Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1837-05-12
From the Baltimore Farmer.
SPRING CROPS-CORN.

liar aptitude to accommodate Itself either
to the long summers Of our more southern
reaion, or the short ones of the east, that
varieties VIII oh take all the fruc'fying in
fuence Of the former to ripen their kerr
nels, when translated TO the latter, so &C.
commodate themselves to the more brief
duration Of summer in that quarter, as to
perform oil its work OF maturing before the
autumnal frosts. But with all its excellent
qualities of nutrition. productiueness, and
ucchmntion, there is no crop more nnccr-
;nin or precarious there is none which
Better rewards high and nca, cultivation.
or Furnishes with more severity. lie who
hampers with hs growth 10 a slovenly
manner, on soil despoilcd Of It's virgin
strength, and when niggardly denied ASS
,ance BY the beso,,ed being, whose cupid
" and ignorance have made him at once
as reckless of his own personal interest as
Of the necessities Of the earth, whence he
would impiouSly draw his sustenancc -
We say, it is on uncertain and precarlous
crop, and so il is:-whie Fart Stimson
Of New York. that prince of corn growers,
will average upwards Of 100 bushels to the
acre in crop of 5000 bushels, we could
point to those who do not, in many ustan-
cea, make over two barrels TO the acre.
Perhaps these gentlemen would say. "Ah.
but Mr. Simson's land is very rich, and
hen he manures highly" Not so: -natu
rally. the soil Of Mr.. S. farm is very poor
being 81 per cent. Of pure slick, and only
three of The carbonate Of lime; and so far
from his manuring highly. he does not give
mare than an ordinary portion OF manures
lie "manures his land only once in sir gears,
excepting he application Of plaster to his
corn. He allows five loads Of barn yard
manure. and three of leached ashes, to an
acre. and his is always spread upon th'
surface after ploughins for The first crop.
and either narrowed or ploughed in by a
very light ploughIng. IN ploughing. he
never permits the plough to 60 deeper than
three inches; the sod is turned over fiat.
md then rolled, it being his great object
to keep all the vegetable matter on the
surfncc" With this moderate supply of
The wants of hia sell, Tor ten years Irlor to
1882. his crops Of corn ranging above
5 900 bushels annually have averaged the
product stated, VIZ. over 100 bushels TO
thc acre. We have not exhibited this plan
Of Mr.. Simson because i, meets oar en-.
tire appreciation, for there are parts Of 1t
to which we would object, and get the re-
fnH Of his Iabnvs, the safest mode of arr
wing AZ the lru,h, would tell us that his
;'lnE is ut suited TO his hight sandy soil, |
If left to our own judgment, We would g.
deeper; though we had TO use the substra-
sum plough, we would find highway for
she larger roots Of the corn to draw their
liquid cordial from the bosom of the earth.
The great art, in Mr.. Slmson's case,
consists in doing every thing at the right
time; he never permits his corn to suffer
in consequence Of weeds, or baked and
parchcd earth the weeds. before they can
possibly operate injurlously, are expelled.
and the earth is always kept loose aud
fresh around the plants, Attracting moisture
from the atmosphere. and drinking IN the
sweet and animating dews as they fall;
thus preserving to the growing corn con
tinuous supply of wholesome, refreshing
and digestive allmen. We should men
ton here, cursorily. tina, his corn rows are
but 81 inches apart, that he plants the small
northern corn, and ieares four plants in
each hill, SO that each acre in culture by
him contains 80 800 plants.
The stating Of this latter fact, points to
US moral, which we could wish onr rea
ders generally, and particularly those in
the middle, southern and western States.
TO pay particular attention to, MS we desire
that they should profit by it. 1t is an IN.
deniable fact. that all rery large products
OF corn have been the result of close plan.
ting. III this fact, their greater assdnlty
and neatness in its culture, and tie appl,-
cation Of proper manurcs, are we to find
the true causes why the eastern farmers
go far excel us in thr product of this indis
pensoble grain. While most of us have
our rows ranging from to 5 Q feet. with
but two plants IN hill, the more economi
cal Yankee places his rows at from 81
inches to feet, and instead of having two
plants at each point, there are four. Now
let us see what an immense difference in
product is thus brought about Rows 81
inches either way apart plants ina hill,
as we have before shown. give us $4,000
plants; rows feet either way, plants in
hill. give us but l742 hills. { : 3484 plants:
while the first, yielding a gill Of sheied
corn for each stalk, is competent 20 grow
Ii8 bushels quarts to the acre, the latter,
at the came ratio Of yield, can only give
the product Of 10 bushels l6 quarts; or
supposng the ears on the wide planted
corn should produce 3 times as much as
that planted close, or gis to the stalk,
how stands the account then? Why 80
bushels 10 quarts is the product; and, in
deed, if it should average a pint TO the
stalk, still its yield is far, very far, behind
that of the closely planted corn; for in that
event, it would reach but 81 bushels be
ing less than so per cent. of the product Of
the other.
According to Mr., Stmson's rotation of
crops and plan of improvement, his corn
crop gets no manure whatever, except
plaster on the hill. His rotation is