Maize or Indian Corn

Distribution and Uses.

Maize can be grown in the tropics from th?, level of the sea to a height equal to that of the Pyrenees and in the south and middle of Europe, but it cannot be grown in England with profit, except as a fodder plant cut green. Frost kills the plant in all its stages and all its varieties; and the crop does not flourish well if the nights are cool, no matter how favour able the other conditions. Consequently it is the first crop to dis appear as one ascends into the mountain regions. The fertile plains of the Mississippi basin constitute the region of its greatest pro duction, the United States usually producing about 70% of the world's crop. It is extensively grown throughout India, both for the ripe grain and for use of the unripe cob as a green vegetable. It is the most common crop throughout South Africa, where it is known as mealies, being the staple food of the natives. It is also largely used for fodder and is an important article of export to other countries.

As an article of food maize is one of the most extensively used grains in the world, being especially rich in nitrogenous matter and fat. Chemical analysis shows that Indian corn is a very valuable article of food, containing more protein material when ripe than any other cereal (calculated in dry weight). Corn meal, when made into cakes, porridge, mush and various other foods, is wholesome and very nutritious. However, corn meal, being deficient in gluten, cannot be leavened with yeast like wheat flour, and hence cannot be made into a light or aerated bread. Corn meal is used most extensively baked into thick cakes (johnny cake, pone), as in the southern United States, or made into a very thin, round cake (tortilla), as in Mexico. In the United States maize is consumed also in the form of hominy and hulled corn and as a component of various breakfast foods. Maize contains more oil than any other cereal, ranging from 3.5 to 9.5% in the com mercial grain, hence its value for fattening purposes. In various processes this oil is separated and forms an article of commerce. Other important products are corn syrup and corn starch. When maize is sown broadcast or closely planted in drills the ears may not develop at all, but the stalk is richer in sugar and sweeter; and this is the basis of growing "corn-fodder." The amount of forage that may be produced in this way is enormous; 50,00o to 8o,000 lb. of green fodder are grown per acre, which makes 8,000 to 12,000 lb. as field-cured. (See CORN; CORN BELT; ENSILAGE, United States.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—See J. W. Harshberger, "Maize: A Botanical and Economic Study," Contrib. Bot. Lab. Univ. Pa. no. I, pp. 75-22 (1893) and "A Study of the Fertile Hybrids Produced by Crossing Teosinte and Maize," ib. No. 2 (i9oi) ; E. L. Sturtevant, "Varieties of Corn," U.S. Dept. Agric. Office Expt. Stats. Bull. 57, pp. 1-103 ; V. M. Shoesmith, The Study of Corn (Iwo) ; E. M. East and H. K. Hayes, "Inheritance in Maize," Conn. Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. r67, pp. 1-142 (191I) ; D. J. Burtt, Maize, Its History, Cultivation, Handling, and Uses (1914); W. W. Robbins, The Botany of Crop Plants (Phila delphia, 1924) ; P. C. Mangelsdorf and R. G. Reeves, "The Origin of Indian Corn and Its Relatives," Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 574. For cultivation in India, see Watt's Dictionary of the

Economic Products of India (1893). See also the articles "Corn," by S. A. Beach, and "Zea," by A. S. Hitchcock, in L. H. Bailey's Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (1914, 1927). (X.) Maize Trade of the United States.—Production in 1929-38 averaged about 2,297,000,000 bu., harvested from about 98,949 000 acres. The annual sales of maize in these ten years averaged about 400.000,00o bu., bringing farmers an annual cash income averaging $221,381,000. The marketing season average price in this period ranged from a low of 32 cents per bushel for the 1932 crop to a high of about $1.05 for the 1936 crop. The bulk of the maize crop is fed to animals and marketed in the form of animal products. It is roughly estimated that about 40% of the crop is fed to pigs, 15% to horses and mules, 20% to cattle, 5% to sheep and poultry; most of the remainder is used for food and for the manufacture of maize products. The bulk of the maize crop is produced in what is known as the Corn Belt, and a large part of it is fed where produced. A considerable volume of maize, however, is shipped from areas which specialize in production for market. Such shipments are made to the Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, which consume much more maize than they produce. Some is also marketed in the mountainous western States and a small quantity is exported, mostly to Canada and to European countries. The most important cash grain producing areas are in northern Illinois, western Iowa, eastern Nebraska and South Dakota. Chi cago ordinarily receives a large percentage of maize moving espe cially eastwards. Omaha, St. Louis, Kansas City, Peoria and Indianapolis are also important markets. The U.S. has been an exporter of maize for more than a hundred years. The earliest shipments were to the West Indies with only small quantities to Europe. Shortages of bread and feed grain supplies eventually led Great Britain and Ireland to import considerable quantities. Net exports reached a peak of 202,700,000 bu. in the year 1899-1900, and averaged about 190,000,00o bu. in the period 1896-1900. Ex ports then declined and Argentina took the lead as an exporter of maize (1913). In the meantime the U.S. has become a more or less regular importer of Argentine maize. In years when the crop is relatively short or in months in which the prices of maize in the U.S. are relatively high, the seaboard markets find it more economical to import maize from Argentina than to bring it from the interior surplus areas. Imports of maize and maize meal in the decade, 1928-39, averaged 16,754,00o bu. while the exports aver aged about 21,889,00o bushels. A significant new development in maize production in the U.S. is the use of hybrid seed for increas ing yields. Lines are inbred by self-pollination to purify the strain. After a period of intensive inbreeding, the pure-bred lines are crossed, and the seed produced from the first crossing results in vigorous plants with higher yields per acre. The production of hybrid seed has become an important commercial enterprise in the United States. (O. C. S.)