Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1884-03-20
CORN CULTURE.
The Denham Prize Essay.

Mention mas heretofore been made ii
these columns of the offer by Mr.. J. Il
Denham, OF this place, of Poland Chin
pig. as a prize to the writer of the bes
essay on Corn Culture" the paper to b.
| published in the National Stock man
and the award to be made by commit
| tee appointed by the editors of tha
paper. FOrty-six essays were received
| by the Stuckman in response to Mr.
Denham's generous offer; they were re
ferred to committee, consisting OF
Messrs. 5. B. Fergus, J. b. Wilson and
r. d. Wiley, which met at Washington
Pa, and awarded the prize to Mr. D. 5
Fulton, of Hanlin's, Pa. Following is
the prize essay:
The essential thing to success in corr
culture, as we'll as anything else. is tC
know Q) what you want to do, and (2)
bow to do it. To this end we cannon
have too much knowledge of the nature
of the cereal. in all its several parts, and
the requisites to the production of these
different parts, to the greatest possible
perfection; for pei fection IN the several
parts i'll detail means success in the re-
suits. Indian corn is native of tenn
perate cline, by which we mean one
where heat and cold alternate. Carry it
toward the frigid zone, and the seasons
become too short and cold; advance it
toward the tOrrid. and you lose the es-
sential roOt-pIOducing power of alterna-
ton, and you have magnificent stalks
with little grain. Art has shortened
the period of ripening in the multiplicity
OF varieties. The first thing, then, is the
selection of variety best adapted to
the average length of the seasons, in d
given locality; bearing in mind, also,
that strength of soil has much to do with
early maturity.
In general terms, corn, like all cereals,
is composed of three distinct parts
root, stalk and grain; in time of forma-
tion, in The order named. and in value at
maturity, in the inverse order, thus
placing the greatest reward at the end
of the race. Abundance of strong, Wig
Orous roots produce large, healthy stalks.
These combined yield abundance of ma
ture, nutritious grain. The wise culti-
vatOr will not fail to see the Importance
of each in its place, and the necessity of
giving due attention to the full develop
ment of each in, its season.
Let us turn our attention for while
to each of these several parts, commence
ing with the root, $ the first to be pro-
duced. Aud right here it is essential to
start right. So, first of ali, we want good
seed. not merely seed that will grow,
hut fully developed. we'll matured, prop
erly preserved seed. Such seed will shoot
forth root and germ with double the
power of seed that is so deficient in vi
tally as to barely have ability to germ
mate under the most favorable circum-
stances, besides having the ability to
resist the evil effects of season adverse
to termination, which would otherwise
make replanting d necessity. And re
member that trihng loss here is like
the trItilng variation in the sight of
gun, making IA wonderful difference in
reaching the mark.
Next in Importance is preparation of
the soil to receive the seed. Right here
let US lay down the axiom that man
cannot produce corn. Nature alone can
10 il, and ii is mans prrrogative To lay
to her hand all the necessary appliances
and to see that she is not interfered with
in her work. The proper condition of
soil is thoroughly fertile, and finely pull
verified thus in the best condition to
conduct the heat and moisture, as well
as for furnishing, in proper time and
quantity, all the material necessary to
growth. For reducing the soil to this
the best human appliances
must be used, but the proper use OF these
is principally to give the elements of
Nature chance to accomplish their
work, and to properly accomplish it she
requires time and contact. Where this
is not properly given, extra human eff
fort will be required, but never can so
accomplish the object. What
is meant by a thoroughly pulverized soil
is one reduced to the greatest possible
number of particles. A little reflection
here will enable US to better appreciate
the Importance of this part Of the work
A root is composed of a main, covered
it's whole length with ibres which are
the mouths of feeders to gather the
from the soil. These do
not penetrate the particles of the soil in
search of the food Ito do which they have
NO. puG pass DObNccu lu6lu.
OF course the. power of the root must be
to the number and vigor of
these feeders, and that fact will depend
largely upon the eODgeniality of their
If in shooting forth they
strike an impenetrable substance, the
usefulness of these delicate agents is
crippled or perhaps destroyed. A soil
composed of large particles must nat
urally have large air spaces between the
particles, lacking contact, weak in ability
to conduct and retain heat and moisture,
and thus being in poor condition to
yield its strength. Disturbance of soil
while wet, either with implements of
husbandry, or the trampling of heavy
stock, has a tendency to produce or in
crease this evil.
The novice might think we were
spending too much time and labor on this
part of the work. But be
not deceived. Ever so small blunder
or neglect here will tell heavily at the
in-gathering We wish to impress upon
the mind of the cultivator that each step
and firmly taken makes each
subsequent one more easily and success
fully performed; and the farther from
the goal the step the greater its import
ance, just us the racer might mis- step
and sprain limb, when near the end of
the race, and still succeed in winning.
while like mishap at the beginning
would have been disastrous. The ipdi-
Iidual who Beglects to prepare his soil
early in the season, when Nature ia
propitious to rry o. the work, will find
the difficulties increase later By fer
tile soil we mean one containing full
supply Of all the elements that enter into
the formation of the different parts of
the plants. II any of these are lacking
they should be supplied. The proper
mode of applying all fine fertilizers is to
thoroughly mix with the soil, but coarse
vegetable matter can often be plowed
under with good results, especially on
heavy soils, the mechanical effects in
kee' ing the soil loose and warm. and
withdrawing the water from the surfac.
being largely beneficial.
Ttnc cNn1 H..s,