The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-05-06
Corn.


grass, or sugar-one thing is patent:
no crop is moro generally adapted to
the United States-its soils and eli
mate, varied though they be-than
corn, Indian corn, Maize. 1t grows
in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mime
sofa, California, Oregon, and is per-
haps in all the States, if not the most
prominent, very prominent crop
Taking the entire acreage, it is by
far the largest of any variety of
grain cultivated; and justly so. 1t
is food for man or beast. On it, or
its successful culture, depend nearly
all successful farm operations. Said
good old Pennsylvania farmer to
the writer: "When l have a good
corn crop, all my animals arc fat and
in good order. | have fat horses, fat
cows, fat oxen, fat sheep, fat hogs,
fat hens, plenty of eggs, plenty of
milk, butter and cheese; but, let mo
have ever SO good a wheat crop and
no corn, and 1 carry it all off to
market, l have no fat cattle or hogs
to sell, and my larder is but poorly
provided for, though l may have
plenty OF the staff of life." There is
the whole argument in a nutshell
On every farm, except bran spank
ing now one, at least one-half of the
land under the plow, should be in
corn-and we believe, for the good of
tho farm and the farmer, it would be
better to have the proportion two
thirds.
Having shown the importance of
the crop, lie, us investigate tho best
and most successful mode of tillagc.
At the risk of saying something I'M.
pleasant to some Of our readers, we
must nevertheless tell the truth, and
the whole truth, viz: there is no
farm crop grown which is more ben
Gifted by manure than corn; and
corn is not particular as to the kind
of manure-any kind will benefit it
-barn-yard ashes (leached or I'M
leached); guano, plaster. lime, rotten
wood-in fact anything that can pos
sibly be called manure. Coarse ma
nure should be plowed under, while
ashes, lime, guano and plaster, may
be applied in the hill, or sown broad
cast. Some of these things are gen
orally found on every farm, while
commercial manures will hardly be
obtained by any of our readers
yet we could hope that it were 9TH
crwisc.
No crop requires better and more
thorough preparation of the soil than
corn the land should be well and
deeply plowed then narrowed
smooth, and laid off. If the desire is
to plant in check rows, lay off with !:
marker, or with a single plow, and,
remember, that tho straighter the
rows, the easier will be the after cul-
ture. Plant by hand, if possible /; if
you use o horse planter, so slow
enough to plant well. If the soil is
in good filth, corn should not be COW
cred over t1o inches deep; never be
satisfied to cover with u lump or
clod, but take good, mellow soil.
Immediately after planting, use
the harrow thoroughly; then put on
the roller and roll thoroughly; and
by the time you are done rolling, the
best part Of the necessary cultivation
will have been performed, and the af-
ter culture will be a pleasure, rather
than labor. AS soon as your corn is
well up, SO that you can follow the
rows, cultivate shallow with dou-
blo-shovel pillow, using a single hore,
Next cultivate with two horses and
walking or ridin- cultiyator, if your
fields arc large. After this, keep the
running until your work
is well done. If, after this, a large
weed appears, let it be pulled up by
hand.
tiotor. - fit is intended to feed the
corn, seed Of u mixed color will do,
provided it is good but, if it is in
tended to sell the corn, pure color
is worth from two to tive cents more
per bushol, either yellow or white.
Seed.-lt is best to sprout few
kernels of the most unpromising look
ing corn you desire TO plant. But,
rs il is u question almost of crop or no
crop, see that your seed is No. /. If
the seed ears have boon kept dry, and
are free from mold and il the chits
lay smooth, and the grain itself has
a glossy, oily look--it will generally
GROW