The Hillsborough recorder., 1857-05-20
From the Plough, Loom, and Anvil.
INDIAN CORN.

From the Plough, Loom, and Anvil.
INDIAN CORN.
The following, from report on corn
culture, by ]. NJ. Merrick, Of the Berkshire
(Mass.) Agricultural Society, suggests more
truth on that important subject than we recol-
. lect to have seen condensed into so small a
space:
we are happy TO observe that the spirit
of improvement noticeable in other depart.
, nents Of agriculture has reached the cultiva,
tion Of corn; that more inquiries are made as
To the best methods Of proceeding that great
er attention is paid 10 the selection Of seed
Ia very important point, and one that hth-
erto has been much neglected (; that the re-
lative values Of different varieties are care-
fully considered that manure is more gener-
ally spread and ploughed in, while the guam
tity is increased and the quality improv ell !;
, that high hiling is more discounteRanced /;
that frequent stirring Of the land BY the cul-
tiyator and hoe is believed to be the surest
preventive against the effects of long.
tinued drought; and that the old prejudice
in favor Of the widest distance between the
rows is abating. The consequence is. that
greater crops are raised from the same extent
oI land. and the question Of proiitableness is
brought nearer TO definite solution. Some
! of the most rigidly conservative farmers adj
nit that probably the highest results are not
vet attained. and that the time may come
when, with better knowledge applied to the
culture oi com, eighty bushels may be grown
upon the acre that now Yields forty or fifty.
, II will then be found that no more profitable
field crop i raised in New. England"
/ 1.G el.a e. sax nd her.
ging that the reader will remember the text.
even il he forgets the sermon. and assuring
him that The text is good, however the ser.
mon may be, we will comment briefly upon il.
l." The spirit Of improvement noticeable
in other departments of agriculture has
reached the cultivation Of corn" II is strang
/ but true, that this did not happen sooner.
Indian corn has had more than three centuries
10 win the esteem OF mankind yet Of all the
nations whose climate fsyors lis growth. not
me vet fully realizes its value; aud Of all
. the nations that are unable fully 10 supply
their own bread, or materials 10 fatien their
meats, not one yet imports as much Indian
corn as would be for lis interest. Every
corn. growing country will yet produce more
and every on-corn.growing country will
import more. See. you who live lev years
h IL IL is not so.
2. More inquiries are made as TO the hest
methods Of proceeding" Better late than
never Why did our fathers make themselves
the extra labor Of putting manure in the hills
D instead Of ploughing il in an warm lands
I narrowing in on those not so warm, and dis.
iributing IN the hill only on the cold and
backward Why did they, and why do TO,
n t.a.. l.atF "a
I, the moon, for no good purpose Why have
We been cultisating good corn land at only a
few dollars profit per scref II has been foi
!. want Of more inquiries after the best me-
thods. A little earnest inquiry, few accu
!. rate observations, a careful mark of the mea
sure of success under different methods
. would long ago have diminished the labol
and increased the produce. Thousands o.
= hard working men have expended more laboI
10 grow a hundred bushels Of cora on fou
e acres than would have sufiiced to grow II oT
two.
!. 5. Great attention is paid TO the selection
!. Of seed" For the extreme NORTH, the vel
= low, Canada corn, is good. The kind vi
mean has IRON twelve 10 twenty rows on th'
ear; the rars are about eight inches long; un
" der good cultivation, two mature on stalk
the kernals are close aud deep, leaving
yery small cob; the shelled corn equals tw
, bushels for three Of ears; and the yield !
Il from iilty to one hundred bushels Of shelle'
y corn per acre, IL the cultivation Is gnOd.
2. For tier uf States a little removed fr0u
= our Northern frontier, including Rhode Isl
aud, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Middl
aud Southern New.ioik, Southern Michigan
| Northern Ohm, and 50 on towards the Paci
I, &c, we can conceive Of nothing superior I
:. the Duttun corn. Its ears are about FOO
n. in length; its rows, eight kernals large
Cd with no space between color, deep yellow
including to red; yield just shout une bushs
9. OF shelled corn TO two bushels Of ears.
Still farther South. larger kinds will com
msnd themselves. Whatever variety is pre-
lerred, much will be gained by selecting III
: most perfect aud the earliest ripe cars "a
= seed. seed corn is often kept over white
10 heated roums and Il il certain that n
y. great evil results lrum such course but y
I. can hardly resist the belief that Il will spro,
af little mure vigorously IL kept 10 dry, bu
cool place; for We presume that tie le'
er changes Of temperature a seed undergnei
the greater its vitality. Wheat from a
Egyptian sarcophagus will germinate AFT,
5000 years aud We presume that kernsl I
corn would, after 10000 years. Il IL could
kept all the time dry and at ,empsratuI
81 $50: whereas, il the temperature and q
degree Of moisture were often changed,
might Loose considerable part Of its sitalii
in less than one year; and as there Is
difficulty 10 preserving seed corn dry an
cool, vc would 50 preserve Il.