Corn or Maize.
This is one of the most beautiful of plants, and the Indians formerly ascribed to it a Divine origin. Hiawatha watched by the grave of the Spirit Mondamin,
“’Till at length a small green feather
From the earth shot slowly upward,
Then another and another,
And before the summer ended
Stood the maize in all its beauty,
With its shining robes about it,
And its long, soft, yellow tresses.”
Indian corn contains more oil or fat than any of the common cereals. It will make as white and fine flour as wheat, but this does not make good fermented bread, unless mixed with wheaten flour. Corn Meal is healthful, nutritious and cheap, but, owing to its fat, is prone to attract oxygen and spoil, especially in warm weather. There are two kinds, one WHITE, the other GOLDEN YELLOW. They are equally nutritious, and about the same in price. Some prefer the one and some the other, but probably the yellow is rather the most popular. The starch extracted from corn is very extensively used throughout the country, and such leading brands of CORN STARCH as those of Kingsford, Duryea, etc., are well known. In fact, the consumption of all the products of corn is enormous.
Samp is corn deprived of its skin and eye and left whole or cracked in halves. Hominy is corn ground or cracked into coarse, medium or fine grains, and pearled or polished. Dried Corn, largely prepared by the Shakers, is sweet corn boiled and dried. It is excellent and much used as a vegetable.