Figure 19
Figure 20
Fodder Yield
I do not think there was any perceptible difference in the fodder yield of the various races of corn which we Hidatsas cultivated; but the fodder yield was always much heavier in rainy years. In a dry season, the stalks of the corn would be small and weak; and the leaves would be smaller than in seasons of good rainfall.
Developing New Varieties
We Hidatsas knew that slightly differing varieties could be produced by planting seeds that varied somewhat from the main stock. A woman named Good Squash used to raise a variety of corn that tasted just like soft white. This corn had large swelling kernels with deep yellow, almost reddish, stripes running down the sides of the grain. We called it Adaka´-dahu-ita ko´xati, or Arikaras’ corn, though it was not Arikara corn at all. Good Squash’s daughter, Hunts Water, lives on this reservation; she may have some of the seed of this variety.