INDIAN CORN. 69 



the crows, a considerable portion of it had to be replanted at 

 various intervals up to the middle of June, which, as every 

 farmer knows, is unfavorable to the crop ; the late planted 

 not yielding as well; that first planted overgrowing and 

 overshadoAving it. The variety was a new kind, named the 

 the " Compton," originated by Mr. Compton of Pennsylvania 

 by planting the abnormal ears, which sometimes grow in place 

 of the spindle. The seed for the acre cost about five dollars, 

 and the j)lanting of it two dollars. The corn was cultivated 

 four times, at a cost of five dollars, and hoed and weeded at 

 an additional expense of five dollars. It required no thin- 

 ning. Owing to great press of other work, it was not har- 

 vested until the close of October, having suffered considera- 

 bly from the depredations of crows and rats. In September 

 it was topped, and the stover secured in good condition. 

 The cost of gathering and husking was ten dollars. 



The yield of the acre was two hundred and two bushels of 

 ears, of which only twelve were inferior in size and quality, 

 the remainder making the handsomest lot of ears I ever saw 

 grown on an acre of ground : they were remarkably large, 

 many of them being twelve and fourteen rowed, and were 

 almost uniformly filled out to the tips. Many of the stalks 

 had three good sized ears on them. Some of the ears were 

 glazed in seventy days from the date of planting. The stalks 

 were quite tall, and suckered freely, making the stover of 

 more than ordinary value. Large as was my crop, it was 

 much below that for which Mr. Compton was awarded the 

 Conrad Wilson prize by a committee of intelligent gentle- 

 men. An objection to the Compton Corn is the size of the 

 cob, which is a partial offset to the size of the ear, and to its 

 habit of filling out to the butt, its earliness, and productive- 

 ness. 



It will be seen that the cost of the acre of corn, charging, 

 as customary, one-half the cost of the manure to the crop, 

 was sixty-nine dollars. At eighty-seven cents a bushel for 

 Northern corn, the value of the crop woidd be eighty-seven 

 dollars. If to this twenty-five dollars is added for the value 

 of the stalks, which abounded in suckers, and were unusually 

 tall, the value of the crop would be a hundred and twelve 

 dollars. 



