Cowbells and Chocolate

So what does July 4^th have to do with corn? Both terms are on their own, clear; the Fourth of July is the American Independence Day. Corn is well, corn, you know, the stuff you buy at the super market to eat. So what is this about? Eating corn on July 4^th? Nope.

Before I begin, let me tell you how it even came to be that I was talking about the Fourth of July and corn. I grew up in suburbia so that makes me a ‘suburbian’ through and through. I have never lived on a farm and the closest I’ve probably come to farmer’s fields was in a car, driving by. Which probably doesn’t inspire expertise but hey, this is my blog.

Sometime last Fall my husband and I changed our dog walking route. Instead of walking the dog around the neighborhood, we now walk him on a path through and around a nearby farmer’s fields. It’s nice because the dog gets to walk free (on the path, of course) and we enjoy the open space and some rolling hills and nature up close and personal. Okay, it wasn’t so nice right after the farmer fertilized his fields with manure but such is nature.

Farmer’s Crops

Walking the dog day after day and being a suburbian fascinated me to see everything that goes into making a crop. Once the field was tilled (don’t you just love it when I start using words as if I know what I’m talking about?) the seeds were planted. Then in a matter of what seemed like days, little green plants started sprouting out of the ground. When I saw this, because no other crop came to mind, I said I bet it would be corn. A little later, out of the blue I added something that I must have heard as a child, you know, one of those things where you think afterwards where did that come from? I simply said: ‘Knee-high by the Fourth of July’. My husband looked at me as if I were crazy. I pointed to the tiny shoots of corn or what was hopefully going to be corn and repeated ‘it’s going to be ‘knee-high by the Fourth of July’’. He said, ‘well it better hurry, it’s got a lot of growing to do.’

So day after day we’ve watched it grow and yes, it is corn. About a week before the July 4^th, the first field that was planted was about hip-high but the last one planted was about mid-calf-high. It was nice that the Swiss farmer staggered his planting so at least one of the fields was going to be true to the adage.

The Adage

Wikipedia defines adage as a concise, memorable and usually philosophical aphorism that communicates an important truth derived from experience. So, if the corn is at least knee-high by the fourth of July you’re going to have a good crop.

Although it can probably also be safely said there are a lot of variables in that equation. Due to all the modern advances and improvements in agriculture the corn should ideally be waist-high or, depending on your height, shoulder-high by the Fourth of July. And, a lot depends on when the planting season started and what the June weather was like.

Oklahoma! and More Corn

Like many other people, I have never seen the 1955 musical Oklahoma! But nonetheless I have heard the Rodgers and Hammerstein song in the movie ‘Oh, what a Beautiful Mornin’. Listening to it more carefully you can hear a reference to corn height. Here are the first two verses:

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,

There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,

An’ it looks like it’s climbing clear up in the sky.

Oh, What a beautiful mornin’,

Oh, What a beautiful day.

I got a beautiful feelin’

Everything’s goin’ my way.

Of course, they don’t specify when the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, obviously later than the beginning of July. But now we know that there are other ways to measure the height of corn. I guess using your own body or that of an elephant to measure is a lot more poetic than using feet or meters.

As far as July 4^th goes, that’s just another, not necessarily memorable day in Switzerland. You could just as well said ‘knee-high by the third of July’ or the eighth for all that’s worth. In Switzerland August 1^st is the national day, who knows, maybe that’s when the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye. There you go, a new adage: High as an elephant’s eye on the first of Aug… no, wait, something’s not quite right.