Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-08-10
Increasing the Corn Crop.

Till within the past few years little
anxiety has been felt in any part of the
country about the supply of corn. There
was general impression that it could
be raised with considerable profit in
in nearly every State and territory. In
most of the States enough was raised to
supply the local demand. In some
states it was a leading crop, and it was
that its profitable production could be
greatly extended in others, where the
attention of farmers was mainly devoted
to the growing of cotton, tobacco, and
the small grains. There was scarcely
any demand for it for expectation, and
its employment for making glucose and
starch was not known. 1t was used to
considerable extent as food for human
beings, and was very generally employ
ed for fattening hogs in sections where
it was extensively grown. Itwas rarely
fed to other horses than those engaged
in work on the farm, and was still more
rarely fed to cows. There was no fresh
| beef or mutton sent abroad, and there
was only limited demand for highly
! fattened meat st home. As conse
| quence, sheep and steers were gener-
ally fattened on grass, with the aid of {.
| few roots. In most of the Western States
corn was a drug in the markets. With
poor facilities for transportation, com.
| paratively little of it was sent to Eas-
| tern cities. Corn was often so cheap
and plenty that it was burned for fuel.
| Farmers preferred to raise small grains
| for the market, for the reasons that
their price was higher and they would
stand transportation better. In parts
| of the country where corn was very pro-
! = liz hot
the business of raising it was greatly
overdone.
| A short time has been sufficient to
produce great changes in relation to
corn. Its uses have multiplied and
increased, it is now employed to make
| starch and glucose, as well as to make
alcohol, whisky, highwines and vinegar.
| Considerable quantities of it are con-
verted into malt In all the great dairy
/ districts it is extensively employed for
feeding mich cows. There is grow
ing demand for fancy fattened beef and
mutton for export and home consump-
| ton. To fa,ten steers and sheep as the
market requires it is found necessary to
! feed corn in large quantities. Vast
| quantities of it are now sent to almost
every country in Europe this side of
/ Russia for the same purpose. American
| corn is used to feed both beef and dairy
cattle in Denmark. 1t is also used to
feed the coach and dray horses in most
! of the large cities in Great Britain and
! France. Now, while the uses for corn
| have increased and multiplied in a most
remarkable manner, its cultivation has
not extended in any considerable extent
| into any new sections of the country,
! and has not greatly increased in foreign
| countries. The entire country from
Puget Sound to the Gulf of California is
opened up to settlement, but. no corn is
raised except in a very few favored
! localities. Dakota and Montana are
fast being peopied with farmers, yet
scarcely any corn is or can be produced
there. Few of what are called the new
States and Territories produce much
corn. They are deficient in warmth or
moisture, or in both. Corn was never
profitable crop to raise in the Southern
States, and as the soil becomes
exhausted of its fertility its production
becomes still more difficult. People
have finally become convinced that the
profitable production of corn is quite
/ limited. 1t is embraced in a strip of
country about two hundred miles wide,
and terminating about hundred miles
west of the Missouri River.
If the amount of corn in the country
is to be largely increased it must be done
: bv improved methods of cultivation in
the places where it succeeds best Much
of the land in the Western States that is
capable of producing the largest crops
of corn is in no condition to do SO dur
ing seasons as wet as the present one.
1t is covered with water in the early
spring, and can not be plowed till it is
too late to plant without mourning the
danger of an early frost in the fall. By
draining it with tiles it can be made to
produce more corn than any land in the
country. 1t is naturally rich in mineral
and organic matter, and its only defect
is its inability to part with the moisture
that accumulates during the winter and
early spring. The drains will not only
carry off this water, but will extend the
growing season several weeks. Expert
-ments made in the counties of this State
show that the average yield of corn is
increased one-fourth by putting down
grain-tile. The cultivation of the crop
is also rendered more easy and the Or
binary risks are avoided in a great
measure. Improved methods of pre-
pairing the soil, of putting in the seed,
and of cultivating the growing crop
will do much toward increasing
production. Generally the farmers of
Pennsylvania, and others of the Eastern
States produce more corn to the acre
than the farmers do in the most fertile
of the Western States. They have
much poorer soil, but they prepare it
better, pay more attention to manuring,
and employ the hand-hoe in connection
with the horse-cultivator in working the
fields. 1t is not only possible but prac
teal to produce eighty bushels of corn
tn the acre on much of the land in the
West where only forty is ordinarily har-
7ested.-Chicago Times.
Where Sheen Lose Their. Wool.