The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-05-20
Farm, Garden and Household,
Practical Corn Growing.

he culture OF corn is receiving the
careful attention of many farmers Various
experiments are annually made to deter
NINE the best process to grow and secure
TINS valuable crop Many essays written
and experiments performed, though elab-
crate, are valuable, yet include an outlay
OF labor and fertilizers beyond the means
Of a majority OF the farmers of our State.
he object OF this article is to briefly
enunciate practical and inexpensive way
OF raising corn ON a liberal scale The
writer has followed the method here de-
scrlbed for the past ten years, with good
success His land lies upon the river, and
is dry. fine sandy loan, the corn, how
ever never suffering from drouth
Some fortv-tive acres of this interyale.
exhausted by the continuous groupings OF
three-fourths OF a century, were enclosed
by tence in 1860. primarily for the past
IRE OF Merino sheep. Occasionally horse
ot few Young cattle were put in for Il
short time The present owner has been
informed that some OF this land, when
new was planted to corn fourteen years
lu succession, and produced luxuriant
rrop, When one piece was exhausted,
another was cleared and cropped.
Tie ground is usually broken up the
tall before planting, about seven inches
deep This work is done with a span of
horses attached to a small plow 1t is well
narrowed in the spring with the common
barrow, and a medium sized eight-rowed
com planted. The only fertilizer used is
homemade compost five barrels to the
acre, in tho hill lhis compost is made of
hen manure, rich ioam or scrapings under
b al. M lirtla
fuse salt. When there is Il deficit of loan
on hen manure, some fine horse OF sheep
manure is used \ good proportion is two
bushels Of hen manure, 90 pounds of
plaster six quarts salt one barrel horse
or sheep manure, with three barrels of
good light loan, or barn yard scrapings
We'll mixed and pulyerized, to the acre
This amount gives Il fair sized handful TO
each hill The barrels are unloaded in
convenient places. and the compost taken
into basket and dropped in the hills. A
nan can manure in this way three acres
per day easily
The ground Is marked out for planting
with a horse. the hills three and a half
feet apart rows three and two-thirds feet
A little soil is pushed over the compost
with the foot before dropping the corn.
Four stalks are allowed to grow in hill.
The labor Of hoeing is performed with
i horse As far as possible run light
cultiyator between the rows as soon as
they can be well followed turning the soil
from the hill When the corn is OF proper
size, the cultyatOr is run between the
hills, turning the soil to the corn. A man
follows with a hoe, working lightly about
the hills, throwing little fine soil in
among the stalks A skiltul man will
easily dispose of one and one-iourth acres
per day, This is all that is done with the
hoe, unless weeds appear, which }1tN be
cut down with the hoe at the surface The
cultivate. il run lightly over the field, as
the state OF the weather and condition of
TIE soil require
When the corn is glazed, it is cut up at
the ground, and put in stocks that two
men can handle easily when dried,-a
straw band around the stock Just above
the ears, and another small band to fasten
the tops down. The stalks thus saved are
Il valuable part Of winter fodder for stock.
My horses and sheep eat this sweet fodder
readily, The year 1869 was the poorest
corn year here tor ten years. My crop on
the pasture land cost as follows (thc ac-
count i accurate, seven acres in the
field