The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1854-04-05
Prom Patent Cffios Report fs lsss-ss.
Culture Of Corn
GIsn wsIhy. Va. DEC. ls. 1851


10 NE cossmissigsser ~ Pafeafs.
My plan Is 10 ploagh no 4 eld for
corn that has not rested in grass at
least two or three wears and Gse wears
I prefer. I plough il in the spring
with the bar. share plough to the depth
Of about eight inches; harrow il well
twice, IL necessary I; lay il on each
way IN rows three aud half feet apart,
aud drop the corn well rolled in pIas-
ter-six or seven grains. and oiien
more. in the hill and, whether | am
late or early in planting. ! always co.
YER it deep. either with hoes or the
corn coverer-an implement recently
introduced intu this neighborhood, very
simple in lis construction, and well
adapted to its purpose. lprefcr good
number of grains in the hills for the
following reasons That the combined
force of the geminating grainf. when
good MANY are together, more easily
breaks through the crust. which is apt
to form ON the surface. and su Tiers the
plant to come through, and il attacked
by the cut, or bud worm. or the ant,
there is greater probability of suth-
cicnt number of stalks escaping. The
deep covering prevents the corn from
roiting in the ground il' planted early.
and the ground should be wet and cold |;
!. and, if very dry, it will come up better,
from the fact that il has more moisture
than il il had been covered shallow.
In support Of the correctness of my
opinion in this particular. | will state
that have practised upon IL for ten
years, aud have nat, | think, used two
bushels Of corn in the whole time for
replanting.
1 AS soun as my corn attains sufficient
size | 90 over it with the three tooth
cultivator, running as near as practl-
cable TO the corn, and also running the
way the ground was first laid Oft, which
last named mo,le renders the corn less
liable TO be covered by the dirt and
clods. Ii have sufficient force, fol-
low the cultivator with the hoe, care~
fully uncoverins any that requires it,
aud stirring the earth around such hills
as have not been approached sufficient.
ly near with the cultivator. After go
ing over it in this manner, | again
commence with the cultivator, and go
over it the opposite way, following
with the thinners, leaving two stalks
generally, aud in the richer spots three
stalks, in the hill. The next cultiva-
tion is with what call the rooters,
being narrow plates three inches wide,
and not less than eighteen or twenty
inches long, and fastened to the mould
board Of the plough, either with an
eye or a bolt and lap; with these | run
very close to the corn without cover
Ing it up, and very deep, which. at
this stage of the crop, is highly essen
| tial for il the season should prove a
dry one. the increased depth to which
the roots of the plant have been invit-
cd will prevent its being very greatly
affected by the drought ; and, il wet
season, it will cause the water to sink
more easily, and not remain on the
surface, or wash in gulleys, as frequent
! ly happens. split out the middle in
this cultivation, either with the rooters
or with the long and sharp single sho-
vel plough. Nv last cultivation is with
asingle shovel plough, next to the corn
not very long, which throws the dirt up
to the corn, and furnishes some sup
port against the winds. which some
times PROSTATE the stalks, and either
injure the crop quite seriously or rem
der il more difficult to secure. In this
cultivation | split the middle with the
cultivator ; these leave smooth and
beautiful surface to seed on; and II
avoids leaving a Iurrow in the middle
of the row. which is the case when the
plough is used in the last cultivation,
: and is the cause OF the corn fields be-
: ing so often washed into gulleys.
The foregoing has been my method
Of cultisatlng corn for the last ter
years, during which time we have had
two droughts-one in 1915 and the
other in l849 and my crop has never
been less than eight barrels of corn pei
acre. In 1850, it was upwards of ten
barrels and this year, SO far as gather
ed, it exceeds ten barrels per acre.
have finished one small field Of twenty
: acres, aud have measured up two hun
dred and three barrels, exclusive of oi'
Ial corn. of which, however, there is
not much. barrel is FIVE busliels.)
q The usual time Of planting is from
goth April to the first Of May in some