McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader Part 20

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 of food. In some countries corn is almost the only food eaten by the people.

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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 by them when he discovered the New World. They pounded it in rude, stone bowls, and thus made a coa.r.s.e 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 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 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.

THIRD READER. 195 6. In favorable weather, the tender blades push through the ground in ten days or two weeks; then the stalks mount up rapidly, and the long, streamer-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 and earthy matter, drawn through the roots, become sap. This pa.s.ses through the stalk, and enters the leaves. There a great change takes place which results 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. The male flowers are on the ta.s.sel; 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 of the dust which falls from the ta.s.sel 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

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stalks and leaves make excellent fodder for cattle. The ripe grain is used all over the earth as food for horses, pigs, and poultry. Nothing is better for fattening stock.

11. Green corn, or "roasting ears," hulled corn and hominy, New England hasty pudding, and succotash 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. Sirup and sugar are made from the juice of the stalk, and oil and alcohol from the ripened grain. Corn husks are largely used for filling

THIRD READER. 197 mattresses, and are braided 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 ta.s.seled plumes nodding, is one to admire, and not to be forgotten.

LESSON LXXIV.

THE s...o...b..RD'S SONG.

1. The ground was all covered with snow one day, And two little sisters were busy at play, When a s...o...b..rd was sitting close by on a tree, And merrily singing his chick-a-de-dee.

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2. He had not been singing that tune very long Ere Emily heard him, so loud was his song; "O sister, look out of the window!" said she; "Here's a dear little bird singing chick-a-de-dee.

3. "Poor fellow! he walks in the snow and the sleet, And has neither stockings nor shoes on his feet: I wonder what makes him so full of his glee; He's all the time singing his chick-a-de-dee.

4. "If I were a barefooted s...o...b..rd, I know, I would not stay out in the cold and the snow; I pity him so! oh, how cold he must be!

And yet he keeps singing his chick-a-de-dee.

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5. "O mother; do get him some stockings, and shoes, And a nice little frock, and a hat if he choose: I wish he'd come into the parlor, and see How warm we would make him, poor chick-a-de-dee!"

6. The bird had flown down for some sweet crumbs of bread, And heard every word little Emily said: "What a figure I'd make in that dress" thought he, And laughed as he warbled his chick-a-de-dee.

7. "I am grateful," said he, "for the wish you express, But have no occasion for such a fine dress; I rather remain with my little limbs free, Than to hobble about, singing chick-a-de-dee.

8. "There is One, my dear child, though I can not tell who, Has clothed me already, and warm enough, too.

Good morning! Oh, who are so happy as we?"

And away he flew, singing his chick-a-de-dee.

F. C. Woodworth.

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LESSON LXXV.

MOUNTAINS.

1. The Himalayas are the highest mountains on our globe, They are in Asia, and separate India from Thibet. They extend in a continuous line for more than a thousand miles.

2. If you ever ascend one of these mountains from the plain below, you will have to cross an unhealthy border, twenty miles in width. It is, in fact, a swamp caused by the waters overflowing the river banks.

3. The soil of this swampy border is covered with trees and shrubs, where the tiger, the elephant, and other animals find secure retreat. Beyond this border, you will reach smiling valleys and n.o.ble forests.

4. As you advance onward and upward, you will get among bolder and more rugged scenes. The sides of the mountains are very steep, sometimes well wooded to quite a height, but sometimes quite barren.

5. In crossing a river you must be content with three ropes for a bridge. You will find the streets of the towns to be simply stairs

THIRD READER. 201 cut out of the rock, and see the houses rising in tiers.

6. The pathways into Thibet, among these mountains, are mere tracks by the side of

foaming torrents. Often, as you advance, you will find every trace of the path swept away by the failing of rocks and earth from above.

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7. Sometimes you will find posts driven into the mountain side, upon which branches of trees and earth are spread. This forms a trembling foothold for the traveler.

8. In the Andes, in South America, the sure-footed mule is used to carry travelers. Quite often a chasm must be crossed that is many feet wide and hundreds of feet deep. The mule will leap across this chasm, but not until it is sure it can make a safe jump.

9. "One day," says a traveler, "I went by the worst pa.s.s over the Andes Mountains. The path for seventy yards was very narrow, and at one point it was washed entirely away.

On one side the rock brushed my shoulder, and on the other side my foot overhung the precipice."

10. The guide told this man, after he was safely over the pa.s.s, that, to his knowledge, four hundred mules had fallen over that precipice, and in many instances travelers had lost their lives at that terrible spot.

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LESSON LXXVI.

A CHILD'S HYMN.

1. G.o.d make my life a little light, Within the world to glow; A little flame that burneth bright Wherever I may go.

2. G.o.d make my life a little flower, That giveth joy to all, Content to bloom in native bower, Although its place be small.

3. G.o.d make my life a little song, That comforteth the sad; That helpeth others to be strong, And makes the singer glad.