“On the frontier the diet was necessarily plain and homely, but exceedingly abundant and nutritive.  The Goshen of America[52] furnished the richest milk, the finest butter, and the most savory and delicious meats.  In their rude cabins, with their scanty and inartificial furniture, no people ever enjoyed in wholesome food a greater variety, or a superior quality of the necessaries of life.  For bread, the Indian corn was exclusively used.  It was not till 1790 that the settlers on the rich bottoms of Cumberland and Nollichucky discovered the remarkable adaptation of the soil and climate of Tennessee to the production of this grain.  Emigrants from James River, the Catawba, and the Santee, were surprised at the amount and quality of the corn crops, surpassing greatly the best results of agricultural labor and care in the Atlantic States.  This superiority still exists, and Tennessee, by the census of 1850, was the corn State.  Of all the farinacea, corn is best adapted to the condition of a pioneer people; and if idolatry is at all justifiable, Ceres, or certainly the Goddess of Indian corn, should have had a temple and a worshipers among the pioneers of Tennessee.  Without that grain, the frontier settlements could not have been formed and maintained.  It is the most certain crop—­requires the least preparation of the ground—­is most congenial to a virgin soil—­needs not only the least amount of labor in its culture, but comes to maturity in the shortest time.  The pith of the matured stalk of the corn is esculent and nutritious; and the stalk itself, compressed between rollers, furnishes what is known as corn-stalk molasses.”

“This grain requires, also, the least care and trouble in preserving it.  It may safely stand all winter upon the stalk without injury from the weather or apprehension of damage by disease, or the accidents to which other grains are subject.  Neither smut nor rust, nor weavil nor snow-storm, will hurt it.  After its maturity, it is also prepared for use or the granary with little labor.  The husking is a short process, and is even advantageously delayed till the moment arrives for using the corn.  The machinery for converting it into food is also exceedingly simple and cheap.  As soon as the ear is fully formed, it may be roasted or boiled, and forms thus an excellent and nourishing diet.  At a later period it may be grated, and furnishes, in this form, the sweetest bread.  The grains boiled in a variety of modes, either whole or broken in a mortar, or roasted in the ashes, or popped in an oven, are well relished.  If the grain is to be converted into meal, a simple tub-mill answers the purpose best, as the meal least perfectly ground is always preferred.  A bolting-cloth is not needed, as it diminishes the sweetness and value of the flour.  The catalogue of the advantages of this meal might be extended further.  Boiled in water, it forms the frontier dish called mush, which was eaten with milk, with honey, molasses, butter