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Peel, Sir Robert

(Encyclopedia)Peel, Sir Robert, 1788–1850, British statesman. The son of a rich cotton manufacturer, whose baronetcy he inherited in 1830, Peel entered Parliament as a Tory in 1809. He served (1812–18) as chief...

maize

(Encyclopedia)maize: see corn.

teosinte

(Encyclopedia)teosinte: see corn, in botany.

cornstarch

(Encyclopedia)cornstarch, material made by pulverizing the ground, dried residue of corn grains after preparatory soaking and the removal of the embryo and the outer covering. It is used as laundry starch, in sizin...

bollworm

(Encyclopedia)bollworm, name for the larvae of two different moths. The pink bollworm is a serious pest of cotton, and the corn earworm, or cotton bollworm, attacks cotton, corn, and other crops. ...

Mitchell

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, city (1990 pop. 13,798), seat of Davison co., SE S.Dak.; inc. 1881. Mitchell is a trade, distribution, and shipping center for a dairy and livestock area. Its industries include food process...

sorghum

(Encyclopedia)sorghum, tall, coarse annual (Sorghum bicolor) of the family Poaceae (grass family), somewhat similar in appearance to corn (but having the grain in a panicle rather than an ear) and used for much the...

East, Edward Murray

(Encyclopedia)East, Edward Murray, 1879–1938, American biologist, b. Du Quoin, Ill., grad. Univ. of Illinois (B.S., 1900; Ph.D., 1907). He served the agricultural experiment stations at the Univ. of Illinois and ...

vagrancy

(Encyclopedia)vagrancy, in law, term applied to the offense of persons who are without visible means of support or domicile while able to work. State laws and municipal ordinances punishing vagrancy often also cove...

pellagra

(Encyclopedia)pellagra pəlăgˈrə [key], deficiency disease due to a lack of niacin (nicotinic acid), one of the components of the B complex vitamins in the diet. Niacin is plentiful in yeast, organ meats, peanut...