235 



then a t-ompost of ashes, hog-manure, salt, and gypsum spread along in the furrows : then 

 the corn was dropped in the furrow, kernels about six inches apart, and covered two inches 

 deep ; it was planted 10th of May, but from too much wet and rain it did not come up well ; 

 again he ran furrows in the same way between the first ones, putting one sack of guano in 

 the furrows to hasten germination and growth, and planted in same manner as first time, 

 which came up well about the 1st of June; harrowed several times, until the corn was too 

 high; then plowed twice with shovel-plow ; the deep plowing and subsoiling prevented evil 

 effects of the drought. After careful measuring and weighing of the ground and corn by the 

 proper persons the product was found to be as above. 



In March, 187:3, I was at Amherst Court-House, Va., and, in company with Hon. Mr. 

 Whitehead, member of Congress for that district, and Mr. Mead, the postmaster of the place, 

 visited one of the store-houses, where we were shown specimens in the ear of a largo white 

 dent corn which that season yielded 170 bushels of shelled corn on one acre of ground 

 grown by Mr. Hudson, on the farm of W. P. Miles, known as the "Oakridge estate ; " and 

 the facts were attested by Mr. Fortune, a notary public of the county. 



In looking over a bound volume of the old Farmers' Register, printed thirty-five years ago, 

 by Edward Ruffin, at Petersburgh, Va., I find the following statement properly vouched for: 

 "Mr. Meggison, of Albemarle County, Virginia, was reported by the couuty society to 

 have raised 1 10 bushels of sound shelled corn on one measured acre of ground, being ' river- 

 bottom ' and thoroughly cultivated ; a large, v.-hite sort of corn." The same paper says, "a 

 yield of GO to bO bushels the acre was quite common ;" it states also that 35 to 40 bushels of 

 wlieat to the acre was often obtained in those days. 



In the annual report of the Department of Agriculture for 1868 there is an authenticated 

 statement that at Worcester, Mass., Joseph Coodrich and Luther Page each raised 111 

 bushels of shelled corn on an acre of land ; certainly not a bad achievement for a region where 

 they have snow one-third or more of the year. The same report gives instances in Ohio 

 where 99 and 101 bushels to the acre were obtained. 



The Rockbridge County (Va.) Society, at its meeting in 1871, gives the following official 

 statement of the results of competitors for the premium on the largest yield of corn : 



" Farm of J. D. H. Ross, clay loam, upland ; an old timothy and white clover sod, 

 plowed in December with three horses, harrowed four times with three horses ; hills marked 

 :3 feet by 34^ feet apart, and manured with home-made compost, a handful to three or four 

 hills ; plowed three times in the course of the season. One acre yielded 76-1% bushels of 

 shelled corn, 56 pounds to the bushel ; and five acres gave 253f bushels. Farm of A. L. 

 Nelson, loam, with clay subsoil ; in grass for four years ; plowed in February to a depth of 

 12 or 14 inches, and harrowed well just before planting, April 26 and 27, The hills received 

 plaster and ashes at the rate of two-thirds of a bushel of plaster and one and one-third 

 bushels of ashes per acre. One acre yielded, by measure, 91 J bushels; by weight, 86 

 bushels, 37 pounds each ; five acres yielded 317 bushels by weight. Farm of G. W. 

 Pettigrew, on a sandy loam, having a northeastern exposure, and overlaid by one to three 

 inches of soil deposited by the flood of 1870; plowed in April to the depth of 10 inches, 

 planted April 12. One acre yielded 89J bushels by measure, or 97 bushels 47 pounds by 

 weight, and five acres gave 400 bushels and 40 pounds by M'eight," 



A meeting of the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Society in 1869 reports 

 the experiments of John W. Parker, which resulted in producing from 147 to SOCi-f bushels 

 of corn per acre, and gives the mode of doing it as follows : 



" Selection was made of a quagmire, grown over with rushes, willows, and sour grass, 

 abounding with snakes and malaria, and traversed by a winding, sluggish stream. Thor- 

 ough drainage was attained by the construction of a canal and underdrains, and during the 

 summer the laud was '".leared, leveled, and broken up v/ith a two-horse plow. In Novem- 

 ber a heavy coat of co. ' ^use mamn-e was applied and plowed under, and the process was 

 repeated in January and u^ain in March, with subsoiling. In April, the weeds having 

 obtained a luxuriant growth, were limed and turned under. In May another coat of manure 

 was plowed vrnder, and the ground was harrowed perfectly level and laid off in rows 3 

 feet apart. In the furrows were applied Peruvian guano, salt, and plaster at the rate of 200 

 pounds to the acre. The corn-seed having been soaked in a solution of niter and rolled in 

 plaster, was dropped, 10 inches apart, in the rows, and covered with rakes, after which the 

 land was rolled. The corn was up in five days from planting, and as soon as it was suffi- 

 ciently large a long, narrow plow was run around it, followed by the hoe, the crop being 

 kept clean by shallow, level culture until it began to shoot and tassel. The field was then 

 irrigated by conveying from a reservoir a gentle flow of water through every alternate row. 

 The yield on two acres was 147 bushels per acre. The following year the experiment was 

 repeated in like manner, except that the rows were laid oft' 2| feet apart, one acre yielding 

 200f bushels, as attested by a viewing committee. He attributes much to irrigation in these 

 instances of extraordinary products, and concludes from these and former experiments that 

 success in corn-growing depends greatly on thorough preparation of the soil during the fall 

 and winter by deep plowing, with underdrainiug of moist lauds ; this preparation to be fol- 

 lowed by judicious manuring. While the early working of the field shoirld be deep, the 



4 A 



