AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 69 



95^- bushels to the acre, and the value of the crop put at $96 40 



Cost of cultivation 26 50 



Balance of profit $69 90 



" James A. Bill, of Lyme, took the third premium. His soil is a grav- 

 elly loam, cultivated the two previous years in corn, and the third year 

 previous in grass. Forty loads of barn-yard manure were plowed in deep 

 for each crop of corn, and a dressing of 150 bushels of ashes the first year 

 for corn. No manure was applied to the land when in grass. Forty loads 

 of manure were used the present year. The land was plowed June 1st, 

 and planted June 5th, with Dutton corn three and one-half feet apart each 

 way. Six quarts of seed were used, after soaking until nearly ready to 

 sprout, and planted June 5th. Ten days after planting, it was hoed ; 

 again the last of June; and the third time about the middle of July. The 

 land is perfectly flat, no hills being made. The crop was cut Sept. 30, and 

 the yield was eighty-nine bushels. 



Whole value of crop $95 50 



Cost of cultivation 9 50 



Balance of profit, $85 00 



The value of the manure is not estimated, which would take ofi" at least 

 $20 from the profit, leaving it about the same as the other premium crops. 

 It will be noticed that Mr. Bill plants very late, June 5th. This is his 

 practice every year. He plants, also, six inches further apart one way, 

 and a foot further apart the other. With a smaller variety of corn, and 

 closer planting, we think this acre would have taken the first premium." 



Now, these crops were grown in as unfavorable a season as we have had 

 in many years, in a State not marked upon our country's map as one of 

 the corn-growing States, and not, so far as we can see, with a very extra- 

 ordinary amount of labor, and yet with a very handsome profit upon that 

 labor, and leaving the soil in better condition than it was before. 



In conclusion, we adopt for all the Eastern States, and make them our 

 own, the concluding words of The Ho7nestead, because they are truth, and 

 that is immutable, and as such we earnestly commend them, and all that 

 we have said ; because now is the time to lay your plans for the crop of 

 this year to get a good one. 



The hints that we gain from these premium crops, that ought to affect 

 our practice this season, are briefly these : For selection of land, where 

 this is practicable, take a rich, strong loam, with a heavy turf, the older 

 the better. Plow not less than eight inches deep, and deeper, if it doe.s 

 not bring up more than an inch of the subsoil. Put on at least forty loads 

 of manure to the acre, and more if you have it, reserving a part for the 

 hill, unless you use some other concentrated fertilizer. Make the surface 

 soil as loose and mellow as possible before you plant. Use the smaller 

 varieties of corn, like the Rhode Island Premium, or the Canada Bush or 



