Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1843-11-02

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BEST METHOD OF CURING CORN.

Our Indian corn crop is one of the I
most valuable, if not the most valuable
crop cultivated in the United States,
and every thing relative to the best me-
thods of growing and securing it are
proportionably important. In securing
Indian corn, two methods are common
ly used; the first, is TO top the corn,
by cutting the stocks Immediately "a
bove the ear, and this is usually done
as soon as the grain is glazed, though
some farmers scarcely wait for this
The second, is to cut the corn up by
the bottom as soon as the ear is glaz-
ed, bind the stalks and ears in small
bundles, set them up, and let them
stand till thoroughly cured. In the first
first method only the upper part of the
is saved for fodder, but the corn ripens
finely, and nothing can be more beauti-
full than a field in which the husks have
fallen from the ripened grain, and the
thick golden ears give promise of the
rich harvest at hand. Still we prefer
the second, and that from ample expe
rience of BOTH We have our corn cut
up by the bottom, because in that way
we have the whole of the stalk saved
for fodder, and that is no unimportant
matter to The farmer. In topping, on.
" the poorest part of the stalk is saw
ed, for if cut and cured properly, there
is 10 more nutritious food for animals
than the stalk Of corn. tits true, when
very large cattle and sheep are unable
to eat them; but if converted into chaffl
by cutting machine, as they can easi-
ly be, there is no food eaten more rea-
Oily, or withmore profit. 1t is not ha-
zarding much to say that there is more
value in an acre of corn stalks, cut by |
the bottom and properly fed out, than
in an acre Of ordinary hay, and no far
mer can afford to dispense with such
an item in providing for his stock
But the saving in the stalk is not all; !
but experiments show that there is
gain in the grain of -nearly twenty per
cent. in cutting by the bottom, in prefer I
ence to topping. Experiments made !
by Mr.. Clark, Judge Buel and others,
and recorded in the volumes of the Old }
Gennesse Farmer, and the Guilty tor,
place this matter beyond a doubt. In
one made by Mr.. Clark, he found the
yield per acre Of the corn topped, to be
Al bush. Is lbs, and the untopped, 60
bush. s lbs. From some experiments
instituted by ourselves several years
since, it was ascertained that there was
no difference of consequence in the pro
duct, when the corn was left on the I'M
touched stalks till harvest, and when
they were cut by the bottom after the
corn was well glazed, but that both
these methods gave greater produce
than when topped in the usual manner.
1t is said that when corn is topped, and
after the corn is gathered, that cattle
will eat all that is valuable of the stalks
as they stand in the field. This is GER
tainly mistake, as the most nutritious
part, The main stalk itself, is generally
left untouched by them. IF the corn
crop is well MANFRED, as It Should be,
the cultivation of the season is an ex-
cellent preparation for wheat, and some
of the best farmers of the country use
the corn cropfor this purpose. Inthis
case cutting up by the bottom is indis-
pensable for the getting in Of the wheat T
properly; and if it is intended to follow
the corn with spring crops, as is fire.
quently done, such as wheat, oats, or
barley, it will be found that the absence I
of the large stalks that tisfgure corn
grounds when only topped, will great
ly facilitate both the putting in and the
harvesting of these crops. For all these
reasons, and the additional one, that it
is only by cutting at the bottom that
corn can be saved from the effects of
early frosts when they occur, we are 1
decidedly Of opinion that the corn crop
of the country might annually be in
creased In value, were the method oil
cutting it up by the bottom as soon as
the grain is fully glazed, to become
general. -Cultivator.
-e9e
SOAP FOR KILLING BoRFRs IN TREES.
S. S. Green, Esq, of East Cam
bridge, has made an experiment with
this article. He has in his garden al
fine white ash tree, which was full oil
these worms, SO fatal to our fruit and
ornamental trees. He covered every
place on the tree which appeared to BEL
wounded by them, with common hard
soap, nicely rubbed into the places
where the borer seemed to have enter
ed. During the rains of This week HE.