Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1846-01-29
Agricultural.
Indian Corn.

ed in nutritive powers by few If any of the cullva
ted plants cultivated with great ease and onl,
requiring one season for its perfection, il is no
surprising that corn should be general favorite
and that moro land should be employed in the pro
duction Of this crop, than any other The corr
crop of the United States may safely be estimated
at 4O0,OO0,OO0 of bushels and its value 1925 900,
900 annually. Immense as is the quantity of corr
produced, it must be evident to ALL that this quaint
~ might be greatly increased, even were no more
land devoted to its culture, by more skilliul hus
bandry. II is only by this course, indeed, in the
old states, that any increase of quantity is to be
pected, since no considerable addition of land tc
that already devoted to this crop, consistently
be made. In the great valley of the Mississippi, il
is impossible to set limits to the quantity that might
be annually grown, should the demand induce the
population to divert their productive energies into
that channel.
There are few crops which show the effect OF
skilliu cultivation strongly than that Of corn
and this marked improvement should induce the
farmer instead of adding to his number of acres OF
corn, 10 adopt that course which will give him the
greatest crops leaving the surplus acres to other
uses. IL man, by good culture, obtain from
ten acres of land the same crop which it now takes
from fifteen to twenty to give, then prepare the
land so as TO obtain the greatest amount That
there are thousands of acres that do not Weld
than from 80 TO 40 bushels to the acre. that
none acquainted with our agriculture can doubt
But we have heard it said, "if employ all my la
Dor and manure on ten acres, the remainder of my
fields must suffer" The answer is easy why cul-
tlvate 20 when you can get the same quantity from
l0l and will rest from cropping be more injurious
to the soil, than the exhausting process of cropping
without manurng? Why spread the labor and the
manure that applied to ten acres would give 500
bushels of corn, thirty and in the end receive
h,fEO knuh hale / ut - ha nIara -,
apiece of land once thoroughly fitted and MANFRED
for corn is fitted to produce succession Of good
crops, which in all probability would more than re-
pay in their extra product, any extra expense in-
CURED for the corn.
As the season for planting corn is approaching,
we have collected from various sources, notices of
some remarkable corn crops, mode of culture, &c.
In the selection of examples reference has been had
more to the details Of treatment than TO the amount
of the CROP as it is of but little use for a farmer to
publish TO the world that he has grown an extraor-
binary crop, unless he also shows hOlc he has done
1t. For this reason we have omitted some of the
heaviest crops OF corn on record And here we
would remark, that in awarding the premiums for
crops, agricultural societies have not sufficient
y insisted on full details of culture from the appl-
can,s In consequence Of this neglect of details,
one great object of such associations has been de.
feated, and the good effected by them proportiona-
bly, limited This every one must feel, who turns
to the reports OF the societies in the different states
or counties, with the view of ascertanng the best |
method OF culture in all its parts, any given crop
The first instance shall select is from the re-
port of crop made by Mr. Stevens of Hoboken.
We do this because it is one of the earliest of our
great corn crops, and shows the action of street
sweeplngs or manure, very plainly:
Mr. Stevens gave his ground three plowinrs be-
fore planting, and before the last blowing put on
200 horse cart loads of street manure. lie then
planted in double rows IL feet asunder, dibbng
IN each grain. To do this with expedition and ac-
curacy, he bored two rows Of holes in piece of
board about four feet long to form equilaeral
trianges, the sides of which were seven inches, as
thus,
Into these holes he drove pegs I-2 inches long. |
As the corn was dropped into the holes so made, |
man followed with basket of rotten dung with
which he filled them up. During the season the
corn was suckered three times. The intervals were
repeatedly powed, and the rows kept clean ofweeds
by hoeng and hand wedding"
This corn was raised on a bet Of so guineas be-
tween Mr. Stevens and Mr. Ludlow Mr. L. plan.
ted his rows four feet apart, and the corn inches
from stalk to stalk in the rows His ground was
MANFRED with 300 loads of street dirt His crop
was 9S bushels and IA qts. per acre; Mr. Stevens
lis bushels aud quarts per acre. Unless the
great quantity of street manure used made it neces-
sary, or the condition of the soil was bad no good
reason can be given for many powings for
corn crop.
In 1881, B. Butler Esq, of Chenango CO. in this
state, raised l40 bushels Of corn from one acre
The soil was stiff loan, nearly covered with small
stones, of which 80 loads the acre were taken off
before tillage. 1t was plowed but once, but this
was done in the best manner. Mr. b. adds-"We
then drew on 25 cart loads (about 25 bushels to
the oad.) OF sheep manure, and spread evenly on
the furrow. Rolled and narrowed with the furrow
with light double harrow, containing 40 teeth
until it was a complete garden mold, and the earth
well incorporated with the manure. Again picked
off the stones, and again rolled and planted on the
22d and % of May, on surface, with the
early small white flint stepped in solution of
copPeras and saltpetre and then tarred and rolled in
plaster, and planted in double drills 3l-2 from
feet center to center oithe main drill. The plants
standing singly from ~ to 10 inches on the main
drill The corn once powed, and afterwards
kept clean with the hoe, pasered well on the plant
topped at the usual time, was ripe the 18th of
Sept. and was harvested on the l4ih g. 10Th of Oct
In this case the sheep manure sustained the high
reputation it has acquired for the corn crop both
at home and abroad, and with the exception of that
produced in the hog pen, our experience would lead
us to prefer the manure from the sheep fold to any
other ordinary farm manures. One thorough plow-
ing was here found sufficient the rest being left to
the harrow; and we are convinced that in most
cases one blowing well done, will be found better
tnan more. A fine mellow seed bed must in any
event be had and the soil must be moved with eth
er pillow or harrow until this is provided
Anolher example off good crop ofcorn is that of
Mr. bngbee OF Palmer, Mass who raised from five
acres OF land $40 bushels or 1903 bushels per acre
Inc following Is the account given by Mr. B. of his |