The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1844-03-14
COR
r. Tie Editor sfiie Sonihera Pln,ter.

r. he Eliior sfie Somhera Plnaier.
Sif-ln The November number q
your work, yon state lhai Won have bre,
ininrmed that Ind raised one hundrc,
bashels IL corn from an acre of land. an,
youdesire me 10 furnish you with lie mod,
ofculiivaiion, &c., and proceed 10 ans
wer ynnr inquiries; but being very mucl
oerupiedanl 1t the same time very unweil
yoa mus, excuse me ifthe details are mo-
as luli aud interesting as you would er
peet.
Ehaye heen cnl,ivaior nf The corr
crop for fifteen years, and during tha
Time have never failetl. believe, 10 make
such crops as attracted much attention
yet ! hive always thought. that on Oh,
rich lands are made ton much stalk and
tho hiilc corn, and have annually com.
planned n NY Oyefseers for not planting
my CON thick enough.
This year determined 10 make m ex-
psrlmeht ofmy own, uninnuenced By the
advice Of aftrseer or friends, several of
whom demonstrated against the extraya.
gance Of my proposition. For this pur-
pose | selected . lot, which considered
very good land, though not Of the iirs, or
der, - II lad no previous preparation Tor
lhcparpose. having been iadiIIrrcniIy used
Tor many years. as horse lot. waIerme-
Ion patch. cabbage patch, iurnip match.
anu sometimes cultivated in corn: oboul
one-ihlrd Of il, il is irnc, was used mari
Of the preceding fsll for short time as !
COW pen-which, BY the bye, have al.
ways had reason to believe was perhaps the
best possible mode Of improving lalis fha,
can be adopted, to the extent lha, il can
be carried; upon the balance Of. the lot |
hal my stacks of top fodder In The
month of May had this land ploueIiel
- deep n large two horse plouph could
tIrn II. and after having il narrowed nor.
fecily level and fine, had rows opened
with coulter too feet apart, and OH The
18th OF May the corn was planted at the
distance OF nine inches in these rows of,
two feci, A simple arithmeiical calcula-
ton will show that this would give YOU
los rows and $50 stalks in u row, which
would make 29.400 stalks 10 the acre i
and if each stalk would bring one good
ear, estimating FIVE hundred ears to the
barrel. which with large corn is an ample |
allowance. the product would he fillynlne
barrels and three bushels to the acre.
Well, that had no expectation Of max.
ing 10 he sure. vet thought, that by max
ing every allowance for those stalks that
woald make no corn. there must still be
a much larger yiell (if it made anyihing)
than we had been accustomed to.
Ii has been my habit for manyyears ne
yer 10 plan. corn without first soakiag il
well, aud then rolling il in plaster and
ashes, practice tia, recommend with
great confidence 10 your readers, as it net
only gives the corn anearly start, bu, pre-
nerves its color even in the drycst sea-
sons. I'm this case, however, the corn was
soaked and then rolled rs usual, and then
left until The land was ready to receive il,
which being few days lacr than | had
contemplated occasioned it all to spronl;
when !, was brought out 10 be planted /
iouml the sprouts generally from one half
to an inch in length. was at first doubt.
full whether should plant it or not; al
length, concluded, as the whole affair
was but an exrerimcct. would let that
60 along with il as another experiment,
that might lead to some practical result.
intending To examine il on the second or
third day, md il | found il dead 10 replant
il; il was planted on Friday evening--m
'ihe following Monday examined it, and
was surprised to find the corn ready to
shoot out os;he earth, and many instsn- 4
fes it had protruded; on the next day
(Tneslay) i, might be seen from one end
ol ..he row to the other. /,
When the corn was about eighteen in
ches high, | made parcel of children a.
bout the house, under my own snperin-
tendance, dfop about tea-spoonful of
plaster in the bud Of each stalk, through
about half the field but was never able
% see any advantage resulted from it,
winch might perhaps be owing to the fact,
'nat IN rolling and laying in the plaster.
Tue grain itself had absorbed as much as
was necessary, or as much of The plaster
hai adhered to the grain as was neecs-
saFy Tor the roots for many have de.
ne 'Ved great advantage from this mode
OF administering the plaster, when it
mas not been rolled. When the corn
rcached the height of about two feet, [
RAJ ran the coulter very deep AMI close to
the corn on each side. | then ran what we j
call a skinner between the rows. and had
The earth TINS loosencd pulled with the
hoes about the stalks ms well NJ | copld
III order to give some supper, to the corn.