美國語文第三冊 第85期：印第安玉米（01）
Few plants are more useful to man than Indian corn, or maize.
很少有別的植物像印第安玉米（也叫玉蜀黍）那么有用。
No grain, except rice, is used to so great an extent as an article of food.
除了大米以外，沒有哪一種農(nóng)作物像玉米一樣被如此廣泛地用作糧食。
In some countries corn is almost the only food eaten by the people.
在某些國家，玉米幾乎是人們唯一的食糧。
Do you know why it is called Indian corn?
你知道印第安玉米這個稱呼是怎么來的嗎？
It is because the American Indians were the first corn growers.
那是因為美洲的印第安人是最早種植玉米的人。
Columbus found this grain widely cultivated by them when he discovered the New World.
哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)新大陸的時候，也發(fā)現(xiàn)了印第安人大面積地種植這種農(nóng)作物。
They pounded it in rude, stone bowls, and thus made a coarse flour, which they mixed with water and baked.
他們把玉米放在粗糙的石碗里搗碎，做成粗糲的玉米面，和上水就可以烘烤成玉米餅了。
Indian corn is now the leading crop in the United States.
印第安玉米是美國目前最主要的農(nóng)作物。
In whatever part of this land we live, we see corn growing every year in its proper season.
在我們生活的這片土地上，無論哪個地區(qū)，每年在相應(yīng)的季節(jié)，我們都可以看到玉米茁壯生長。
Yet how few can tell the most simple and important facts about its planting and its growth!
然而，盡管并不復(fù)雜，又有多少人能夠說出這種作物是如何種植和生長的呢！
Corn, to do well, must have a rich soil and a warm climate.
要讓玉米生長得好，必須要有肥沃的土壤和溫暖的氣候。
It is a tender plant, and is easily injured by cold weather.
這種柔弱的植物很容易被寒冷天氣摧毀。
The seed corn does not sprout, but rots, if the ground is cold and wet.
如果土地變得又冷又濕，玉米的種子就不會發(fā)芽，而會腐爛。
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.
為種植玉米而準備的土地，必須通過翻耕使土壤適于種植，一塊地分成許多小塊，任一方向每4英尺以土溝分隔。
At every point where these furrows cross, the farmer drops from four to seven grains of seed corn.
在土溝縱橫交叉之處，農(nóng)夫撒下4-7粒玉米種子，
These are then covered with about two inches of earth, and thus form "hills" of corn.
埋在大約兩英寸的土壤之下，這樣就形成了“玉米堆”。
In favorable weather, the tender blades push through the ground in ten days or two weeks;
只要天氣適宜，十天到兩周之后，柔弱的種子就會扎根在土壤里，
then the stalks mount up rapidly, and the long, streamer-like leaves unfold gracefully from day to day.
很快枝莖破土而出，越長越高。一天一天過去，絲帶一樣的葉子也優(yōu)雅地舒展開來。
Corn must be carefully cultivated while the plants are small.
在玉米還是幼苗的時候，必須細心照料。
After they begin to shade the ground, they need but little hoeing or plowing.
然而當它們長高，蓋住了土地之后，就幾乎不再需要耕作了。
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