Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1852-03-25
AGRICULTURAL.
[t'rom the Southern Cultivator.
Germ Culture In the SOuth'm states

~ tuerc fUOSu LOT improvements ." s"e
production Of Corn in the Southern States
70 this question most readers will give an
Affirmative answer although many would
disaRree a. to the details in blowing deep
or shallow, planting thick or thin. in drills
or checks. and in the application Of ma
nures. Corn culture is an important part
Of American agriculture. as is shown by
the census Of 1850, which returns the crop
grown the year previous. at SOL $50 .053
bushels. These figures Indicate an in
crease in ten years of2I4.o54,17s bushels.
equal to gain Of 81 per cent on the crop
ofle39. which was 377.53i.s75 bushels.
While our whole population has increas-
Cd IS per cent. in the sixth decade, our
Cora crops have increased % per cent.
more. This gain. being extended over so
east an area, and equal to 60 per cent on
the IS per cent. increase Of population,
srsaks volumes in favor Of the intrinsic
salss Of Maize. Comparatively speak
Inn. Cottea Is one thing in one section on
~; but corn is every thing every where in
the United States. Even in Oregon. fair
crops were made in 1851. Although New
York has not materially added to her ag.
ricultural population. nor to her acres of
Improved land, within the last ten years,
yet she increased her corn crop from TO-
973,sS bushels to l7,9l4,s0S bushels-a
gain Of more than SO per cent.
The increase In New York is due to
better husbsndry in making and saving
manure Georgia has augmented her Corn
crop in the last decade from 20.905,122
bushels to 30.426.540. This gain Of about
ton million bushels is to be ascribed partly
to the bringing Of fresh lands into cultiva-
tion. and partly to an improved system Of
tillage and husbandry. The two last de-
eennial censuses show that the corn grow
ers Of South Carolina increased their crops
only l.549,5O3 bushels. Their crop in
1889 was l4,722.S0 bushels; in 1S49 it
was l6 ,272, 3OS bushels. The crop Of AL
ALBANIA was 2O.0i7,00i b.shels; and in
1919. 2s.4s5.0 66. Mississippi produced
1876. 237 bushels as shown by the CEN
sus Of 1910, and 2l,S36.154 as indicated
by the last census.
five had poor land to plant, as many
have, instead Of cultivating ten acres to
grow seventy bushels. as too many do. we
should try hard to Till but one acre to re-
alise that quantity Of grain. We regard
tho extra blowing. planting, hoeing and
travel to gather the crop on ten acres in
place Of one, as involving a loss of the
things that make corn equal to 100 bush
Gle, (ten per acre) that never enter the
roots Of the plants at all. On poor land
where corn rows are wide apart and only
ono or two stalks in a hill. the roots of the
plants fill but small part Of the soil. They
cannot imbibe water and the dissolved
eombustibe and incombustible elements of
the crop. where they are not; and as this
water runs off the surface. or sinks deep
into tho earth to re-appearin living springs.
still retaining its organic and inorganic
food of plants. this tiAage rithout more
Mas ono tenth ofa full crop. is, Of all arti-
fetal agencies. the best calculated to con-
sumo the mould and minerals which to-
gethcr constitute the natural fertility Of
land. Ifno corn Whatever grew, all the
chemical and mechanical effects of stirring
the earth, and all the physical results Of
blowing and hoeing would ensue neverthe.
less. On every square inch of surface
there falls from 35 to As cubic inches of
rain or snow in twelve months. Make the
land rich enough, and the plants thick e.
nough to bear seventy bushels upon an a.
ere. and the roots Of maize will complete.
ly Gil the soil; and nearly all the water
that falls upon the mellow earth will enter
the roots OF corn with its food-the most
Of the water escaping as vapor from the
numerous broad and long leaves. while
said food will be organized into the tissues
ofthe rapidly growing crop. Every corn
grower fully comprehends the necessity of
water TO convey the food of his crop into
the circulation Of plants. If he has no
Seasons" no fails to get a harvest that is
worth gathering.
Many reader will say it's very well
20 talk about growing seventy bushels of
corn an acre instead Of ten; but how is
man without manure, or money to buy it.
10 realize 20 great a return Here is a
serious difficulty. we frankly confess
All general rules have exceptions, and
the impoverishment ola good deal of land
to reap small crops may sometimes be I'M
avoidable. We should reduce our force
Of mules and laborers. and expend the
proceeds to purchase fertile soil. or the
raw metenal for making such crops as we
believed to be most profitable. To till
poor land without plenty Of good man.
ure. may be necessary in few cases;
but it involves an unpleasant loss of labor
and Of capital. Farmers in Maryland and
Virginia have found that 100 pounds of
guano add about ten bushels to a crop of
corn. The manure costs $3.50. or 25 cts
bushcl for the corn. A gentleman who
cultivates farm in Connecticut that has
been two centuries under the plow. informs
Us that it requires ten cords of manure,
worth dollar cord, to keep the fertility
upto 40 bushels Of corn per acre. Here
again we see that, the raw material to
form bushel Of this grain. costs % cents.
Spread these tcu cords of manure over ten
acres instead Of one, and the corn made
therefrom would cost from 25 to IS per
cent. more to the producer. Destroy the
vitality Of Gotten seed and cover them in
the earth with the plow or hoe,
when intended as manure forcorn. The
seed should be spread about, and not be
placed in small heap. Wood ashes are
valuable for this crop. and may be applied
near the plants after the frs, blowing.
d..