TPIE GROWING OF CORN. 113 



Mr. McM ASTERS (of Southborougli). No statement -was 

 required. The proposition was merely that they should 

 bring in their corn in strings. We offered premiums on 

 strings, and also on collections of varieties. There was no 

 statement called for. 



Mr. Thompson. I see the discussion is turning on the 

 best kind of corn to raise. I find that some are very much 

 in favor of Dr. Sturtevant's corn ; and perhaps, in justice to 

 him, it would be proper for me to state my experience with 

 that corn. I purchased some of him last spring, and planted 

 about an acre and a half rather late in the season ; but it 

 came up rapidly, and grew so that I had a very large 

 quantity of stover on the field, and a very large quantity 

 of ears. Although my friend Hapgood thinks that twin- 

 ears are not good for any thing, I believe it is Dr. Sturte- 

 vant's habit to plant twin-ears, and I think that my corn, 

 take the field right through, would average two ears and a 

 half to the stalk ; and, for a field planted as thickly as mine 

 was, I think the yield was very good indeed. I think it 

 speaks well for the manner in which that corn has been bred. 



Another thing I will say in regard to that corn. I have 

 never had a field of corn that has ripened up so uniformly, 

 the ears so uniform in size, and filled out so well, as this 

 field of which I speak. My experience is, that, of all the 

 corn that I have ever seen planted, I should prefer that to 

 any of the others. 



Reference has been made to a certain kind of corn that 

 suckered very badly. I wish to give my experience in rela- 

 tion to that. I see there are several strings of white flint- 

 corn here. " I got some of that two or three years ago down 

 in Natick ; and I was induced to try it from the fact that I 

 found on one single stalk, with the suckers, thirteen well- 

 developed ears. That was grown on rather poor land, and 

 I thought if I could bring that corn up and plant it on my 

 soil, which is somewhat better, I should get very much larger 

 crops ; and judge of my surprise when I found that that corn 

 grew so tall, that a ten-foot pole standing on the ground 

 would not reach the top, and there was not a sucker that 

 bore any thing in the shape of an ear of corn. But it has 

 proved very good corn notwithstanding, but not so good as 

 the Wauregan corn, with me. On many of the stalks I 



