THE GROWING OF CORN. 87 



seasons, the last week of May, or even, occasionally, the first 

 of June. The earliest planting allowed by the season is to 

 be preferred. 



Distance for planting must be governed by the necessities 

 of the culture, — sufficient room between the rows for the 

 movements of the horse. It must be also regulated by the 

 fertility, and other agricultural conditions of the field. In a 

 droughty field it is well to plant sparingly, as the corn-plant 

 is a great evaporator of water, and many plants call for more 

 water than do few plants. Water which may not be suffi- 

 cient to supply 3,500 hills to the acre may be ample to 

 supply 2,700 hills. It also requires more fertility in the land 

 to carry a thick planting through to maturity than would 

 be used in a thin planting. The character of the plant 

 must also be considered, as a large, strong-growing variety 

 will require greater space for development than will a small- 

 growing variety. 



The same principles which led me, on Waushakum Farm, 

 to plant 6,223 hills (in drills) per acre, might lead the 

 farmer in the South or West to plant 2,722 hills. The like 

 reasoning and experience which leads me to use four ker- 

 nels in a place might lead other farmers to use one kernel, 

 or five : in a word, there can be no unvarying rule. We 

 should plant in the way best fitted to meet the circum- 

 stances of our position. 



I plant in drills three feet and a half, hills in drills two 

 feet apart, four kernels in a place. This gives 6,223 hills, 

 or 24,892 kernels, per acre. In careful experiment I have 

 found increase of crop to follow increased thickness of 

 planting up to 45,000 kernels per acre ; but the necessi- 

 ties of farm culture and profit confine me to the number 

 used, viz., 25,000. 



The dei^th of planting must necessarily vary with condi- 

 tions. In the extreme south-west the Indians punch a hole 

 eighteen inches deep with a stick hardened in the fire, and, 

 enclosing the kernel of corn in a ball of moist mud, they 

 drop it to the bottom, and punch it down with a stick. 

 They do this in order to get moisture, and in that climate 

 the temperature is sufficiently high at that depth of earth : 

 they also secure apposition of the earth with the seed. We 

 must secure the like conditions : we must have moisture, 



