I don't think it can be grown adequately without the ritual. Corn (or as folks not from this neck of the woods call it - maize) is not easily grown. Its terribly, terribly draining on the soil, even with good crop mixture (planting it with beans or other nitrogen 'fixers').
Even the varieties planted by the native americans, with their relatively low crop yields, required extensive fertilization and husbandry. Traditionally, each mound of corn was fertilized by planting a dead fish 6" under it. Worse, corn is terribly vunerable to disease and parasites. More so than more conventional grains.
Jeff
P.S. A great thanks to Vikor for his Menonite farming mojo.
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