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Spring 2000 Newsletters
Corn - Maize
What Is It?
Corn is a member of the grass family. The name "corn" is a European word. It is what the early European colonists called all grains. Maize is the name the native American people called this grain.
Most plant researchers believe that a wild grass called teosinte is the original ancestor of our modern corn. Teosinte still grows wild in parts of Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. It is believed that early Mexican farmers some 7,000 years ago cross-pollinated different wild grasses, saved seeds from the best plants, and through thousands of years of intensive selection transformed it from a wispy, loose-headed grass to the large varieties of corn we know today. In fact, modern corn has become so highly specialized that it can no longer survive unless it is nurtured by humans.
Types of Corn
Corn varieties fall into four groups based on the shape of the seed, or kernel: field corn, popcorn, ornamental corn and sweet corn. There are many varieties of field corn; these can be dent or flint corns, both of which can be dried or ground for homemade meal. Flint corn has very hard kernels that are rough to grind when dry. Dent corn kernels have an indentation on top and contain soft, scratchy corn under their hard tops.
Popcorn, another hard-shelled variety contains very hard starch that expands when heated until the kernel pops. An ancient variety of corn, called pod corn, contains multi-colored kernels that are individually wrapped in little husks. Sweet corn differs from other types of corn in that the kernels lack the ability to convert sugar into starch. Instead of becoming full and plump, the kernels remain wrinkled and sugary.
History
Corn became a staple of the Aztec, Mayan and other North and South American civilizations, and was revered as a life-giving gift from the creator. By the time the first Europeans sailed to the "New World," various types of corn were being grown over a vast geographic area, stretching from Brazil to Chile to Southern Canada. Central and South American people came to depend so heavily on corn that they created some of the earliest calendars just to track corn planting and harvest schedules.
Columbus took seeds from corn back to Spain. Within one generation, corn had spread throughout Europe and within two generations, around the world. Corn had two distinct advantages over wheat; it could be grown in three months and did not require oxen or plows for soil cultivation.
The American Indians taught the Pilgrims how to plant, cultivate and use corn, which helped them survive the first winter. Most of the corn that the Indians were growing was like our field corn today, intended to mature on the stalk and then be gathered for winter storage. Some corn was eaten fresh, but most of the harvest was cooked in fried cakes, breads and puddings, dried for winter storage or ground into cornmeal and corn flour. Field corn was also used for livestock feed, as it is today. In addition, to eating corn and using it to make whiskey, early Americans used the cobs as bottle stoppers, tool handles and mattress stuffing and much more.
Corn also played an important role in the westward expansion. This grain allowed the homesteaders to follow the trappers and explorers across the country. These early pioneers took a supply of corn meal with them when they traveled to their new homes on the frontier. Corn meal was used in some form for every meal, as mush, pone, johnnycake and corn bread. The corn seed was planted; with no more equipment that a sharp stick, so that a farmer could grow enough corn for the family and animals.
An Important Grain Crop Today
Today corn is second, after wheat, in world grain production. No other crop is distributed over so large an area of the world. The major corn producing countries are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, France, India, Indonesia, South Africa and the Philippines. Although the U.S. produces 40 percent of all corn grown in the world, only a small fraction is eaten fresh by people.
Products from Corn
Approximately 50 percent of the U.S. corn crop is fed to livestock (hogs, cattle, sheep and poultry). Corn is the leading source of sweetener and is used to make a wide variety of foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, corn meal, corn syrup, corn oil, corn starch, sodas, candy and chewing gum. Corn is also used to make whiskey, and a wide variety of industrial products such as ceramics, pharmaceutical drugs such as penicillin and other antibiotics, paints, crayons, shoe polish, wall paper, paper goods, textiles, batteries, fireworks, cardboard, biodegradable packing materials and much more. Corn can be processed into a fuel called ethanol. More than a thousand modern items are made from corn!
Massachusetts Corn Growing Today
In Massachusetts today, the two main types of corn that are grown are field corn and sweet corn. Field corn is grown as food for animals, primarily dairy cows. Much of this corn is made into silage, fodder made from green plants stored and fermented in a silo. Most vegetable farmers grow sweet corn, as one of their crops. In fact, sweet corn is the vegetable crop that is grown on the largest number of acres in Massachusetts.
Three types of sweet corn are grown in Massachusetts. In the Normal Sugary type of sweet corn, the sugar converts to starch very quickly after picking. This means a very short shelf life, one day at most. Varieties include Quickie, Sprite, Seneca Star and Sweet Sal. In Sugar Enhanced varieties, one of the genes that converts the sugar to starch has been "turned off" so the conversion of sugar to starch takes place more slowly. Varieties include Lancelot, Seneca Sentry and Silverado. In the third type of sweet corn, Super Sweet, two genes involved in sugar conversion have been "turned off" so that conversion takes place even slower. Varieties of Super Sweet corn include Pinacle and Eagle.
Information for this article was taken from Heirloom Vegetables by Benjamin Watson, the National Gardening Association and National Corn Growers Association web site.
Corn Facts
- Massachusetts ranks twelfth in the nation for the amount of sweet corn produced. All of the New England states together, rank sixth in the U.S. for fresh market production of sweet corn, producing four percent of the nation’s total output.
- In Massachusetts, 6,500 acres of sweet corn were planted in 1998. This produced an average of 155 crates per acre for a total of 1,007,000 crates with a value of $12,690,000.
- In 1998, corn grown for silage production across New England ranked seventh in the nation with four percent of the U.S. production. Corn silage weighed in at 3.6 million tons in 1998 with a value of $105.7 million from 226,000 acres of land.
- In Massachusetts, 25,000 acres of field corn were planted in 1998. This produced 429,500 tons of silage with a cash value of just over 14 million dollars.
- A few Massachusetts farmers grow popcorn, and a number of farmers grow small amounts of ornamental corn. One farmer in the state grows corn for grinding and one farmer ships field corn to the Midwest to be produced into ethanol.
- For information on local farms and farm stands in your in your area check out the Massachusetts Department of Food & Agriculture web site at www.mass.gov/agr.
Books
Corn Belt Harvest by Raymond Bial, 1991. Houghton Mifflin, Co. |
Corn Is Maize: the Gift of the Indians by Alika, 1987. Harper and Row. |
Corn (True Books - Food and Nutrition) by Elaine Landau, 2000. Children’s Press.
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Corn: What It Is, What It Does by Cynthia Kellogg, 1989. Greenwillow. |
Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition by Sally M. Hunter, 1996. Lerner Publications.
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Popcorn at the Palace by Emily Arnold McCully, 1997. Browndeer. |
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn and Beans: How the Foods of America Changed Eating Around the World by Sylvia A. Johnson, 1997. Athenaeum.
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The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhodes, 1991. Puffin. |
The Popcorn Book by Tomie De Paola, 1989. Holiday House.
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Information for this newsletter was taken from the resources listed above.
Corn Botany
Corn is a very tall member of the grass family, growing 3 to 10 feet depending on variety. Strong prop roots help support the stem (stalk). Long, sword-like leaves grow outward from the stalk and end in pointed tips. Ears of corn grow where the leaves join the stalk. Each plant normally has one or two ears per stalk. Special leaves called husks protect each ear. An ear consist of a corncob covered with 8 to 12 or more rows of kernels. Corn is pollinated by the wind. Both the male and female flowers are on the same plant. In corn, the male, pollen-making flowers are large tassels of stamens at the top of the plant that produce abundant pollen. The female flower are long, silk-like threads that connect to an ovule inside the husk. When a pollen grain lands on the tip of the silk strand, the pollen will grow down and fertilize the ovule at its base, creating a seed. Each silk must be pollinated to produce a kernel of corn. The corn seed is a monocot. It develops only one small cotyledon, or seed leaf. In monocots, the food for the young plant is stored in the endosperm that surrounds the embryo. The small corn cotyledon, which is part of the embryo, absorbs food from the endosperm as it grows.
Corn was sacred to the Native Americans; they treasured this plant because it was so useful and dependable and could grow in a few months. They held special ceremonies to honor the planting and harvest of corn.The Native Americans inter-planted corn, beans and squash together -- known to the Iroquois Indians as "The Three Sisters." The three crops benefit one another, together giving strength and life to each other and nourished the people. Sister Squash spreads out her vines and thick leaves like a blanket. The vines crowd out the light and prevent other plants, such as weeds from growing. Sister Corn grows tall and provides a support for the beans as they grow upward. Sister Bean actually feeds food to the soil; the beans convert nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can use. Corn is a hungry feeder and the nitrogen remaining after the beans have grown will be available for the corn during the following year. The three sisters complement each other nutritionally, with the corn supplying carbohydrates, beans giving protein and some extra vitamins and squash contributing vitamin A. Native Americans knew that when they saw the silvery pussy willow buds opening, the winter was over and it would soon be time to plant the three sisters. In New England, corn was planted when the leaves of the oak tree were the size of a squirrel’s ear. The three sisters most important job is to return their seeds to the earth so that another generation may grow. Harvest time comes when their seeds are fully developed. Seed carriers, among the Native Americans were entrusted with the harvest and storage of the seeds that would be planted next year.
Information was taken from "In The Three Sisters Garden: Native American stories and seasonal activities for the curious child" by JoAnne Dennee.
- There is evidence that popcorn was the first type of corn raised for human consumption. Excavations in the Bat Cave of west central New Mexico turned up popcorn ears nearly 5,600 years old. In tombs on the east coast of Peru, 1,000-year-old grains of popcorn were found; so well preserved they still pop.
- When Columbus first arrived in the "New World" he found the natives not only eating popcorn, but also wearing popcorn in necklaces, headdresses and in decorations like corsages. In Mexico, the Aztecs wore necklaces and ceremonial headdresses made of popcorn.
- Popcorn was served at the first Thanksgiving. Quadequina, brother of the Wampanoag Indian chief Massasoit, brought a deerskin bag of popped corn to dinner as a gift.
- The Early Americans believed that a tiny spirit who lived inside the kernel wanted to escape.
- Popcorn actually pops because the strong hull of the popcorn kernel seals in water that forms in the moist, pulpy center. When the kernel is heated, the water boils, building up pressure and taking up any available room. The harder surface surrounding the starch resists the water pressure for as long as it can. When the outer surface gives way, the water further expands, causing the popcorn to explode. The soft starch pops out; the kernel turns inside out. Kernels can pop up to 30 times their size.
- If the corn kernels become too dry, they will not pop. Fill a one-quart jar three quarters full of popcorn and add one tablespoon water. Cover the jar and shake. Test a few kernels by popping, after 2-3 days.
- Popcorn is a low-calorie, sugar-free snack. It is a good source of fiber and carbohydrate energy, and has only 31 calories per cup. Americans consume an average of 40-60 quarts of popcorn each year.
Corn needs warm soil (65-75°F) to germinate. Plant seeds outdoors after the last frost has passed. Add compost and fertilizer to the soil before planting. Sow the seeds 1 inch deep and 3-4 inches apart, in blocks of short rows (block planting insures good pollination) spaced 30 inches apart. If you grow several varieties of corn, separate blocks by at least 20 feet.
Water when seeds are sown and whenever there is less that an inch of rain during the week. Once the corn is up, mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds. Pick sweet corn in the milk stage, once the silks have dried and turned brown and the ears have filled out. Field corn, Ornamental corn and Popcorn can be picked when the green husks begin to dry and turn tan in color.
Changes in Agriculture
Farmers made up...27% of the work force in 1920
18% of the work force in 1940
8% of the work force in 1960
5% of the work force in 1970
2.5% of the work force in 2000
Since 1920, the percentage of the U.S. population who are farmers has changed from 27% to just 2.5%. However, today’s farmers feed three times as many people with one half the labor hours on one third less farm land than they did in 1900.
(From Rural Farmers Cooperative).
Tips to Avoid Lyme Disease
The following tips from the URI web site can help you avoid Lyme disease. For more information visit the web site at: www.uri.edu/artsci/zool/ticklab/
- Remove leaves and clear brush and tall grass around the house and at the edge of the garden.
- Wear light-colored clothing so that ticks can be spotted more easily.
- Wear long pants and tuck your pant legs into your socks or boots. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and use a hat for added protection.
- Tape the area where pants and socks meet so that ticks cannot crawl under clothing.Walk in the center of trails to avoid overhanging grass and brush.
- After being outdoors, remove your clothing and wash and dry it at a high temperature. Inspect your-self carefully and remove any attached ticks. Grasp the tick, with fine tweezers, as close to the skin surface as possible, pull straight up with a slow, steady force.
Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom
P.O. Box 345
Seekonk, MA 02771
(508) 336-4426 Fax: (508) 336-0682
www.aginclassroom.org
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