Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-02-15

Mr.. Nathan g. Pierce of Westminster con
tinuos to raise great crops OF corn, as will be
seen 10y the following communication to the
American Cultivator:
Last season 1 again had the good fortune
to raise very heavy yield of corn consider
ing the area under cultivation, of the Canada
twelve-rowed variety, the growing of which
| have made specially for years. | send
you few traces of this corn that you may
observe its excellent character its uuiformi
ty, the remarkable filling Of the cars, espe-
cially at the tips, and also the comparatively
small size of the cob.
As to my method of cultiyatng and ma
NIring this crop Of corn, first drew upon
sod ground cords to the aero of horse and
cattle manure, spreading the same evenly up.
on the grass. | then plowed it under, six
inches deep, narrowed it fine and marked the
ground for rows three feet and two inches
apart, also for the hills the same distance,
three feet and two inches apart in the rows
l commenced planting May 10 and finished
the following day.
In fertiliZing the land for this crop l pro-
ceodod as follows In the first four rows |
used nm uncertain kind of phosphate, sprink.
ling handful in each hill and using at the
rate of 400 pounds to the acre on the next
four rows and the third series of four rows l
applied to each hill Il handful of compost of
my own homo preparation, composed of 20
bushels of fine road-dust applied in moderate
quantities, day by day, for year, to the con
tents Of my out.house vault in use by a small
family only. In addition to the above the
compost contained 900 pounds of Onondaga
gypsum, two barrels hen manure, three bar
rels leaehed ashes, together with such soap
suds as were obtained from the house dur
ing period of few weeks. The above com
post was well mixed, being shoveled over
four times DUNG the period OF fermentation.
The fourth series OF four rows was treated to
the same compost as the second and third
SERIES
just before the setting of the ears of the
third series of four rows ] cut out all of the
suckers in those rows, also all the stalks down
to three in number in each hill At the har.
vest was very careful to keep the crop of
each series of rows by itself until after a
careful weighing of the same. The first
four rows, MANFRED with the uncertain phos-
plate in the hill yielded S38 pounds of corn
the second series of four rows, fortified in
the hill with my home compost, gave S73
pounds; the third SERIES treated with the
compost, though the stalks were thnned to
three in hill, produced but S48 pounds,
while the fourth series of rows, upon which
the homemade compost was applied in the
hill yielded Se4 pounds of corn. 1t will be
noticed that the effect of my compost was su.
perior to that of the phosphate in each case.
1t will also be observed that the yield of the
second and fourth series of rows were ahead
of that of the third series, when in the latter
case the plants were thinned to three stalks
in the hill, Il is quite likely that the use OF
some standard phosphate of established rep
utation and merit would have given better
results than those obtained from the uncer
tain fertilizer used in these experiments.
In these and similar experiments / have
learned that with the rows three feet tel
inches distant from each other both ways
that four stalks in each hill is not too numer
Gus, and in fact, that number gives the bes
results. When a scarcity of homemade ma
nure exists, l should favor the purchase Of