Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-04-29

lnaiaR Corr.



The corn planting season will
soon be upon US, and no time should
be lost in the preparation Of the
ground; and i'm this previous pre-
paration lies the secret of success.
The soil should be ploughed, cross.
ploughed, narrowed, and cross-har
rowed until the ground 10 reduced
to the finest possible filth, and the
surface made as mellow as an ash
bank, but in planting, 'Jsstina lenf'
(make haste slowly should be our
motto, and yet 8 departure from
this maxim is q fatal and common
error. Wait until the ground is
warm, and then your grain will
sprout at once, and grow of without
a check until it reaches maturity.
Many farmers, impatient to be done
with their planting, are content with
4 hurried ploughing, and then COM
NIT the seed to q bed so cold as to
destroy its vitality before it can
sprcut; or if it does come up, it is
with such irregularity as to require
replanting, and the plants, feeble,
spindling, and yellow, like delicate
sickly infants, rarely rsace . vigor-
Gus maturity. We remember OF an
cid gentleman in Maryland. the
most successful corn grower in his
county, Who was generally ten days
behind his ns:ghbors in getting his
seed in. While they were striving
to finish, tho old fellow was giving
his corn land an extra working,
which theirs never got His crop
invariably matured as soon as theirs;
and instead OF being obliged as they
we're to do more or less replanting,
ne had on the contrary to thin cut
his crop. The ground being warm
the seed never rotted; nor did the
crows and blackbirds annoy him for
he took care 10 give them their
share upon the surface Of the ground
and thus relieve them from the
temptation to dig his planted grain.
No directions of general application
can be given for the selection OF
seed corn, because OF variations in
soil and climate, and because Sin
spite of the most careful selection,
the corr will gradually by hybridizing
and other eAuses, assimilate itself to
that cultivated in the same neigh
borhoed. The fact is that though
grains and vegetables may be bred
to run into excess as well as an
mails, la particular points and quail
ties, climate will not after all be for
ced to adept what q curious expert
mentalist may choose to transplant
from one region to another. The
large corn of the South cannot be
forced upon the North.
We remember a great excitement
in Maryland, some thirty years ago,
about Dutton corn, Of which it was
said two crops might be made in .
season. We tried It On West river,
and in fact, had it ground in ninety
days after planting; but it soon run
out. The two best varieties in Ma
rylaLd, at that day, were the Baden
and the old fashioned, large-eared
gourd seed. The Baden would give
AZ many ss sixteen moderate sized
sound ears to the hill, and the gourd
seed but two. The objection to the
fiEst-if objection it was-was the
labsr of shocking: to the latter, the
size of the cob, which was too long
in drying. We tried both these val
liable varieties on the Blue Ridge Of
Virginia, but they soon lost their
distinctive qualities. Since then We
content ourselves with selecting our
seed while still standing in the field,
seeking early maturity and heavy
grain on q small cob.
We remember on one occ aston,
in Prince George county, Maryland,
finding stalk Of corn in the roast
ing ear state, with its roots unbro-
ken. but washed bare by night Of
deluging rain. These roots were as
numerous as the hairs on a horses
tail, and full four feet long! If this
fact does net prove the necessity Of
deep and thorough preparation Of
the corn ground prior to planting,
and the absurdity of laying by the
crop with pillow, nothing that we
can write will. AS for cutting tops,
pulling fodder and killing. these are
practices Of the dark ages, and the
sooner done away with the better