INDIAN CORN; a genus of plants of the clas monoccia. See BOTANY Index.—There is only one species, the Mayt, maize. The Indians in New England, and many other parts of America, had no other vegetable but maize or Indian corn for making their bread. They call it weachin; and in the United States of America there is much of the bread of the country made of this grain, not of the European corn. In Italy and Germany also there is a species of maize which is the food of the poor inhabitants.

The ear of the maize yields a much greater quantity of grain than any of our corn ears. There are commonly about eight rows of grain in the ear, often more, if the ground be good. Each of these rows contains at least 30 grains, and each of these gives much more flour than a grain of any of our corn. The grains are usually either white or yellowish; but sometimes they are red, bluish, greenish, or olive-coloured, and sometimes striped and variegated. This sort of grain, though so essentially necessary to the natives of the place, is yet liable to many accidents. It does not ripen till the end of September; so that the rains often fall heavy upon it while on the stalk, and the birds in general peck it when it is soft and unripe. Nature has, to defend it from these accidents, covered it with a thick husk, which keeps off light rains very well: but the birds, if not frighted away, often eat through it, and devour a great quantity of the grain.

There are three or four varieties of maize in different parts of America. That of Virginia is very tall and robust, growing to seven or eight feet high; that of New England is shorter and lower. And the Indians farther up in the country have a yet smaller kind in common use. The stalk of the maize is jointed like the sugar-cane; it is very soft and juicy, and the juice is so sweet and saccharine, that a syrup, as sweet as that of sugar, has been often made of it; and things sweetened with it have been found not distinguishable from those done with sugar. It has not been tried yet whether it will crystallize into sugar; but in all probability it will.

The Americans plant this corn any time from the beginning of March to the beginning of June; but the best season is the middle of April. The savage Indians, who knew nothing of our account of months, used to guide themselves in the seed-time of this useful plant by the budding of some particular trees of that country, and by the coming up of a sort of fish into their rivers which they call the alofie. These things were both so regular, that they were in no danger of mistaking the time.

The manner of planting maize is in rows, at equal distances, every way about five or six feet. They open the earth with a hoe, taking away the surface to three or four inches deep, and of the breadth of the hoe; they then throw in a little of the finer earth, so as to leave the hoe four inches deep or therabouts, and in each of these holes they place four or five grains at a little distance from one another. If two or three of these grow up, it is very well; some of them are usually destroyed either by the birds or other animals. When the young plants appear, they hoe up the weeds from time to time; and when the stalk gathers some strength, they raise the earth a little about it, and continue this at every hoeing till it begins to put forth the ears; then they enlarge the hill of earth, round the root, to the size of a hop-hill, and after this they leave it till the time of harvest, without any farther care. When they gather the ears, they either immediately strip off the corn, or else hang up the ears, tied in traces at distances from one another; for if they are laid near together, they will heat and rot, or else sprout and grow; but kept cool and separate, they will remain good all the winter. The best method is to thresh out the corn as soon as the harvest is over, to dry it well on mats in the sun, and then lay it up in holes of the ground, well lined with mats, grass, or the like, and afterwards covered at top with more earth. The most careful among the Indians use this method, and this sort of subterranean granary always proves good.

The uses of this plant among the Indians are very many. The great article is the making their bread of it; but besides this, the stalks, when cut up before they are too much dried, are an excellent winter food for cattle; but they usually leave them on the ground for the cattle to feed on. The husks about the ear are usually separated from the rest, and make a particular sort of fodder, not inferior to our hay. The Indian women have a way of slitting them into narrow parts, and they then weave them artificially into baskets and many other toys. The original way of eating the grain among the Indians was this: they boiled it whole in water till it swelled and became tender, and then they fed on it either alone, or ate it with their fish and venison instead of bread. After this, they found the way of boiling it into a sort of pudding, after bruising it in a mortar; but the way of reducing it to flour is the best of all. They do this by parching it carefully in the fire, without burning, and then beating it in mortars and sifting it. This flour they lay up in bags as their constant provision, and take it out with them when they go to war, eating it either dry or with water. The English have contrived, by mixing it into a stiff paste, either by itself or with rye or wheat-meal, fermenting it with leaven or yeast, and baking it in a hot oven, to make good bread of it. They have likewise found out a method of making good beer, either of the bread or by malting the grain.