163 STATE BOARD OF AGEICULTUEE. 



they are iudignant, and justly so iu these times, at any increase of freights ; 

 while they rise ahnost in rebellion at a monopoly of warehouse privileges which, 

 if they would ship their wheat in bulk, obliges them to pay 1^ cents per bushel 

 for the privilege of running it through a hoj^per and a spout to the car below ; 

 would it not be wise, also, to study with like interest to save a few cents per 

 bushel in the cost of production, by deeper study into the laws of nature, by 

 improved methods of culture, by discussions, and carefully conducted experi- 

 ments in granges and farmers' clubs, and meetings like the present. 



Improvement should be the motto of the farmer, and we owe this alike to the 

 memory of our fathers, who cleared and fashioned the beautiful farms which 

 are our heritage ; to ourselves, as custodians in the present, of the fair fame 

 and honor and dignity of the noble profession we have espoused ; and to that 

 posterity Avho, when we have shuffled off the mortal coil, are to carry on the 

 great work of development and progression. 



DISCUSSI02<r. 



E. Durkee. — At what time would you recommend corn to be planted? 



Mr. Hayden. — Taking one year with another, I would recommend the 20th 

 of May as the time to commence. I think too much haste in this matter has 

 caused a great deal of loss to the farmers of this community. Until the soil 

 has attained a certain temperature seed should never be put into the ground ; 

 for, no difference how good your seed corn, it is bound to rot if it remains in the 

 cold ground any length of time. 



J. J. AVoodman. — I am requested to ask Mr. Hayden a question, and that is, 

 "Whether he ever saAV a kernel of good, sound corn planted in the spring that 

 did not germinate and grow?" 



Mr. Hayden. — I am not prepared to state. But this I do know, that it will 

 not grow with the soil at a less temperature than 60" ; and my theory would be 

 that if it lay any length of time in the ground with the temperature less than 

 that it would be liable to rot. 



David Woodman. — I presume that nearly every farmer present has observed 

 corn which has been trampled into the ground by stock, and after it had lain 

 there the entire winter sprout and grow. Now the question arises. Will corn 

 rot when planted early? 



Luther Howe, Decatur. — I once found an ear of corn at the roots of a corn 

 hill, which seemed to have remained there all winter. I thought I would test it 

 and see if it would germinate, and I planted a number of kernels and every one 

 of them grew. 



M, J. Gard, Volinia. — My experience is that if corn is sound and ripe you 

 can put it in the ground any time in the spring and have it grow. 



JNIr. Beckwith. — Mr. Gard is jorobably correct, with the proviso, if the ground 

 is dry enough ; but if there are places where the water will stand for two or 

 three days at a time, it is best not to put the seed in. With all due respect for 

 what Mr. Hayden has said, I believe the surest way to raise corn, one year 

 with another, is to plow and get it into the ground just as soon as you can. I 

 always stop tending my corn before harvest, and if I did not plant until the 

 gentleman says, it would give me a very short time for cultivation. You injure 

 your corn by plowing it after harvest, by cutting off the roots, which often 

 extend a distance of sixteen feet. 



Mr. Durkee. — Will corn planted the 25th of May ripen as quick as corn 

 planted the first day of May? 



