5.

Tuscarora.-This is an eight-rowed variety, with the kernel large, soft, and remarkably white. Though not a sweet corn, it is frequently used on the table in the green state. It is destitute of gluten and oil, and the meal when bolted resembles in appearance the flour of wheat.

6. Long Island White.-The ears of this variety are of good size, and usually contain from eight to ten It is capable of a prolific yield, and produces a meal of sweet and pleasant flavor.

rows.

7. White Gourd-Seed.-In this corn the ears are shorter and much larger in circumference than those of the flint varieties, containing from sixteen to thirtysix rows of long, narrow kernels. It is a very prolific variety, extensively planted at the South, and is the source from whence many other sorts have been derived. Like other Southern kinds, it contains more starch, and less gluten and oil, than the flint corns of the North, and is therefore less suitable for shipping, and less profitable for feeding to fattening animals.

8. Baden.-This variety is an improvement of the White Gourd-seed, and takes its name from its founder. It is very productive, with a small cob, and grows to a remarkable size, yielding from four to six ears on a single stalk, and has been known to produce as many as ten.

SWEET CORN.

1. Stowel's Evergreen.—A late but prolific variety, with small cob, and long, deep kernels, which are much shrivelled when ripe. It is hardy, but tender,

continues long in a succulent condition, and is also an excellent variety to plant for soiling.

2. Narraganset.—A small early variety, with eight to ten rows and a red cob. It is sweet and tender, and very good to plant for a succession. It thrives best on a light soil.

3. Rhode Island Asylum.-The ears of this variety are large, with eight to ten rows. It is rather late, but productive, tender, and excellent in flavor. Its name is derived from the institution on the grounds of which it originated.

4. Twelve-rowed Sweet.-This is a late, hardy variety, with ten to fourteen rows. The ears are large, the yield certain, and the quality tender and excellent.

5. Darling's Early.—This is a sweet and tender variety, with eight rows, and of prolific yield. It may be planted for boiling until near the beginning of July.

6. Burr's Improved Corn.-A hardy and productive variety, with twelve to sixteen rows. The ears are of large circumference, and weigh, when fit for the table, from eighteen to twenty-two ounces. This corn is an improvement of the Twelve-rowed Sweet, and quite surpasses it in flavor.

There are many other valuable varieties of table corn, among which are

7. Adam's Early White.

8. Golden Sweet.

9. Mammoth Eight-rowed Sweet.
10. Mexican, etc.

The foregoing enumeration embraces the leading varieties of field and garden corn. Besides these, may be mentioned the following:

Hæmatite, or Blood Red, of various hues, but more generally a deep red. It comprises a number of sub-varieties, some of which have a white, and others a red cob.

Rice Corn.-A small variety, so named from the resemblance of its kernels in size and form to the grains of rice. It abounds in oil, and is well calculated for feeding poultry.

Parching Corn.-A small variety, somewhat resembling the preceding. When parched, it is very crisp and tender, and of excellent flavor.

Chinese Tree Corn.-A variety in which the ears are suspended from the extremities of separate branches. An improved variety of this corn, which is said to yield seventy-five bushels per acre with ordinary culture, has been cultivated for some years by J. L. Husted, of Greenwich, Conn.

Oregon, or Rocky Mountain.-A peculiar variety, in which each kernel is enclosed in a separate envelope.

Egyptian Corn, with a head bearing some resemblance to millet.

UNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT OF VARIETIES.

THE capability of improvement that belongs to Indian corn well deserves the attention of cultivators. Progress seems to be a law of its nature, and there is probably no variety at present known, however poor or however excellent, that may not be made better by adopting the appropriate means.

This progressive tendency is clearly seen on comparing the better sorts now in use with the primitive grain cultivated by the natives of this continent at the time of its discovery. The further we go back into antiquity, the fewer the sorts, and the poorer the quality appear to have been; and if the genealogy of this cereal could be traced to its source, it is extremely probable that all the existing varieties would be found to have sprung from one original stock, which was doubtless as much below the present standard as the untutored red man is inferior to the cultivated white.

The progress thus indicated in the past history of maize points clearly to an advancement in the future. The law impressed upon it at the start has never yet been suspended. Throughout animated nature

the principle of life implies ceaseless activity and onward movement. To stand still is to stagnate, to deteriorate, and to decay. In obedience to this principle, no variety of Indian corn can long remain stationary. If neglected, it will degenerate. If rightly treated it will advance-slowly, perhaps, but surely, toward perfection.

The means by which this improvement is to be effected are extremely simple. So simple, indeed, that we might reasonably expect to witness greater progress than we have yet seen. In order to secure this object, the chief points requiring the attention of the farmer are Selection and Culture.

Every man who will exercise suitable care and judgment in the selection of his seed, without neglecting its subsequent cultivation, will find the quality of his grain and the amount of its product annually progressing; and the difference of a very few years will be so marked and unmistakable as to excite his surprise.

This principle of selection, if we did but realize it, is one of great extent and importance, and is capable of a very wide application. Its effects may be traced throughout the animal as well as vegetable kingdom, and the field of its influence is coextensive with the propagating universe. The valuable results it has accomplished, as seen in the various improved breeds of cattle, have long engaged the attention of farmers; and the practical application of the same law in the vegetable kingdom, though more recent, has been found no less favorable and certain in its effects.