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GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



tieM cri)p— our corn. First, we always plow sod 

 {ground for corn, and aim to have the same covered 

 with buruyard manure tJie previous winter— the 

 earlier the better. This is drawn direct from the 

 barn, and evenly spread when drawn. This we 

 think very important. Barnyard manure means 

 good corn, good oats the next j'ear, good wheat the 

 following- season, and usually good grass the next 

 two years. We fit our ground in May as fast as we 

 plow. Mr. Terry urges none too emphatically the 

 importance of following the plow closely with the 

 harrow. With our gi-ound in good order— the soil 

 being deep and mellow — we are ready to plant by 

 May 20th. We do not believe we gain any thing by 

 too early planting. Plants, like animals, rarely 

 recover from a serious backset received just at the 

 dawn of life. 



We make sure the previous autumn that our best 

 corn is selected for seed, and hung up in a dry 

 warm room. Thus early cured and dried it rarely 

 fails us, even though not fully matured and hard- 

 ened when husked. Good seed is all-importaut. 



We plant with a seed-drill, plugging up all the 

 holes except the two outside ones. We thus plant 

 four feet apart. It requii-es about twelve quarts 

 of corn to the acre; but corn is cheap, and we re- 

 grard it as most desirable that it should be planted 

 thickly, for reasons yet to be stated. 



Now let us see what we have gained in this: In- 

 stead of working hard all day with a hoo, and plant- 

 ing, say, two acres, or with a hand-planter and seed- 

 ing three or four acres, we have worked not nearly 

 so hard, and have from twenty to twenty-four 

 acres all planted. We walk in drilling, and space 

 every other row with the eye. With close attention 

 and practice one becomes so skillful that he can 

 row his corn so that the most fastidious would 

 praise it. Soon after the corn comes up we com- 

 mence to harrow, using a fine slanting-tooth har- 

 row. This takes a wide sweep, and so mellows the 

 ground and destroys the weeds that the corn is 

 materiall.v hastened in its growth. This harrowing 

 does not cease with the appearance of the corn, but 

 is continued till the latter is three or four inches 

 high. 



"But," says one, "what about tearing up the 

 corn? " 



Of course, some is torn up; but we planted so 

 generously that there is plenty left. We thus kill 

 the weeds right at the outset, and keep the ground 

 in such line order that the corn seems fairly to 

 leap into the air. After the corn gets up four or 

 five inches we then put in the wheel cultivator, 

 going astride the rows, and never use a hoe at all. 

 In this way we keep our corn free from weeds, and 

 secure much better crops than of old when we 

 used a hoe to plant and to weed. In this way we 

 get a most excellent yield of this best field crop, 

 with the minimum of labor. In August we sow 

 rye in our cornfield. This makes very fine fall and 

 spring pasture, and is no detriment to our land. 

 Indeed, this crop enriches the soil, as we plow it 

 under in April or May for oats. 



If, now, we can cut and bundle our corn with a 

 reaper, and thrash it with a machine, we shall have 

 solved the whole question of raising corn with the 

 least amount of labor. 



This coming fall I shall convert about one-third 

 of my corn crop into ensilage. I shall allow the 

 corn to glaze, then cut it and let it lie to dry and 

 wilt for a day or two, then out it into inch pieces, 



and run it into silos which are about '5 feet in each 

 of their three dimensions. In filling I shall work 

 slowly — put in one day, then wait one or two. This 

 gives us excellent feed, and enables us to keep 

 much more stock. 



An acre of good corn will give about 15 or 30 tons 

 of ensilage, three tons of which are surely equal to 

 one ton of hay. Fifty pounds of this is a good dally 

 ration. We thus see that, from an acre of corn 

 made into ensilage, we can keep three cows for six 

 months. In this way we can so stock up our farms 

 that it will be easy to get that best fertilizer, barn- 

 yard manure, without paying out money, and, at 

 the same time, secure the best returns from onr 

 farms. It is just as desirable to make two blafles 

 of grass do what one did before, as to cause two to 

 yrou) where one did before, A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., May 5, 18.ST. 



It is a little singular, friend Cook, that 1 

 have been doing almost the same thing you 

 recommend, with corn, peas, and a good 

 many other garden crops. On our clay soil 

 we hud luore benefit from using phosphate 

 with wheat, rye, oats, and other such grains, 

 and most of our drills are made to sow phos- 

 phate with the grain. The best crops of 

 peas we ever had were put in with a drill by 

 stopping up the tubes not needed. The 

 grain-drill does all the marking, furrowing, 

 manuring, dioi^ping the seed, and covering, 

 and does it more perfectly than can be done 

 by hand. So much pleased Iiave 1 been in 

 putting all kinds of seed in with the grain- 

 drill, that neighbor H. and I hiive just pur- 

 chased one of the best grain-drills together. 

 1 expect to put our sweet C(jrn in with it 

 this afternoon. May 10th. Tlie smoothing- 

 harrow in place of the cultivator is also my 

 favorite method. With a cultivator it takes 

 a man and a boy and one horse. With two- 

 horse implements we dispense with the ex- 

 pense of the boy (send him off to school, for 

 instance), and do two rows or more at once 

 with simply a man to drive the team. 

 Sweet corn is so uncertain that we put it in 

 thick as we sow, and then chop it out with 

 the lioe when it is beyond danger from cut- 

 worms and other like enemies. Then we 

 have the ground all occupied. The finest 

 stand of spinach I ever saw was put in with 

 the graiu-drill ; and where farmers have 

 such an implement at hand I believe it 

 would pay to sow all the garden stuff. Per- 

 liaps I should say pretty much all ; for when 

 it comes to lima beans and planting pota- 

 toes, the grain-drill will not answer exactly. 

 I would, however, run the grain-drill over 

 the garden spot, charged with phosphate, 

 before planting the garden to any thing. If 

 you want to set out cabbage, celery, or to- 

 mato plants, your phosphate is nicely scat- 

 tered and mixed in with the soil, and your 

 ground is beautifully marked out. In fact, 

 I don't know of a marker that marks any 

 nicer than the t;rain-drill. For beets, on- 

 ions, etc., the marks are just about the 

 right distance apart; but if it is too close, 

 take every other maik. or every tliird or 

 every fourth one. For carrots and ])arsiiips. 

 nothing can fix the ground any nicer. In 

 regard to the economy of labor by yotir 

 ] Ipu, it surely saves time over the old style 

 of planting in hills, nsdone in the old way. 



