The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Part 37

In the United States the growth of the oat is confined princ.i.p.ally to the Middle, Western and Northern States. The varieties cultivated are the common white, the black, the grey, the imperial, the Hopetown, the Polish, the Egyptian, and the potato oat. The yield of the common varieties varies from forty to ninety bushels and upwards per acre, and weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds to the bushel. The Egyptian oat is cultivated south of Tennessee, which after being sown in autumn, and fed off by stock in winter and spring, yields from ten to twenty bushels per acre. In the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors oats enter but lightly, and their consumption for this purpose does not exceed 60,000 bushels annually in the United States.

In 1840, Ireland exported 2,037,835 quarters of oats and oatmeal, but in 1846, on account of the dearth, the grain exports fell off completely. Most of the grain grown in Ireland requires to be kiln-dried, and is, therefore, of lower value.

The oat, like rye, never has entered much into our foreign commerce, as the domestic consumption has always been nearly equal to the quant.i.ty produced. The annual average exports from the United States for several years preceding 1817, were 70,000 bushels.

By the census returns of 1840, the total produce of the United States was 123,071,341 bushels; of 1850, 146,678,879 bushels.

In Prussia 43 million hectolitres of oats are annually raised.

The quant.i.ty of oats imported into the United Kingdom, has been declining within the last few years. In 1849, we imported 1,267,106 quarters; in 1850, 1,154,473; in 1851, 1,209,844; in 1852, 995,479. In 1844, 221,105 bushels of oats were raised in Van Diemen's Land on 13,864 acres.

RYE.

Rye (_Secale cereale_) is scarcely at all raised in this country for bread, except in Durham and Northumberland, where, however, it is usually mixed with wheat, and forms what is called "maslin,"--a bread corn in considerable use in the north of Europe.

Geographically rye and barley a.s.sociate with one another, and grow upon soils the most a.n.a.logous, and in situations alike exposed. It is cultivated for bread in Northern Asia, and all over the Continent of Europe, particularly in Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Holland; in the latter of which it is much employed in the manufacture of gin. It is also grown to some extent in England, Scotland and Wales. With us it is little used as an article of food compared with wheat and oats, though in the north of Europe and in Flanders it forms the princ.i.p.al article of human subsistence, but generally mixed with wheat, and sometimes, also with barley; 100 parts of the grain consist of 65.6 of meal, 24.2 of husk, and 10.2 of water. The quant.i.ty of rye we import seldom reaches 100,000 quarters per annum.

The straw is solid, and the internal part, being, filled with pith, is highly esteemed for Dunstable work, for thatching and litter, and it is also used to stuff horse collars.

In Ireland there are 21,000 acres under culture with rye, producing 105,000 quarters.

In North America rye is princ.i.p.ally restricted to the Middle and Eastern States, but its culture is giving place to more profitable crops.

In Bohemia, as in most parts of Germany, rye forms the princ.i.p.al crop, the product being about 3,250,000 quarters annually.

The three leading varieties cultivated in the United States are the spring, winter, and southern; the latter differing from the others only from dissimilarity of climate. The yield varies from 10 to 30 or more bushels per acre, weighing from 48 to 56 pounds to the bushel.

The production of rye has decreased 4,457,000 bushels in the aggregate, but in New York it is greater by the last decennial census than in 1840, by about 40 per cent. Pennsylvania, which is the largest producer, has fallen off from 6,613,373 to 4,805,160 bushels. Perhaps the general diminution in the quant.i.ty of this grain now produced may be accounted for, by supposing a corresponding decline in the demand for distilling purposes, to which a larger part of the crop is applied in New York. This grain has never entered largely into its foreign commerce, as the home consumption for a long period nearly kept pace with the supply. The amount exported from the United States in 1801, was 392,276 bushels; in 1812, 82,705 bushels; in 1813, 140,136 bushels. In 1820-1 there were exported 23,523 barrels of rye flour; in 1830-1, 19,100 barrels; in 1840-1 44,031; in 1845-6, 38,530 barrels; in 1846-7, 48,892 barrels; in 1850-1, 44,152 barrels. During the year ending June 1, 1850, there were consumed of rye about 2,144,000 bushels in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors.

According to the American census returns of 1840, the product of the country was 18,645,567 bushels; in 1850, 14,188,637 bushels. We imported 246,843 quarters of rye and rye meal, in 1849, equivalent to 49,368 tons; but in 1850 the imports were only 94,078 quarters and in 1851 they were but 26,323 quarters. About 20,000 acres are under cultivation with rye in Ireland, the produce of which is 100,000 quarters.

BUCKWHEAT.

Buckwheat belongs to the temperate and arctic climates, and is cultivated in Northern Europe, Asia, and America for the farinaceous alb.u.men of its seeds, which, when properly cooked, affords a delicious article of food to a large portion of the human race. It also serves as excellent fodder to milch cows, and the straw, when cut green and converted into hay, and the ripened seeds, are food for cattle, poultry, and swine.

It is raised most abundantly in Central Asia and the Himalaya. In the latter country the different varieties are grown at various elevations, between 4,000 and 12,000 feet. The finest samples exhibited in 1851 were from Canada, but some of excellent quality was also shown by the United States, Russia, and Belgium. The common variety grown in Europe is the _Polygonum f.a.gopyrum_, and _P.

emarginatum_ is grown in China and the East. In this country the produce varies from 2 to 4 quarters per acre. The quant.i.ty of seed sown is 5 to 8 pecks the acre. Vauquelin found 100 parts of its straw to contain 29.5 of carbonate of potash, 3.8 of sulphate of potash, 17.5 of carbonate of lime, 13.5 of carbonate of magnesia, 16.2 of silica, 10.5 of alum, and 9 of water.

It is believed to be a native of Central Asia, as it is supposed to have been first brought to Europe in the early part of the twelfth century, at the time of the crusades for the recovery of Syria from the dominion of the Saracens; while others contend that it was introduced into Spain by the Moors, four hundred years before.

The cultivation of buckwheat, in one or other of its species, is princ.i.p.ally confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Tartary, j.a.pan, Algeria, Canada, and the middle and northern portions of the United States.

In America from 30 to 45 bushels per acre may be considered as an average yield in favorable seasons and situations, but 60 or more bushels are not unfrequently produced.

According to the census returns of 1840, the annual quant.i.ty raised in the United States was 7,291,743 bushels; of 1850, 8,950,916 bushels.

The average annual imports of buckwheat into this country have not exceeded 1,000 quarters, until last year (1852), when they reached 8,085 quarters. A small quant.i.ty of the meal is also annually imported.

MAIZE.

Maize (_Zea Mays_), is the common well-known Indian corn forming one of the most important of the grain crops, and has a greater range of temperature than the other cereal gra.s.ses. It was found cultivated for food by the Indians of both North and South America, on the first discovery of that continent, and thence derived its popular name.

Maize succeeds best in the hottest and dampest parts of tropical climates. It may be reared as far as 40 degrees north and south lat.i.tude on the American continent; while in Europe it can grow even to 50 degrees or 52 degrees of lat.i.tude, some of the numerous varieties being hardy enough to ripen in the open air, in England and Ireland. It is now cultivated in all regions in the tropical and temperate zones, which are colonized by Europeans. It is most largely grown, however, about the Republics bordering on the northern sh.o.r.es of South America, California, the United States and Canada, the West India islands and Guiana, on the coasts of the Mediterranean, and partially in India, Africa, and Australia. We see the singular fact in Mexico of land which, after perhaps thousands of years' culture, is so little exhausted, that with a very little labor bestowed on it, a bad maize harvest will yield two hundredfold profit, while a good crop returns 600 fold.

This grain adopts itself to almost every variety of climate, and is found growing luxuriantly in the low countries of tropical Mexico, and nearly equally well on the most elevated and coldest regions of the table-land; in the rich valleys of the Cordilleras or the Andes, and on the sandy heights of those mountains wherever a rill of water can be brought to nourish its roots. In short, it ripens under the sun of America, in every part of both continents.

Though wheat is characterised as the most nutritious food for man in all quarters of the world, yet the Indian corn crop of the United States is not second in value to any product of the earth; cultivated in the middle and Eastern States, nay, even in the rich cotton-growing districts, Indian corn is fast rising in importance, and will soon equal in value that important commercial staple. This indigenous grain yields to the nation an annual average of five hundred millions of bushels, and has, within the last five years, attracted much attention as a life-sustaining food, more particularly at the period of Ireland's severe suffering, in 1847, and the following years. Nations, as well as statesmen and farmers, have found it an object worthy of their consideration and esteem.

When due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, and cultivated in a proper soil, maize may be accounted a sure crop in almost every portion of the habitable globe, between the 44th degree of north lat.i.tude and a corresponding parallel south. Among the objects of culture in the United States, it takes precedence in the scale of cereal crops, as it is best adapted to the soil and climate, and furnishes the largest amount of nutritive food. Besides its production in the North American Republic, its extensive culture is limited to Mexico, the West Indies, most of the States of South America, France, Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, and Southern and Central Europe generally.

It is, however, also cultivated with success in Northern, Southern, and Western Africa, India, China, j.a.pan, Australia, and the Sandwich Islands, the groups of the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and numerous other oceanic isles.

Maize is not a favorite grain as bread-corn with the European nations, for although it abounds in mucilage, it is a.s.serted to contain less gluten, and is not likely to be much used by those who can procure wheaten flour, or even rye bread.

The large importations which were made by our Government during the prevalence of the potato disease, brought it into more general use among some cla.s.ses, and the imports for home consumption are still extensive, having been as follows in the last few years:--

1848. 1849.

Indian corn, quarters 1,582,755 2,249,571 " meal, cwts. 233,880 102,181

1850. 1851.

Indian corn, quarters 1,286,264 1,810,425 " meal, cwts. 11,401

The trade in maize, or Indian corn, is totally new since 1846. The famine in Ireland in that year, and the potato rot in almost every successive year since, have now fully established it. Like the gold discoveries, the potato rot may be regarded as a providential means of effecting a great change in the condition of society. Those discoveries are not without their influence in the East, and, combined with the potato rot, they have rapidly increased the commerce between the East and West of Europe, while they are spreading broad paths between all Europe and the lands in the Southern Ocean. The imports of maize from all parts, in 1852, amounted to 1,550,000 quarters, of which about 1,100,000 quarters arrived in vessels from the Mediterranean, &c., calling at Queenstown or Falmouth for orders. The balance consisted of imports from America, France, Portugal, &c., and also of cargoes addressed direct to a port of discharge, without first calling off the coast for orders. The quant.i.ties received in 1851 and 1852 from the Mediterranean were as follows:--

1852. 1851.

Received from qrs. qrs.

Galatz 223,000 286,067 Ibraila 362,600 211,779 Salonica 35,640 95,377 Odessa 219,170 74,065 Egypt 50,960 86,260 Italy 8,250 162,544 Constantinople, Malta, Trieste, and other ports in the Mediterranean 190,720 286,358 --------- --------- 1,090,340 1,202,450

The various quarters from whence we derive supplies of this grain, are shown in the following table of the imports for the last three years, which I have compiled from the most recent Parliamentary returns.

INDIAN CORN AND MEAL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 1849. | 1850. | 1851.

|-----------------|----------------|--------------- PLACES. | Corn. | Meal. | Corn. | Meal.| Corn. |Meal.

| qrs. | cwts. | qrs. | cwts.| qrs. |cwts.

----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|----- Russian Ports in | | | | | | Black Sea | 25,519| | 19,721| | 98,176| Denmark | 1,300| | 250| | 5| Hanover | 1,344| | | | | Belgium | 67| | | | | France | 135,115| 510| 102,978| 26| 164,128| 29 Portugal Proper | 61,446| | 67,518| 53| 21,922| Azores and Madeira | 17,214| 7| 7,794| 6| 4,356| 1 Spain and Bahama | | | | | | Islands | 26,856| 48| 19,982| 48| 34,771| Sardinian Territories | 13,357| | 25| 2| 1,302| 1 Tuscany | 11,481| 95| 15,612| 94| 34,760| Papal Territories | 8,927| | 1,876| | 75,588| Naples and Sicily | 18| | 10,066| | 101,489| Austrian Territories | 90,540| | 45,748| | 73,966| Malta and Gozo | 18,198| | 4,969| | 11,002| Ionian Islands | 5,390| | 7,324| | 5,967| Greece | 57,520| | 8,712| | 3,252| Egypt | 12,767| | 71,808| | 127,692| Turkish dominions, | | | | | | including Wallachia,| | | | | | Moldavia and Syria | 563,799| | 348,456| | 748,180| Morocco | 760| | | | | West Coast of Africa | 889| | 2,322| | | B.N.A. Colonies | 1,645| 164| 1,530| | 4,377| 7 U.S. of America |1,170,154|100,859| 538,155|11,253| 295,978|9,522 Brazil | 1,253| | 468| | 725| Other places | | | 1,756| | | | | | | | | 1 ----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|----- |2,225,459|101,683|1,277,070|11,482|1,807,636|9,561 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Parliamentary Paper, No. 14, Sess. 1852.)

The many excellent properties of Indian corn, as a wholesome nutritious food, and the rich fodder obtained from the stalk and leaf for the nourishment of cattle, invite more earnest attention from the farmer and planter in the Colonies to its better and extended cultivation.

Though the average quant.i.ty of grain from each acre in the United States is not more than thirty or forty bushels, yet it is known that with due care and labor 100 to 130 bushels may be obtained.

In feeding cattle little difference is discoverable between the effects of Indian corn meal and oil-cake meal; the preference rather preponderates in favor of the latter.

Corn cobs, ground with the grain, have advocates, but this food is not relished, and swine decline it.

Indian corn contains about the same proportion of starch as oats (sixty per cent.), but is more fattening, as it contains about nine or ten per cent. of oily or fatty ingredients.

The following a.n.a.lysis of maize is given by Dr. Samuel David, of Ma.s.sachusetts:--