LESSON 73

INDIAN CORN

印第安玉米

1．Few plants are more useful to man than Indian corn, or maize. No grain, except rice, is used to so great an extent as an article^〔1〕 of food. In some countries corn is almost the only food eaten by the people.

2．Do you know why it is called Indian corn? It is because the American Indians were the first corn growers. Columbus found this grain widely cultivated^〔2〕 by them when he discovered the New World. They pounded it in rude, stone bowls, and thus made a coarse flour, which they mixed with water and baked.

3．Indian corn is now the leading crop in the United States. In whatever part of this land we live, we see corn growing every year in its proper season. Yet how few can tell the most simple and important^〔3〕 facts about its planting and its growth!

4．Corn, to do well, must have a rich soil and a warm climate. It is a tender plant, and is easily injured by cold weather. The seed corn does not sprout, but rots, if the ground is cold and wet.

5．To prepare land properly for planting corn, the soil is made fine by plowing, and furrows^〔4〕 are run across the field four feet apart each way. At every point where these furrows cross, the farmer drops from four to seven grains of seed corn. These are then covered with about two inches of earth, and thus form "hills" of corn.

6．In favorable^〔5〕 weather, the tender blades push through the ground in ten days or two weeks; then the stalks mount up rapidly, and the long, streamer^〔6〕-like leaves unfold gracefully from day to day. Corn must be carefully cultivated while the plants are small. After they begin to shade the ground, they need but little hoeing or plowing.

7．The moisture^〔7〕 and earthy matter, drawn through the roots, become sap. This passes through the stalk, and enters the leaves. There a great change takes place which results^〔8〕 in the starting of the ears and the growth of the grain.

8．The maize plant bears two kinds of flowers,—male and female. The two are widely separated^〔9〕. The male flowers are on the tassel; the fine silk threads which surround the ear, and peep out from the end of the husks, are the female flowers.

9．Each grain on the cob is the starting point for a thread of silk; and, unless the thread receives some particle^〔10〕 of the dust which falls from the tassel flowers, the kernel with which it is connected will not grow.

10．The many uses of Indian corn and its products are worthy of note. The green stalks and leaves make excellent^〔11〕 fodder^〔12〕 for cattle. The ripe grain is used all over the earth as food for horses, pigs, and poultry^〔13〕. Nothing is better for fattening stock.

11．Green corn, or "roasting ears," hulled corn and hominy, New England hasty pudding, and succotash^〔14〕 are favorite dishes with many persons. Then there are parched corn and pop corn—the delight of long winter evenings.

12．Cornstarch is an important article of commerce^〔15〕. Sirup and sugar are made from the juice of the stalk, and oil and alcohol^〔16〕 from the ripened grain. Corn husks are largely used for filling mattresses^〔17〕, and are braided^〔18〕 into mats, baskets, and other useful articles.

13．Thus it will be seen how varied are the uses of Indian corn. And besides being so useful, the plant is very beautiful. The sight of a large cornfield in the latter part of summer, with all its green banners waving and its tasseled plumes nodding, is one to admire, and not to be forgotten.

【中文阅读】

1．很少有别的植物像印第安玉米（也叫玉蜀黍）那么有用。除了大米以外，没有哪一种农作物像玉米一样被如此广泛地用作粮食。在某些国家，玉米几乎是人们唯一的食粮。

2．你知道印第安玉米这个称呼是怎么来的吗？那是因为美洲的印第安人是最早种植玉米的人。哥伦布发现新大陆的时候，也发现了印第安人大面积地种植这种农作物。他们把玉米放在粗糙的石碗里捣碎，做成粗粝的玉米面，和上水就可以烘烤成玉米饼了。

3．印第安玉米是美国目前最主要的农作物。在我们生活的这片土地上，无论哪个地区，每年在相应的季节，我们都可以看到玉米茁壮生长。然而，尽管并不复杂，又有多少人能够说出这种作物是如何种植和生长的呢！

4．要让玉米生长得好，必须要有肥沃的土壤和温暖的气候。这种柔弱的植物很容易被寒冷天气摧毁。如果土地变得又冷又湿，玉米的种子就不会发芽，而会腐烂。

5．为种植玉米而准备的土地，必须通过翻耕使土壤适于种植，一块地分成许多小块，任一方向每4英尺以土沟分隔。在土沟纵横交叉之处，农夫撒下4~7粒玉米种子，埋在大约两英寸的土壤之下，这样就形成了“玉米堆”。

6．只要天气适宜，十天到两周之后，柔弱的种子就会扎根在土壤里，很快枝茎破土而出，越长越高。一天一天过去，丝带一样的叶子也优雅地舒展开来。在玉米还是幼苗的时候，必须细心照料。然而当它们长高，盖住了土地之后，就几乎不再需要耕作了。

7．玉米的根从土壤里吸取水分和养分，成为树液，经由茎部传输到叶子。这为植物带来巨大的变化，因此得以抽穗，最终长出颗粒。

8．玉米开的花有两种——雄花和雌花。两种花很不一样，雄花呈穗状；而那种围绕着包谷生长并在包皮的末端隐约露出的丝一样的细线，就是雌花。

9．玉米穗轴上的每一个颗粒都是一束丝状雌花的起点，除非花束获得来自于穗状雄花的微粒，否则它所连接的内核就无法成长。

10．印第安玉米及其产品的广泛用途值得详细注解：绿色的玉米茎和叶子是喂牛的好饲料。成熟的玉米粒在全世界都被广泛用作饲料，喂养马、猪、家禽等。它还是最好的积肥用料。

11．嫩玉米、烤或煮熟的玉米、去皮玉米、玉米粥、新英格兰玉米粉糊或是豆煮玉米是许多人们的最爱。还有烘烤玉米片和爆米花，在漫漫冬夜里为人们带来欢乐。

12．玉米淀粉是一种重要的商品。玉米茎的汁液是提炼糖和糖浆的原料。成熟的玉米粒是油和酒精的来源。玉米的包皮用途也很广泛，它可以是床垫的填充物，或者经过编织成为各种垫子、篮子和其他用品。

13．由此可见，印第安玉米全身都是宝。它不但用途多样，还是一种美丽的植物。盛夏时节，一望无际的玉米地，绿色的叶子像旗帜一样迎风飞舞，流苏璎珞般的包谷随风点头，这是多么赏心悦目而又令人难忘的景色！

注释

〔1〕Article, a particular one of various things.

〔2〕Cultivated, grown.

〔3〕Important, of much value.

〔4〕Furrows, a trench made by a plow.

〔5〕Favorable, that which is kindly, propitious.

〔6〕Streamer, a long, narrow flag.

〔7〕Moisture, wet, dampness.

〔8〕Results, comes out, ends.

〔9〕Separated, apart, not connected.

〔10〕Particle, a very small portion.

〔11〕Excellent, good, superior.

〔12〕Fodder, such food for animals as hay, straw, and vegetables.

〔13〕Poultry, barnyard fowls.

〔14〕Succotash, corn and beans boiled together.

〔15〕Commerce, trade.

〔16〕Alcohol, distilled liquor.

〔17〕Mattresses, beds stuffed with hair, straw, or other soft material.

〔18〕Braided, woven or twisted together.