30. The word _corn_ has been applied to various grains and is now used
in a variety of ways in different countries. In ancient times, barley
was called corn, and at the present time, in some countries, the entire
year's food crop is referred to by this name. The English apply the name
corn to wheat, and the Scotch, to oats. In the United States, corn is
the name applied to the seed of the maize plant, which is a highly
developed grass plant that forms the largest single crop of the country.
The seeds of this plant grow on a woody cob, and are eaten as a
vegetable when they are soft and milky, but as a grain, or cereal, when
they are mature. Corn is native to America and was not known in Europe
until Columbus took it back with him. However, it did not meet with much
favor there, for it was not grown to any great extent until within the
last 50 years. Those who took it to Europe gave it the name _Indian
corn_, because they had found the Indians of America raising it.
31. Of the corn grown in the United States, there are three general
kinds: field corn, sweet corn, and pop corn. _Field corn_, as a rule, is
grown in large quantities and allowed to mature; then it is fed to
animals or ground and cooked for the use of man. This corn consists of
three varieties, which are distinguished by the color of the grain, one
being white, one yellow, and one red. All of them are made into a
variety of preparations, but the white and the yellow are used as food
for both man and animals, whereas red field corn is used exclusively for
animal food. White corn has a mild flavor, but yellow corn is sometimes
preferred to it, because foods made from the yellow variety have a more
decided flavor. The two principal varieties of field corn, when prepared
as cereal food for man, are _hominy_ and _corn meal_. _Sweet corn_ is
not grown in such large quantities as field corn. It is generally used
for food before it is mature and is considered as a vegetable. _Pop
corn_, when sufficiently dry, swells and bursts upon being heated. It is
used more as a confection than as a staple article of food. Therefore,
at this time, consideration need be given to only the principal
varieties of field-corn products, which, as has just been stated, are
hominy and corn meal.