The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1843-07-11
KIR.IL ECO.NO.UA.
CURIOUS METHOD OF PLANTING


Mr.. John W. S9eet. Of Tyrincham,
Berkshire county, informs Us that he plants
his corn in the following manner, and has
realized ll0 bushels shelled corn TO the
acre.
lie spreads what manure he intends for
the field on The surface Of the groensshrd
then he p!oushs The land INTO ridges abou,
three fee, apart in the fsIi--cach ridge OF
row being madu Of tao back burrows turn
ed upon narrow strip Of sward NhicE Is
not disturbed. 10 the spring he rolls aud
hsrrows these ridges, and on the top OF
each ridge, twelve OF fourteen inches apart,
I've l,anls his bills OF corn. three or four
kernels 10 the b,ll, and eul,va,os tho corn
through the season With the hoe, culllya,3t
and plough, as much as he deems nece' sary.
10 this method, he remarked that no vas
no, troubled with seeds or the drought.
h the fall, bs soon as bis corn is ripe, he
gathers the ears, then pulls up oil the corn.
stalks and lays them down lengihways be
tween the burrows, aud then splits The ridges
with his plough, and covers these stalks up
completely. Thus is made his ridge FOR his
second crop Of corn. TO be planted the sue
cccding spring. The 10 bushels was tho
second crop planted over the buried stalks.
The above is sufficient to give the read
or On idea Of this system. He contends
al;cr The first crop he wants no more ma
nnre Tor bis corn except tho stalks applied
as VIC have described.
II is quite probable, the three sods and
manure being under tho corn the FIRST year,
tina, while these are undergoing decnm.
position. being the whole period Of the
growth OF the corn, the crop will suffer less
from Drought than il would were there no
yegetob!o matter beneath il TO attract and
deiaiD moisture I'LL It's decomposition is
completed.
As 10 the fnci that corn stalks arc the
hest manure for corn, the idea is strictly
philosophical, and is fully sustained by
chemical analysis. The doctrine seems 10
10 we'll settled, that each crop requires liz
own peculiar food and unless tho soil con.
'alns this, the crop will no, flourish
Hence tho necessity Of rotation Of crops, or
tho well established fact, With practical
men, that potatoes will not thrive for ma
ny years in succession % the same piece,
because the crop has already exhausted lbe
soil Of The peculiar food Of the potato, while
some other crop requiring u dllerent kind
Of food from what the potato requires, will
succeed we'll on the samo land ~hefc the
potato crop has failed. Thus as tho OK
aud the sheep, when put to The same stuck
Of hay, the one will eat what tho other
leaves; 90 II is with plants.
Now, Il you shoot partridge, and cut
open its crop, and find IN il acorns and
buds, you at once infer that acorns and
buds are the natural food of the bird. So
when by chemical analysis you ascertain
The precise elements of which corn stalks
arc made, you have ascertaincd precisely |
VIA, kind Of food the corn crop requires.
Nov as corns'alks contain the very ele. /,
ments Of the food required by tho corn
crop, and return TO tho soil all tho sub I
stances Of which they exhaust he soil, the |
chemistry Of agriculture teaches Us thu.