143 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



brinies residences closer togotlier, and cotisequently larii^er privileges accrue to 

 inUividnals and coinuuinities ; he also exerts a great inlluence on liiinself and 

 others in that he labors in the most efficient manner in supplying the physical 

 Avants of man's nature; but there is a much higher and wider work in laboring 

 for tlie higher wants of his nature. The great truth that man shall not live 

 by bread alone, has been accepted in its broadest sense. There can be no 

 question but that Jiorticulture in America has a great future before it which 

 we can materially strengthen by developing those features which our climate 

 and people seem to favor rather than by following European methods too 

 closely, thereby establishing a school of horticulture of our own. One of the 

 best pieces of advice Sir AY alter Scott ever gave was to plant a tree : lie said 

 when you have time plant a tree, it will be growing when you are sleeping. 

 Plant trees and flowers then about your homes; plant orchards, plant forests, 

 lay out your grounds with a view to the future, for around them shall cluster 

 the purest, most refined and rational enjoyments of life, and do not be deterred 

 by the selfish fear that you may not participate in the harvest. 



Prof. Cook gave an unwritten lecture on the "Hessian Fly," much in the 

 same line of thought as his lecture published in the Keport of 1877. 

 Mr. Levi Sparks, of Berrien, read the following paper on 



CORN CULTURE. 



The subject assigned to me by the committee for discussion is of such a char- 

 acter and so commonplace and universally understood — or supposed to be — by 

 all present that I fear I shall be unable to give you any new thoughts or pre- 

 sent the matter in a way that will greatly interest or enligliten. 



The subject of "Corn Culture" is almost without exception supposed to be 

 one of the easiest lessons to be learned by the farmer. Because the character, 

 structure and habits of the corn plant are such that it will grow and even thrive 

 to a certain extent under almost any circumstances, and in almost any kind of 

 soil, every mere novice at farming is ready to conclude that he understands all 

 that there is to be learned about corn culture, and, like Horace Greeley, is 

 ready to tell you what he knows about farming in general and the cultivation 

 of corn in particular. 



Most of our Michigan farmers, from the consideration that wheat is the 

 great staple of our State, or at least is the commodity that can the most readily 

 be converted into cash, have devoted all their energies towards increasing the 

 number of acres of wheat on their farms respectively, and have apparently 

 lost sight of the fact that in the number of bushels produced in the United 

 States, as well as the important and varied uses into which it is converted. 

 Corn constitutes by far the more important production of the two. Hence the 

 importance of its production or cultivation being better understood. 



From a hasty examination of the statistics 1 learn that for the year 1877 

 the number of bushels of wheat produced in Berrien county was 530,122, and 

 for the same year there were 28,523 acres of corn raised in the county. Esti- 

 mating the same at 30 bushels per acre would give us a grand total of 855, GOO 

 bushels of corn, an amount almost twice as great as the wheat crop of our 

 county, and apjiroximating the same in value. 



The most discouraging feature exhibited by the statistics is the fact that with 

 all our improvements in farming and farm implements our average per acre is 

 steadily decreasing, and doubtless the same is true of other counties. In 1873 

 our average yield of corn per acre was 29 85-100 bushels; in 18G3 it was 30 



