Joel Barlow

“ Suspend your spoons, and listen while I sing.
But since, O man! thy life and health demand
Not food alone, but labour from thy hand,
First in the field, beneath the sun’s strong rays,
Ask of thy mother, earth the needful maize;
She loves the race that courts her yielding soil,
And gives her bounties to the sons of toil. ”

“ The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every grade of size, colour, and conformation between the shrubby reed that grows on the shores of Lake Superior, to the gigantic stalks of the Ohio valley, the tiny ears with flat, close-clinging grains of Canada, the brilliant, rounded, little pearl, or the bright-red grains and white cob of the eight-rowed hæmetite, to the swelling ears of the big white, and yellow gourd-seed of the South. ”

“ It is conjectured that the stiffness of the joints and lameness of the feet, common in horses, which have been fed to freely with maize, is caused by the preponderance of the phosphates. Granting this to be true, young animals cannot fail to derive more osseous matter from corn than from any other kind of grain.
The horny or flinty portions of corn, when viewed in thin sections under a good microscope, will be found to consist of a great number of six-sided cells, filled with a fixed oil, which has been successfully employed for the purposes of illumination. ”

“ Fear not to slaver; ’tis no deadly sin,
Like the free Frenchman, from your joyous chin
Suspend the ready napkin; or, like me,
Poise with one hand your bowl upon your knee;
Just in the zenith your wise head project,
Your full spoon, rising in a line direct,
Bold as a bucket, heed no drops that fall,
The wide-mouth’d bowl will surely catch them all. ”

“ The varieties of corn that will best bear transportation by sea without kiln-drying, are those which contain a large proportion of oil, as the Golden Sioux, the King Philip or Northern Eight-rowed Yellow, the Dutton, the Browne, the Rhode Island White Flint, &c., but the flour or meal, made from these sorts is not so pleasant to the taste of those unaccustomed to its use, as that made from the soft farinaceous varieties of the South and West, which will be greatly improved, and preserved free from mustiness, by the process of kiln-drying. ”

“ Southern Big Yellow Corn.—The cob of this variety is thick and long, the grains much wider than deep, and where the rows unite with each other, their sides fall off almost to a point. This gives the ouside ends of the grain a circular form, which imparts to the ear an appearance somewhat resembling a fluted column. The grain contains less oil and more starch than the northern flinty kinds, yet its outward texture is somewhat solid, flinty, and firm. It comes rather late into maturity, affords an abundant yield, and is much used for fattening swine. ”

“ The bolder squirrel labours thro’ the day.
Both thieves alike, but provident of time,
A virtue, rare, that almost hides their crime.
Then let them steal the little stores they can,
And fill their gran’ries from the toils of man;
We’ve one advantage where they take no part,—
With all their wiles they ne’er have found the art
To boil the Hasty-Pudding ”

“ Hence it may be inferred that a crop of sweet corn will sooner exhaust a soil of its phosphates than any other variety, and if a soil be deficient in these materials, more must be added to produce it in perfection. Some interesting facts were also noticed by him in the variable proportions of phosphates in different varieties of the same species of several kinds of grain, and a greater preponderance of them was observed in Indan corn, than in the smaller grains, as barley, oats, wheat, &c.—a fact which seems to explain their peculiar properties as food for animals ”

“ The maize is distinguished into a coarser and a finer sort, which last is called Moroche, the leaves and stalks affording wholesome provender for horses, and the grains or kernels, bread for the inhabitants, who make it several ways; for sometimes they boil the corn in water, and at other times, parch it in ashes, or grind it into flour, which, when kneaded into dough, they make into cakes, biscuits, etc. Moreover, maize steeped in water, boiled, and afterwards fermented, makes a very strong liquor. ”

“ It is not surprising, he remarks that M. Dumas, in quoting this analysis, should observe that “individuals who eat corn for some time, present symptoms of an accumulation of fat in their tissue, which will not appear astonishing, when we consider that a bushel of corn would yield a quart (litre) of oil!” If this doctrine were true, those Americans, who derive a great part of their subsistence from Indian corn, would be an excessively fat people. ”

“ Every nation, province, tribe, and house among them, had its particular idol. For their opinion was, that one god would have enough to do, to take care of its own province, or family, and that its power was so limited, that it could have no virtue or extent within the jurisdiction of another. Some adored whatever they saw in which an excellence could be observed, whether good or bad. ”

“ Southern Big White Flint-Corn, having a large thick cob, with twelve rows of kernels, much resembling, in shape and size, those of the big yellow, and like that variety, is less productive than the white Virginian gourd-seed. It contains more starch, and less oil than the northern flint-corn; but is much softer and a better food for horses, though not so fattening to poultry and swine. When ground into meal, it is apt to become sour, and consequently is unfit to be shipped in that state, unless previously prepared by being kiln-dried. ”

“ HOW TO MAKE BAKED INDIAN PUDDING.
To 2 quarts of milk, add 1 quart of meal, a little salt, and a cupful of sugar. Prepare by heating the milk over the fire, stirring it occasionally to prevent its burning; when it nearly boils, remove it, put in the salt and sugar, and scatter in the meal, stirring rapidly to prevent its collecting into lumps; put in nutmeg and turn into a deep pan. Bake immediately, or otherwise, as may be convenient, in a hot oven, three hours. When it has baked an hour or more, pour over the pudding from a gill to a half pint of milk ”

“ Boil a quart of milk, and stir in Indian meal till it is nearly as thick as you can stir it with a spoon; then add a teaspoonful of salt, a cupful of molasses, a teaspoonful of ginger, or ground cinnamon, and cold milk enough to make a thin batter. Boil in a thick bag four hours. Care should be taken that the water does not stop boiling while the pudding is in. A dish made in this way, with the addition of a quart of chopped, sweet apples, and baked from four to six hours will be found delicious, when served up hot and eaten with sauce made of drawn-butter, nutmeg, and wine.—A Lady. ”

“ There are who strive to stamp with disrepute
The luscious food, because it feeds the brute;
In tropes of high-strain’d wit, while gaudy prigs
Compare thy nursling man to pamper’d pigs;
With sovereign scorn I treat the vulgar jest,
Nor fear to share thy bounties with the beast. ”

“ This relation induced these wild people to mingle with their civilized brethren, in order to learn and obey; and thus, one calling and inviting the other, the fame spread far and near, and their number increased to such a degree, that in six or seven years, the Inca had composed an army sufficient for war; and having taught them how to make bows and arrows, lances, and such other weapons as we use to this day, they were not only capable of defending, but also to repulse an enemy, and to compel those by force, who led a bestial life, to live in human society. ”

“ The sacrifices which they made to these deities were often as barbarous as the gods were senseless; for, besides beasts, fruits, and corn, they sacrificed and devoured alive, men and women of all ages, whom they had taken in war. ”

“ Oily corn makes a dry kind of bread, and is not sufficiently adhesive to rise well without an admixture of rye, or other flour.
The oil of corn is easily convertible into animal fat by a slight change of composition, and consequently serves an excellent purpose for fattening poultry, cattle, and swine. Starch, also, is changed into fat as well as the carbonaceous substances of animals, and during its slow combustion in the circulation, gives out a portion of the heat of animal bodies ”

“ Hence, as an article of food, either for man or animals, it is superior to potatoes and rice, but inferior to wheat, oats, or barley. It is relished by all animals that are not exclusively carnivorous, and certainly is highly nutritious.
According to the researches of Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, who stands prëminent as a chemist, Indian corn, in general, is composed of variable proportions of starch, dextrine, gum or mucilage, sugar, gluten, oil, the phosphates of lime and magnesia, with a little phosphoric acid, silica, potash, and oxide of iron. ”

“ That the people of all parts of the United States are consumers of British manufactures; for in spite of national asperities, they adopt the habits, tastes, fashions, and dress of their English ancestors. This, I think, is a natural feeling in the human breast, for I never yet knew a son who was offended by being told that he resembled his parent. The imported grain then would be paid for in the products of British industry. ”

“ For, when the kernels are heated to a temperature sufficiently high to decompose the oil, a sudden explosion takes place, and every cell is ruptured by the expansion of gaseous matters arising from the decomposition of the oil, and the formation of carburetted hydrogen gas, such as is sometimes used in lighting large cities, the grain being completely evoluted and folded back, or turned inside out. This property is remarkably strong in the pop corn, and is common, in a greater or less degree, in all kinds of corn that abound in oil ”

“ While some persons have estimated it in value, equal, if not superior, to all other kinds of grain, others, on the contrary, have placed it in the lowest station in the group to which it belongs. It has been contended by some that it contains no gluten, and little, if any, ready-formed saccharine matter, and hence, could possess but a very small nutritive power, while others have observed that domestic animals, which are fed on maize, very speedily become fat, with their flesh, at the same time, remarkably firm ”

“ One important use of the oil in corn is undoubtedly to prevent the rapid decomposition of the kernels, when sown in the soil, and to retain a portion of pabulum or food, until needed by the young plant, and is always the last portion of the grain taken up. ”

“ Some are of a deep chocolate-colour, others greenish or olive-coloured, and even the same ears will sometimes contain grains of different colours.
Geography and History.—Indian Corn, when due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, may be accounted as a sure crop, in almost every portion of the habitable globe, between the forty-third degree of north latitude, and a corresponding parallel south. Its principle culture is confined to the United States, Mexico, the West Indies, and most of the states of South America. ”

“ An Indian will travel far, and subsist long on a small bag of it, taking only six or eight ounces of it per day, mixed with water.—Dr. Franklin.
Modern Modes of Popping Corn.—Take a gill, a half pint, or more of Valparaiso or Pop Corn, and put in a frying-pan, slightly buttered, or rubbed with lard. Hold the pan over a fire so as constantly to stir or shake the corn within, and in a few minutes each kernel will pop, or turn inside out, and is ready for immediate use. May be eaten with, or without, a little sugar or salt, added while hot in the pan. ”

“ There are two kinds of this corn, one with the cob red, and the other white. The ears are short, and usually contain eight rows, the grains of which, when mature, are of a light colour, and become shrivelled and appear as if they were unripe. It contains an unusually large proportion of the phosphates, and a considerable quantity of sugar and gum, though but little starch. It is extensively cultivated for culinary purposes, and serves as a delicious food, either green or dry. ”

“ That the rapidly increasing population and limited superficial surface of the British Isles, will speedily render a foreign supply of grain necessary even in the most productive seasons—and consequently a reduction of duties must ensue; it is therefore advantageous to the agricultural interests, as land is becoming so valuable, to reserve as much of the soil of England as possible for the cultivation of wheat and more valuable products ”