LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 443 



allowing a good variety to degenerate on his hands. He should continually 

 tax his ingenuity in trying to improve what he has. 



Mr. : Will every kernel on the same ear produce the same kind of 



corn ? 



Mr. Crandall : No ; the different kernels may be fertilized by different 

 pollen, and so produce offspring of great variety. 



Mr. : How do such kernels come, then ? 



Mr. Crandall : Each line of silk projecting from the ear is the pistil of a 

 separate ovule, and each grain of pollen coming from the tassels fertilizes that 

 kernel only on whose line of silk it falls. 



Mr. : How can wheat be crossed? 



Mr. Crandall: It is a difficult matter, and can only be done by the utmost 

 care and with a magnifying glass. 



Mr. : I think we all want to improve our seed; but few know how. 



I tried crossing two varieties of corn, that differed three weeks in earliness, 

 and cut off the tassels from the large variety, and on that variety I had not 

 even a nubbin of corn. 



Mr. Crandall : The silk can only be fertilized during about one week, and 

 by removing the tassels from the one variety the tassels of the other were 

 not on hand at the right time. 



PRACTICAL FARMING. 



BY J. D. REED OF COLUMBIA. 



Taken from report of the Brooklyn Institute by the Manchester Enterprise. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen" : 



With differing men, soils and seasons, it is difficult to lay down any rule 

 for all. Experience is the best teacher. If, as is said, farming is at the 

 foundation of all business, it is important that we be successful. Let us 

 stand by our business, praise it, boom it ; not always look on the dark side. 

 To be practical is to practice what we believe. If you think farming a poor 

 business, let everything run down, don't look after details and you will soon 

 be poor enough. If you think a farmer must be a numbskull, don't read, 

 don't reflect, don't seek to rise. Mixed farming is best. Beans are a profit- 

 able crop. My rotations are something as follows : 1st. Meadow or pasture. 

 2d. Corn. 3d. Oats or beans, followed by wheat and seeded to clover and 

 timothy. 



Another is : 1st. Meadow or pasture. 2d. Beans, followed by wheat, then 

 stubbled to wheat again and seeded; but oftentimes the drougth is so severe 

 that we loose our seeding. In such a case we must do the best we can. In 

 practicing economy, house your tools ; if you cannot house them, pile them 

 up behind your barn rather than in front. 



Farming is progressive. In 1350 the skilled laborer in England gave 112 

 hours labor for a bushel of wheat ; in 1550 the same kind of a laborer gave 

 80 hours for a bushel of wheat; in 1795 he gave 70 hours; today the skilled 

 farm laborer can get a bushel of wheat for about 12 hours labor. 



