IOT)IAN CORN. 137 



to English grain-crop. My field was marked exactly three 

 and one-half feet apart, and kept entirely free from weeds. 

 If the society ofi"ered the inducement of fifty dollars for our 

 best president crop, the golden corn, and fifteen dollars to the 

 foot-race, I think it would be a good change to all in favor of 

 corn-raising and farming in general. I wish them all pros- 

 perity. 



Pateick McMahan. 



Statement of George H. Taft. 



Frajiixgham, Oct. 17, 1872. 

 The field of corn which I enter for premium contains one 

 acre and two rods ; the soil is a dark, deep brown loam, little 

 inclined to gravel. The field has been mowed for the last 

 twenty-one years, and the last year it cut about half a ton to 

 the acre. The piece was ploughed May 15th, nine inches 

 deep, with a Doe plough, and harrowed the 20th ; the ma- 

 nure, composed of the droppings of three cows, five yearlings, 

 and one horse through the winter, with some cords of good 

 loam put in last fall and well worked over this spring, of 

 which four cords and two feet were drawn directly from the 

 cellar to this piece of land, and spread on the 22d and 23d, 

 and ploughed in with a No. Nourse plough, four inches 

 deep ; then well harrowed with a common harrow, and 

 marked out three and one-half feet each wa}^ and planted 

 on the 26th with the corn that I bought of John M. Har- 

 riugton which took the first premium last season at the 

 fair, five kernels to the hill, top of two hundred and seventy- 

 five pounds Bradley's phosphate, spread in each hill about 

 three inches square, the corn drojDped directly on the same, 

 and covered one-half inch deep. The corn was up in four 

 days after it was planted, and on the 8th of June it was 

 cultivated, thinned out to four stalks, and hoed ; and hoed 

 again on the 19th, without cultivating, for the reason that 

 it was too large to go through with the horse. 



Expense of ploughing, . . . . . . $5 00 



Carting manure, . . . . . . . 5 00 



Spreading manure, . . . . . . 1 00 



18 



