Corn cob

“ It is [Pg 121] made by taking a section of a common corn-cob some two or three inches in length, and boring or burning out with a hot iron the pith of the cob some two thirds of its length, and then boring or burning a small hole transversely through the cob to the base of the bowl already made, and inserting in this a small hollow reed or cane for a stem. These pipe-stems are long or short, from a few inches to two or three feet, according to the preference of those who are to use them. I have often been told by old smokers that no pipe was as pleasant or sweet as a cob-pipe. ”

“ Southern Little White Flint-Corn.—The kernels of this variety are considerably smaller than those of the preceding, and much resemble them in shape; but they are more firm and solid, contain more oil, and consequently are more valuable for feeding poultry and swine, and for human food. Although the cob is smaller in proportion to the size of the ears, the yield, per acre, is less abundant, and hence it is but little grown. ”

“ The cob is of no value except to lighten the ration, but if there is nothing else to dilute the grain with, by all means use the cob. Oats, corn, hominy feed, which is a by-product in the manufacturing of corn meal, bran, which is not very valuable where plenty of alfalfa is fed, and oil meal form our principal feeds for dairy cows. Some get very good results by feeding ground speltz and barley, others by feeding ground rye. ”

“ Water and air constitute the entire aliment of vegetables, and give them bulk without diminishing at all the quantity of soil in which they grow. The perfection of feeding corn consists in preserving the cob, grinding the whole into meal, and in the cookery. The iron mill is excellent, but too expensive for most farmers. What is wanting, then, is to have the corn, with its cob, powdered by some cheap and simple method, that every one may avail themselves of. ”

“ Consequently, strong cans are required; and dealers are likely to be prejudiced against corn thus put up. I recommend the following method: Select a superior quality of sweet corn in the green state, and remove the kernels from the cob by means of a curved and gauged knife, or other suitable means. Then pack these kernels in cans, and hermetically seal the latter so as to prevent evaporation under heat or the escape of the aroma of the corn. Now expose these cans of corn to steam or boiling heat for about one hour and a half ”

“ Meal is sometimes mixed with hot water and fermented. All these are improvements in feeding, but these are not sufficient. Lately, a mill of cast iron has been invented, which converts both corn and cob into meal, and is used also by tanners in grinding their bark. This improvement is valuable. The cob, while it affords in [221] itself much nutriment, furnishes a degree of distension to the stomach, which is necessary to its proper action. If to this grinding of the cob and grain is superadded fermentation, or boiling, the economical process is nearly complete. ”

“ When it is fresh, cut the corn from the cob, and scrape off well all that sweetest part of the corn which remains on the cob. To a pint of corn add a quart of hot water. Boil it for an hour or longer; then press it through the colander. Put into the saucepan butter the size of a small egg, and when it bubbles sprinkle in a heaping table-spoonful of sifted flour, which cook a minute, stirring it well. Now add half of the corn pulp, and, when smoothly mixed, stir in the remainder of the corn: add Cayenne pepper, salt, a scant pint of boiling milk, and a cupful of cream. ”

“ A cracker is used for nuts, and silver picks are brought in with the dessert.
Corn on the cob is a favorite at small informal dinners as a separate course. In polite society you must remove the grains of the corn with your fork or your knife and fork, and never eat it off the cob holding the end with your fingers. By holding one end with your napkin, you can plow down the furrow of the grains with your fork, and you will find that they will fall off easily. Corn is always served, when given in this style, on a white napkin. You help yourself to the ear with your fingers. ”

“ In the United States a dish which is very extensively consumed throughout all parts of the country is one almost unknown in Europe, namely, succulent Indian corn. In the growth of Indian corn, at the period when the starch is formed in the grain and before it becomes set or hard, the immature grains make a palatable and excellent food product. In the appropriate season this delicious vegetable substance is eaten principally on the cob. ”

“ Frequently the corn was roasted on the 10 ear. Yet another method is thus described by the English captive, John Gyles, who lived as a captive with the St. John river Indians in 1689: “To dry the corn when in the milk, they gather it in large kettles and boil it on the ears till it is pretty hard, then shell it from the cob with clam shells and dry it on bark in the sun. When it is thoroughly dry a kernel is no bigger than a pea, and will keep years; and when it is boiled again it swells as large as when on the ear and tastes incomparably sweeter than other corn. ”

“ Many farmers, at planting, shell the corn off the cob, and plant it dry. Others soak it a few days in warm water. But when the seed is only treated in this way, it is very likely to be pulled up by birds and injured by worms. The best way to prevent this is to first soak the corn in a strong solution of saltpetre; then take a quantity of tar, and having warmed it over a fire, pour it on the corn, and stir with a stick or paddle till the grain is all smeared with the tar; then add gypsum or plaster till the corn will separate freely, and no birds will touch the grain. ”

“ Cut the corn from the cob with a sharp knife and pack at once in sterilized jars. Best results can be accomplished when two people cut and one person fills. If it is necessary for one person to work alone, cut off sufficient corn to fill one jar, pour on boiling water, add salt, place rubber and cap in position and put the jar at once in the canner. A little overcooking does not injure the quality of canned corn. ”

“ Soft corn (var. amylacea) has no horny endosperm, and hence the grains shrink uniformly. It is cultivated only to a limited extent in the United States, but seems to have been commonly grown by the Indians in many localities in North and South America. Sweet corn (var. saccharata) is characterized by the translucent horny appearance of the grains and their more or less wrinkled condition. It is pre-eminently a garden vegetable, the ear being used before the grain hardens, when it is well filled but soft and milky. It is often cooked and served in the cob ”

“ Pick out ears near the same size, and have the water boiling when you put them in; half an hour is long enough for young corn; that which is old and hard will take an hour or more; if young corn is boiled too long, it becomes hard and indigestible.
To Fricassee Corn.
Cut green corn off the cob; put it in a pot, and just cover it with water; let it boil half an hour; mix a spoonful of flour with half a pint of rich milk, pepper, salt, parsley, thyme and a piece of butter; let it boil a few minutes, and take it up in a deep dish. Corn will do to cook in this way when too old to boil on the cob. ”

“ Serve in a dish on a napkin covered with another napkin, or in a close covered dish, as a few moments’ exposure to the air toughens it. In eating, score each row with one tine of the fork so that the hulls will be left on the cob, unless you have a corn slitter.
Corn—Boiled
Put husked corn into boiling water and boil rapidly for 5–15 m., usually about 10 m., as that which requires 12–15 m. cooking is really too old to cook on the cob. Young, tender corn will cook in 5 m. Long boiling destroys the sweetness of corn and renders it tough. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Put the corn into the farina-kettle as above directed, with a little salt, pepper, two cups cream, one spoonful butter, or two cups sweet milk and two great spoonfuls of butter. Be sure and scrape all the milk from the cob when you have cut off the kernels, or squeeze it out with your hand. It adds more to the richness of the dish than you would at first imagine. Set the kettle over the fire and let it boil fifteen minutes. It will take less time to cook than when boiled on the cob. ”

“ Take a dozen and a half ears of large young corn, and grate all the grains off the cob as fine as possible. Mix with the grated corn three large table-spoonfuls of sifted flour, the yolks of six eggs well beaten. Let all be well incorporated by hard beating.
Have ready in a frying-pan an equal proportion of lard and fresh butter. Hold it over the fire till it is boiling hot, and then put in portions of the mixture as nearly as possible in shape and size like fried oysters. Fry them brown, and send them to table hot. They should be near an inch thick. ”

“ Any corn left from a meal can be grated off the cob and used for corn oysters. To one cupful of corn, add half a cup of milk, one beaten egg, half a teaspoon of salt, and one tablespoon of melted butter. Into this stir one-half cup of sifted flour, and bake like pancakes on a hot, well greased skillet. Be careful to avoid too hot a fire or they will scorch on the bottom before cooking through, and they must not be raw in the middle. It may be necessary to put a little extra butter in the pan when they are turned, but they have to be watched carefully all the time. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The one crop trails to an amazing length along the ground, while the other shoots up to the height of several feet above it. When the corn is beginning to branch, the ground should be hoed once over, to draw the earth a little to the roots, and cut down any weeds that might injure it. This is all that is done till the cob is beginning to form, when the blind and weak shoots are broken off, leaving four or five of the finest bearing shoots. The feather, when it begins to turn brown and dead, should also be taken off; that the plant may have all the nourishment to the corn. ”

“ When jars have become cool give tops another turn, to be positive they are air-tight before putting away for the Winter. When preparing this canned corn for the table, drain all liquid from the corn when taken from the can, pour cold water over and allow to stand a short time on the range until luke-warm. Drain and if not too salt, add a small quantity of fresh water, cook a few minutes, season with butter, add a couple tablespoonfuls of sweet milk; serve when hot. This canned corn possesses the flavor of corn freshly cut from the cob. ”

“ In the growing of corn the first matter for a boy or girl to consider is the selection of the seed. Corn should be selected carefully by the individual stalk; that is, choose ears from stalks bearing an ear or ears at, or a little below, the middle of the stalk.
The stalk itself should be thick and free from suckers or any evidence of disease. The ear should be cylindrical. The kernels should be deep setting, uniform and compact. Then the cob should not be too large. Look at some samples. See how some ears have too large a cob, others too small, while still others show a right amount of cob. ”

“ Add salt, butter or cream, and sugar. Adding green corn cut from the cob is a good variety. Some use pounded or grated stale bread-crumbs to thicken. Some slice without peeling, broil on a gridiron, and then season with pepper, salt, and butter. Some peel, slice, and put in layers, with seasoning and bread-crumbs between, and bake in an oven. If eaten raw, the skins should be removed by a knife, as scalding lessens flavor and crispness. Ice improves them much. The acid is so sharp that many are injured by eating too many. ”

“ In parts of Virginia, before the war, the word husk or hus' meant the cob or spike of the corn. "I smack you over wid a cawn-hus'" is a threat I have often heard one negro boy make to another. Cob is provincial English for ear, and I have known "a cob of corn" used in Canada for an ear of Indian corn. While writing this note "a cob of Indian corn "—meaning an ear—appears in the report of an address by a distinguished man at a recent meeting of the Royal Geographical Society. ”

“ A kernel with a black heart will not grow.
An ear of corn has always small grains toward the point of the cob, and large grains toward the butt of the ear. When I came to plant corn, I used only the kernels in the center of the cob for seed, rejecting both the small and the large grains of the two ends.
Seed corn was shelled from the cob with the thumb; we never threshed it with sticks. Sometimes we shelled an ear by rubbing it against another ear. ”