 16.250 17.00 13.50 5.850
Lime .69 4.035 2.00 3.88 4.510
Magnesia .37 2.980 1.59 2.30 0.865
Potash 9.98 11.675 10.85 9.15 7.333
Soda 34.39 29.580 21.23 22.13 8.520
Chlorine 4.55 6.020 3.06 1.63 2.664
Organic acids 5.50 2.400 3.38 2.05 2.200
----- ------ ------ ----- ------
98.14 97.750 98.187 99.83 99.334

The above figures disclose several interesting facts. It will be seen
that the increase of silica or flint in the leaf is steadily
progressive from 131/2 per cent. at July 19, to 58.65 at October 18.

Flint is substantially the _bone earth_ of all grasses. If one were
to analyse the bones of a calf when a day old, again when thirty days
of age, and when a year old, the increase of phosphate of lime in its
skeleton would be similar to that witnessed in the leaves and stems of
maize. In the early stages of the growth of corn, its leaves abound in
phosphates; but after the seeds begin to form, the phosphates leave
the tissues of the plant in other parts, and concentrate in and around
the germs in the seeds. On the 23rd of August, the ash of the whole
stalk contained 191/2 per cent. of phosphates; and on the 18th of
October, only 15.15 per cent. In forming the cobs of this plant,
considerable potash is drawn from the stalk, as it decreases from
35.54 per cent. August 16, to 24.69 October 18. When the plant is
growing fastest, its roots yield an ash which contains less than one
per cent. of lime; but after this development is nearly completed, the
roots retain, or perhaps regain from the plant above, over 41/2 per
cent. of this mineral. Soda figures as high as from 20 to 31 per cent.
in the ash obtained from corn roots. Ripe seeds gave the following
results on the analysis of their ash:--

Silica 0.850
Phosphoric acid 49.210
Lime 0.075
Magnesia 17.600
Potash 23.175
Soda 3.605
Sodium 0.160
Chlorine 0.295
Sulphuric acid 0.515
Organic acids 5.700
------
99.175

The above table shows a smaller quantity of lime than is usually found
in the ash of this grain. It is, however, never so abundant as
magnesia; and Professor Emmons has shown that the best corn lands in
the State of New York contain a considerable quantity of magnesia. All
experience, as well as all chemical researches, go to prove that
_potash_ and phosphoric acid are important elements in the
organisation of maize. Corn yields more pounds of straw and grain on
poor land than either wheat, rye, barley, or oats; and it does
infinitely better on rich than on sterile soils. To make the earth
fertile, it is better economy to plant thick than to have the rows
five feet apart each way, as is customary in some of the Southern
States, and only one stalk in a hill. This gives but one plant to
twenty-five square feet of ground. Instead of this, three square feet
are sufficient for a single plant; and from that up to six, for the
largest varieties of this crop.

Mr. Humboldt states the production of maize in the Antilles as 300 for
one; and Mr. H. Colman has seen in several cases in the New England
States of America, a return of 400 for one; that is to say, the hills
being three feet apart each way, a peck of Indian corn would be
sufficient seed for an acre. If 100 bushels of grain is in such case
produced by an acre--and this sometimes happens--this is clearly a
return of 400 for one.

Of the whole family of cereals, _Zea Mays_ is unquestionably the most
valuable for cultivation in the United States. When the time shall
come that population presses closely on the highest capabilities of
American soil, this plant, which is a native of the New World, will be
found greatly to excel all others in the quantity of bread, meat,
milk, and butter which it will yield from an acre of land. With proper
culture, it has no equal for the production of hay, in all cases where
it is desirable to grow a large crop on a small surface.

Although there has been much written on the Eastern origin of this
grain, it did not grow in that part of Asia watered by the Indus, at
the time of Alexander the Great's expedition, as it is not among the
productions of the country mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the
fleet; neither is it noticed by Arian, Diodorus, Columella, nor any
other ancient author; and even as late as 1491, the year before
Columbus discovered America, Joan di Cuba, in his "Ortus Sanitatis,"
makes no mention of it. It has never been found in any ancient
tumulus, sarcophagus, or pyramid; nor has it ever been represented in
any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America.
But in that country, according to Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the
ancient Peruvian historians, the palace gardens of the Incas, in Peru,
were ornamented with maize, in gold and silver, with all the grains,
spikes, stalks, and leaves; and in one instance, in the "garden of
gold and silver," there was an entire cornfield, of considerable size,
representing the maize in its exact and natural shape; a proof no less
of the wealth of the Incas, than their veneration for this important
grain.

In further proof of the American origin, it may be stated that this
plant is still found growing, in a wild state, from the Rocky
mountains in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay, where,
instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long
cultivation, it is completely covered with glumes or husks. It is,
furthermore, a well authenticated fact, that maize was found in a
state of cultivation by the aborigines, in the island of Cuba, on its
discovery by Columbus, as well as in most other places in America,
first explored by Americans.

The first successful attempt to cultivate this grain in North America,
by the English, occurred on James' river, in Virginia, in 1608. It was
undertaken by the colonists sent over by the Indian company, who
adopted the mode then practised by the natives, which, with some
modifications, has been pursued throughout this country ever since.
The yield, at this time, is represented to have been from two hundred
to more than one thousand fold. The same increase was noted by the
early settlers in Illinois. The present yield, east of the Rocky
Mountains, when judiciously cultivated, varies from 20 to 135 bushels
to an acre.

The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every
grade of size, color, and conformation, between the "chubby reed"
that grows on the shores of Lake superior--the gigantic stalks of the
Ohio valley--the tiny ears, with flat, close, clinging grains, of
Canada--the brilliant, rounded little pearl--the bright red grains and
white cob of the eight-rowed haematite--the swelling ears of the big
white and the yellow gourd seed of the South. From the flexibility of
this plant, it may be acclimatised, by gradual cultivation, from Texas
to Maine, or from Canada to Brazil; but its character, in either case,
is somewhat changed, and often new varieties are the result. The
blades of the plant are of great value as food for stock, and is an
article but rarely estimated sufficiently, when considering of the
agricultural products of the Southern and Southwestern States
especially.

To supply slaves on plantations with bread, including old and young,
requires from twelve to thirteen bushels of corn each a year. Taking
thirteen bushels as the average consumption of breadstuffs by the
22,000,000 of people in the United States, the aggregate is
286,000,000 bushels per annum.

The increase of production, from 1840 to 1850, was 214,000,000
bushels, equal to 56 per cent.

The production of New England advanced from 6,993,000 to 10,377,000
bushels, showing an increase of 3,384,000 bushels, nearly fifty per
cent. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland,
increased 20,812,000 bushels, more than fifty per cent. In the
production of this crop no State has retrograded. Ohio, which in 1840
occupied the fourth place as a corn-producing State, now ranks as the
first. Kentucky is second, Illinois third, Tennessee fourth. The crop
of Illinois has increased from 2,000,000 to 5,500,000 bushels, or at
the rate of 160 per cent. in ten years.

Of the numerous varieties some are best adapted to the Southern
States, while others are better suited for the Northern and Eastern.
Those generally cultivated in the former are the Southern big and
small yellow, the Southern big and small white flint, the yellow
Peruvian, and the Virginian white gourd seed. In the more Northerly
and Easterly States they cultivate the golden sioux, or Northern
yellow flint, the King Philip, or eight-rowed yellow, the Canadian
early white, the Tuscarora, the white flour, and the Rhode Island
white flint.

The extended cultivation of this grain is chiefly confined to the
Eastern, Middle, and Western States, though much more successfully
grown in the latter. The amount exported from South Carolina, in 1748,
was 39,308 bushels; from North Carolina, in 1753, 61,580 bushels; from
Georgia, in 1755, 600 bushels; from Virginia, for several years
preceding the revolution, annually 600,000 bushels; from Philadelphia,
in 1765-66, 54,205 bushels; in 1771, 259,441 bushels.

The total amount exported from America in 1770, was 573,349 bushels;
in 1791, 2,064,936 bushels, 351,695 of which were Indian meal; in
1800, 2,032,435 bushels, 338,108 of which were in meal; in 1810,
1,140,960 bushels, 86,744 of which were meal. In 1820-21, there were
exported 607,277 bushels of corn, and 131,669 barrels of Indian meal;
in 1830-31, 571,312 bushels of corn, and 207,604 barrels of meal; in
1840-41,535,727 bushels of corn, and 232,284 barrels of meal; in
1845-46, 1,286,068 bushels of corn, and 298,790 barrels of meal; in
1846-47 16,326,050 bushels of corn, and 948,060 barrels of meal; in
1850-51, 3,426,811 bushels of corn, and 203,622 barrels of meal. More
than eleven millions of bushels of Indian corn were consumed in 1850,
in the manufacture of spirituous liquors.

According to the census of 1840, the corn crop of the United States
was 377,531,875 bushels; in 1850, 592,326,612 bushels.

The increase in the production of corn in Ohio has been (in ten years)
66 per cent. I have also before me the auditor's returns for the crop
of 1850, as taken by assessors, and the number of acres planted. The
auditor's returns are:--

Seventy-three counties 55,079,374
Darke county 524,484
Twelve counties, average 8,400,000
----------
Total 64,003,858

This is an advance of 15 per cent. on the crop of 1840, and it is
known that the crop of 1850 was better than that of 1849. The number
of acres planted, and the average production was:--

Acres planted 1,810,947
Bushels produced 64,003,858
Average per acre 35-3/8 bush.

Considering how large a portion of hill land is planted, and how many
fields are ill cultivated, the average is high. Many persons have
believed that taking all years and all lands into view, the average of
corn lands was not more than thirty bushels. But the immense fertility
of _bottom_ lands on the rivers and creeks of Ohio make up for bad
cultivation and inferior soil. We may see something of the differences
in the production of corn, by taking the averages of different
counties, thus:--

Acres. Crop. Average.
Butler 62,031 2,646,353 421/2
Warren 42,322 1,757,409 42
Pickaway 65,860 2,627,727 40
Ross 69,520 2,918,958 42

Compare the average of these counties, which embrace some of the best
lands in the State, with the following:--

Acres. Crop. Average.
Carroll 10,107 316,999 32
Jackson 15,680 439,850 30
Monroe 23,375 728,242 31
Portage 10,426 329,529 32
Vinton 11,413 345,470 30

The last counties contain but little bottom land, and hence the
average of corn is reduced one-fourth in amount. Of these counties,
two are full of coal and iron. The resources of the last are more slow
to develop, but in the end will be equally valuable.

But a small quantity of the corn of Ohio is exported _as grain_. It is
first manufactured into other articles, and then exported in another
form. The principal part of these are hogs, cattle, and whiskey. It is
difficult to say exactly how much corn is _in this way exported_, but
the following is an approximation--

Bushels.
In Fat Cattle 4,000,000
In Fat Hogs 10,000,000
In Whiskey 2,500,000
----------
Total 16,500,000

Taking into view the export of corn meal--about twenty millions of
bushels--the residue goes to the support of the stock animals on hand,
of which there are near three millions, exclusive of those fatted for
market.

The exported corn in the shape of cattle, hogs, and whiskey, is worth
about thirty cents cash, while on the farm it is not worth
twenty--thus proving that it is more profitable to consume corn on the
farm, than to export it in bulk. This fact is well known to good
farmers, who seldom attempt to sell corn as a merchantable article.

No mining in the world has ever been equal to mining in a fertile
soil, and no treasury is so reliable as a granary of surplus products.

Indian corn and meal generally find a market in the West Indies,
Newfoundland, Spain, and Portugal. It commands a good price, and finds
a ready sale in the ports which are open to its reception.

Deducting one-sixteenth for the amount exported, and one-tenth for
seed, the quantity of maize annually consumed for food in the United
States by a family of five persons is 85 bushels.

Maize may be considered as the great staple of the agricultural
products of the States. It is exported in large quantities, in a raw
state, or when manufactured into meal. Before it is manufactured into
meal it is dried by a fire, in a kiln prepared for that purpose. By
this process the meal is much less liable to become sour on the
voyage, and can be preserved much longer in a warm climate. No
inconsiderable quantities have likewise been consumed in distillation;
and the article of kiln-dried meal for exportation is destined to be
of no small account to the corn-growing sections of that country.

The improvement continually making in the quality of the seed augurs
well for the productiveness of this indigenous crop, as it has been
found that new varieties are susceptible of being used to great
advantage.

The following was the produce of the different States in the years
named, as given in the Official Census Returns:--

-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
| 1840 | 1841 | 1843 | 1850
| Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels.
-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Maine | 950,528 | 988,549 | 1,390,799 |
New Hampshire | 1,162,572 | 191,275 | 330,925 |
Massachusetts | 1,809,192 | 1,905,273 | 2,347,451 |
Rhode Island | 450,498 | 471,022 | 578,720 |
Connecticut | 1,500,441 | 1,521,191 | 1,926,458 |
Vermont | 1,119,678 | 1,167,219 | 1,252,853 |
New York | 10,972,286 | 11,441,256 | 15,574,590 |
New Jersey | 4,361,975 | 5,134,366 | 5,805,121 |
Pennsylvania | 14,240,022 | 14,969,472 | 15,857,431 |
Delaware | 2,099,359 | 2,164,507 | 2,739,982 |
Maryland | 8,233,086 | 6,998,124 | 6,205,282 |
Virginia | 34,577,591 | 33,987,255 | 45,836,788 |
N. Carolina | 23,893,763 | 24,116,253 | 27,916,077 |
S. Carolina | 14,722,805 | 14,987,474 | 18,190,913 |
Georgia | 20,905,122 | 21,749,227 | 26,960,687 |
Alabama | 20,947,004 | 21,594,354 | 24,817,089 |
Mississippi | 13,161,237 | 5,985,724 | 9,386,399 |
Louisiana | 5,952,912 | 6,224,147 | 8,957,392 |
Tennessee | 44,986,188 | 46,285,359 | 67,838,477 | 52,000,000
Kentucky | 39,847,120 | 40,787,120 | 59,355,156 | 58,000,000
Ohio | 33,668,144 | 35,552,161 | 38,651,128 | 59,788,750
Indiana | 28,155,887 | 33,195,108 | 36,677,171 | 53,000,004
Illinois | 22,634,211 | 23,424,474 | 32,760,434 | 57,000,000
Missouri | 17,332,524 | 19,725,146 | 27,148,608 |
Arkansas | 4,846,632 | 6,039,450 | 8,754,204 |
Michigan | 2,277,039 | 3,058,090 | 3,592,482 |
Florida Territory| 898,074 | 694,205 | 838,667 |
Wisconsin | 379,359 | 521,244 | 750,775 |
Iowa T. | 1,406,241 | 1,547,215 | 2,128,416 |
D. of Columbia | 39,485 | 43,725 | 47,837 |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Total | 377,531,875 | 387,380,185 | 494,618,306 | 500,000,000
-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------