Morning journal and courier., 1880-05-08
sSonrnal and Courier.
LOCAL NEWS,
(For ether Local News see Second Pse e,l
The Farmers' Club.


 Address by Professor Johnson on Ma-
 nuring for COrns
 The regular monthly meeting of tho New Haven County Farmers' Club was held in Shsfisld Hall yesterday afternoon, President J. J. Webb in the chair.
 Professor Johnson was introduced and ad- dressed the club on the subject of Maturing for Corn" He spoke in spoke in substance as followB
 Maturing for GOTH is very much like ma nuriDg for any other crop. There is no great secret about it, or if there is any have not been made aware of 1t. don't know what influence special fertilizers have had on your minds. It is fact that there is no fertilizer that is esod for corn that is not good for any other crop. We have in market COTE fsrti- Ezsrs, and each ono is different from all the others and from them the farmers have ob- tained good results. The evidence we have of them is of the same character as that obtained from patent medicines. Some of them obtain materials beneficial to corn as well as other crops. The commercial value of them differ, some being more valuable than others; yet there IS no more special adaptation to them fer the corn crop than to any other crop. If I were going to purchase them should try and get the most valuable What will make corn grow in one field will not do SO in another Treatment that will give corn on one field will fail in another. My knowledge of corn raising WAS derived principally from Connecticut experience. My fathers favorite place for planting corn was on an inverted sod. Of course some sods are better than others. In northern New York we put corn on a warm open soil, not that it will not grow on wheat land, because it will. Corn needs a tropical heat to grow well it will not grow in cold countries. We have got to manure ths corn for the soil, and have got to eonsid- CT the climate. A fertilizer that will give us corn one season may fail in another. The absolute quantity of materials that we have to put on our land is comparatively small it takes but . few hundred pounds to supply tho waste from the previous crop. We expect more from some crops than wo do of others. If we plant tobacco we must anticipate large yield, because it is good deal of work to take care of it. If we raise rye We do not sx- pect SO much, because little labor is required to raise it. Corn don't exhaust the land as tobacco does. The tobacco crop is grown rapidly while corn is slow in it's growth, there fore the former needs more fattsning ele ment, like cattle who are fattened rapidly. We require more nitrogen for the corn crop than we do for the tobacco crop. A large amount of the corn crop gets back on to the land from the manure heap. The corn plant Is one that adspss itself more to circumstances than any other given crop. It will stand still in 8 cold season and grow again when the weather is hot. Ths only time corn fails is in cool season. It requires hot weather to ripen and develop it. It will grow in cool countries Rs forage plant, but will not mature as 8 seed plant. What VIC shall do for fsrtil- izing depends upon the soil. If soil will produce good grass it is rich enough. to raise hot rhaI1 2 This is a question which has occupied good deal of the attention of Dr., Atwatsr, and his conclusions you have had the benefit of in the agricultural reports. It amounts to just this: That we have got to adopt the fertilizer to the soil. Prof. Cook of the Agricultural College of New Jersey, found that plaster was the best fertilizer he could use on corn. Ia some cases potash has been used to good advantage, in other cases it has not. What we want is to get our land up to that point, so that we can raise any crop. When we proceed on this principle then manuring for one crop is ma nuring for all crops. How to gst our lands up to this poiAt must be learned by exps ri- encs I caAnot tell you without expsr ience.
 As compared with ordinary grain crops corn has it's difference. The figures show us that we must have more nutriment to obtain good corn crop than is needed to obtain good rye crop. While an acre of ground planted with hay takes off only two pounds of Suiplur1c acid, an acre or corn carRies OH twenty one pounds. IL may often happen that plaster is a good application for corn, yet no one seems to know how the use of it orig mated. It seems to have come from an old Connecticut tradition. The application of little plaster is good thing, but much plaster is bad thing. The question has come up re- gently whether we should use nitrogen on our corn crops. Dr. Atwatsr and Professor Cook think that 1t is of but very little uss, as there is, as 8 general rule, sufficient nitro gsn in ths land. If we plant corn on tho sod there is nitrogen enough, but there is soil that does not contain sufficient material of this kind. If little nitrogsnous fertilizer is put in the hill to assist the young plant in getting started or in other words to nurse it in it's infancy, it will be well a general rule The matters have talked to you about are fundamental. Whas we want is to get our land so that We can raise any crop. and when we have done this Ws can raiBs corn or pota- toes or anything slss.
 In reply to Prssidsnt Webb, Professor John son said nitrogen was always en it's travels. If you have land that is going to waste tho nitro gen is constantly passing eff in ths water or rain and goes to waste.
 After further questions by the farmers and answers by the Professor, vote of thanks was extended to Professor Johnaon for his abls and instructive lecture.
 The next meeting of the club will be held on the first Friday afternoon in June.