Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1864-03-18
Cultivation of Corn.

this species has been extensively pre-
r pagated. 1t is undoubtedly the ger
uinc king Philip corn, or as it /
sometimes called the Canada Srow
ed. Latterly some of the farmer
, have raised a mixed kind arisingfron
the Holden corn and Canada l2row
ed, or Sioux variety. The ears hav'
II rows and ripen as early as tn
Holden variety, while the farme
gets a quarter yield per acre. Thu
cob is small and long, and the she'll
ed corn will measure six tenths near
ly of the unshelled corn and cob
Nearly all of the farmers raise the
white corn of various kinds for early
or sweet varieties, mostly obtained
from the National Agricultural De
partmcnt, but rarerly raising in suf
ficient quantities for grinding.
The SELECTION, PRESERVATION AM
PREPARATION OF THE sEED.-It was
admitted that the usual time of Sc
lection was during the husking pro.
cess, but it was recommended to in.
spect the field previous to cutting up
the corn and selecting such stalks
as had two or more ears upon them
gather the best one from each, dry,
strip the husks from the ear, leave
two or three attached to the base,
and with these trace the ears in a
braid regular not too close and as
neat as possible, then hang them in
a dry, airy place until planting time.
Seed should never be used from the
bin, nor should the seed corn be
kept in a barrel or heap, or shelled
previous to planting time, as the
slight fermentation it would receive
would injure its vitality. Seed corn
should never be grown near other
varieties as its purity would be I'M
certain, unless they are Intentionally
grown near each other to produce
improved varitics. 1t was contend
ed that by the law Of nature, that
like produces like, if the farmer Sc
lected the corn as before described.
being careful to select cars of small
cobs, uniform in diameter, but long
and well filled, with regular kernels
completely from the base to the APP
pex, Of the deepest and fullest color,
sound and fully ripe, then each sue
ceeding crop would be bettered in
quality and increased in quantity
till point ofperfection little dream
cd OF might be reached. 1t was urg-
ed that the regular kernels at the
base and point should be rejected,
using only the main kernels of the
cob, as the former were especially Ii
able to lack vitality, and the corn
produced from them would be apt to
be crowded and irregular, often
small, and the crop in a few years
would greatly deteriorate. Most of
the farmers however urge that all of
the kernels of the cob should be
shelled together for planting, and set
tied the matter seemingly, by stating
that having followed the plan of re-
jecting the kernals at the extremitics
of the cob from year to year, exper-
fence had shown that their corn
would fail to fill out both at the base
and apex. This if admitted as re-
suit of rejecting the kernels at the
base and top of the cob would OF
course be unanswerable, but it was
contented that when corn fails to fill
out the whole ear, both base and top
the cause is attributable to insuifici-
ency Of nourishment and cultivation,
or is the effect of the unfavorable
season. The shooting and filling of
the ear takes place when the heat of
the sun is greater, and when least
cloudy cold rainy weather prevails,
the crop is least liable to injury in
this respect. Again the reason why
an ear Of corn is imperfectly filled
arises from lack of the process of
formulation. The silk of the ear
receives the pollen from the tassel
and the formulation is carried by its
long fibres to each separate kernel.
Now by imperfect cultivation or
other causes the silk may be defci-
ent at the extremities of the cob, and
hence the cob may refuse to fill CON-
pletely. The high winds or rains
may have blown or beaten the pol
len from the tassel before all the
silk has protruded sufficient to be i'm
pregnatcd, in which case if the sue
cors have been removed, which would
have produced the later and lower
pollen least liable to be affected by
high winds, the extremities of the
cob may be untitled. Hence the
earliest ears are always best filed
while those which come later often
present part Of the cob.
The preparation Of the seed by
the different farmers was various. 4
very general custom prevails in this
town of soaping the corn and roll
ing it in plaster. A vessel OF COM
mon soap is used ; the corn is miners
ed and then plaster is stirred in I'M