Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1856-03-27

many and widely differing varieties of corn,
no doubt originated in the wild corn of A
merica. The differences now found to exist,
are due to climate, soil and cultivation
The male and female organs being upon diff
ferent parts of the plants, and the pollen of
one being capable of formulating the silk Of
another, these varieties may be indefinitely
increased by contiguity Of planting. By
ljudicious crossing, for succession of years,
valuable qualities may be fixed upon new
variety. [ am satisfied that the corn plant
will acquire habits Of peculiar qualities un-
ner one system of cultivation, continued for
a succession Of years, which it will not lose
in one year, under change of system. In
other words, corn planted with full distance,
will in time become more prolific, bearing
two or three ears to the stalk When this
character is fixed upon it the plants may be
crowded for one year, without parting with
this double bearing habit. Seed corn, there
fore, should be grown to itself, having full
distance, and only the largest of the double
ears saved for seed
THE land intended for corn should be tho
roughly broken during winter, where the
land is suited to winter plowing, as is the
case with the red lands Of Piedmont Virgil
mia. Some lands run together" when plow-
ed in winter, and these, of course, should be
broken Immediately before planting; but,
in any case, too much pains cannot be taken
in thoroughly breaking the sod. Subsoiling
may pay upon some lands, but no expert
ment have ever made or witnessed, show
ed any improvement in the crop from this
process [ am inclined to think more de-
pends upon having the surface soil in tho
rough tilth, than on deep plowing. On my
own and similar lands, sepen inches of mel
low and thoroughly pulverized soil, is all
the corn crop wants, and my aim in cultiva-
ton is to get and keep this. Where, how
ever, the farmer finds his land underlaid
with subsoil impervious to water, he must
resort to some process Of draining. Such a
condition is destructive to the crop, not so
much by checking the corn roots in their
penetration to their natural depth, as in pre-
venting the circulation Of air and moisture
through the soil, Few,of US have formed
1uny fuea os- .a.~- fvr-o-s.svrucd 11ossta Al
vegetation.
Corn roots could easily penetrate such a
subsoil as I have mentioned, but instinct
teaches them that it would be ''fool's er-
RANDI they we're going on. The free circu-
lation of moisture and air, seem to be neces-
sary to prepare the elements of soil, as food
for plants. The chief object of cultivation
is to keep the soil in the condition in which
this circulation most readily goes on. Every
farmer has observed the effect Of s'baking''
upon the growth of vegetation. Let crust
be formed over the surface, which will ex-
clude the air, and vegetable growth is at
once checked. This circulation seems to be
the ritaz principle Of soil. The gals, which
so disfgure the face Of our country, are but
spots in which this vital principle is destroy
ed. No amount of fertilizing matter appli-
ed to them, is sufficient to make them pro-
ductive, until some change is wrought in
their mechanical condition, which restores
this principle. To keep the surface soil in
that healthy condition which admits of free
circulation of air and moisture, and to throw
into the cultivated plant all the strength of
the soil (by keeping down all other vegeta-
BILE growth) is mans only agency in making
crop He who sends the "early and the
latter rains," must do the rest.~
The proper distance at which to plant
corn, has given rise to much difference of
opinion amongst farmers. No fixed rules
can be laid down, but the matter must be
settled by the test of experiment. In nine
cases in ten, according to MY observation,
corn is planted too thin. The nearest ap-
proach to rule | can give is this: Let
the farmer form his opinion Of the produc-
tive capacity of his land, and by calculation
or reference to his tables, ascertain how
many stalks he must leave per acre to give
him, at one ear to the stalk, the product fix
ed upon. When the season is favorable,
the double bearing stalks give him his in
crease of crop. Upon good low grounds,
four feet OF four and a half feet by one foot,
will give, according to this rule, from fifteen
to eighteen barrels per acre, which is about
the productive capacity of such land. On
high land, four feet to four and half feet
by two feet is as great distance as should be
given IF land will not, with this distance
bring one good ear to the stalk, it is unfit
for corn without manure. An application
of guano, ashes and plaster in the hill, or
even rolling the seed in guano and plaster,
[ have found very beneficial to my crop in
forcing the young plants out of the way of
insect pests, and insuring good stand of
corn, and this [ would do without regard to
the fertility of the land.
The furrow for planting should be open
ed with two horse plow, and, if the land
be not thoroughly broken or has become hard
after being so broken, coulter should be
run in the furrow Care should be taken to
lay off the rows as nearly horizontal upon
| billy land as possible. The corn is then
dropped, Or rather drilled along the furrow,
putting four or five times as many grains as
YOU wish stalks, and covered with a corn