414 AGRICULTUKAL REPORT. 



1871, fully ton days earlier tLan the Lancaster, with eqnal chances in soil and cul- 

 tivation. On one stock twenty-four stalks, with large, well-filled heads, were counted. 

 The straw is very clear and hrij^ht. The stalk is pyramidal in shape, and will not 

 lodge. It was treated the same as the general crop of Lancaster. It made a better 

 stand on thin soil than the Lancaster. Touzelle is, undoubtedly, hardy. I would rec- 

 ommend it for .sowing in the Northern States. 



CORN . 



CooJey. — 111 the beginning of the current year the attention of the De- 

 partment wa.s directed toTvard the introduction of new varieties of corn, 

 which, with earliness of maturity, exempting them from effects of the 

 frosts of one section and the droughts of another, would combine prolifi- 

 cacy and excellence of quality as food-products. A new variety, known 

 as the Cooley, was distributed to a selected list of farmers in different sec- 

 tions of the country, with a request that very careful experiments should 

 be made and accurate reports of results returned. The origin of the 

 corn, as stated by Mr. Cooley, was, that on his farm, on Manchester 

 Island, Ohio Eiver, he took a small ear of eight-rowed corn that matured 

 quite early, and planted it for roasting-ears near a fiekl of large white 

 corn. The small became crossed, or intermixed, with the large corn. 

 He took the earliest and finest ears of this product and planted the next 

 year, and repeated the operation the following year; since which time 

 he has kept the new variety, thus developed, by itself in cultivation, and 

 claims to have greatly improved its quality, productiveness, and early 

 maturity. He claimed that it would produce as much per acre as any 

 variety, and on an average would mature two months earlier. Reports 

 of experiments made with the Department distribution have been re- 

 turned from the Eastern, Middle, Western, and Southern States, and are 

 here epitomized. 



The Cooley corn cannot prudently be recommended for this latitude ; 

 it was killed by frosts in September, in Kennebec County, Maine. 



It failed to meet expectations as to earliness and excellence of quality 

 in Franklin County, Vermont. 



Growing too large in stalk and being hard to husk, is not considered 

 valuable in Hampden County, Massachusetts, 



Considered nearly worthless for culture when compared Avith the field- 

 corn usually grown. The same is true, says a correspondent, with all 

 varieties grown two or three degrees south. After much experimenting, 

 has found grain grown farther north more adaptable — Merrimac County, 

 New Hampshire. ' 



On account of its superior excellence, is considered a decided acquisi- 

 tion in Mercer County, New Jersey. 



Not desirable as a field-corn in comparison to the tine corn of Chester 

 County, Pennsylvania. Another experimenter in same county says, that 

 although it might bear cutting sooner, the fodder is not as large, nor 

 can the yield at all be compared to the common corn. Planted IMay 13, 

 in Bucks County, was fit for table-u.se in fifteen weeks, and arrived at 

 full maturity a week later. An experimenter in Delaware County is not 

 favorably impressed with it either in regard to early maturity or yield 

 as' a crop. 



Being a hard grain, makes an excellent quality of meal; but for gen- 

 eral planting is less profitable than the gourd-seed, says a New Castle, 

 Delaware, correspondent. Another, of same county, says it proved to 

 be an excellent corn, maturing ten days earlier than yellow, and about 

 four days earlier than gourd, but the product was not as large as the 

 latter. 



