PLANTING. 129 



extra trouble, some fifteen or twenty different ar- 

 rangements for planting ; and as all these trials are 

 introduced into Ms regular crop, they involve no 

 interruption of his general plan. If, now, he should 

 find that some one or more of these methods give 

 him a yield of eighty or ninety bushels per acre, 

 while the plan he is accustomed to has seldom given 

 over sixty bushels, he would be very likely to open 

 his eyes to the value of such experiments. 



But there is one essential thing to be observed and 

 remembered. The more closely the grains are planted 

 the more the soil is to be enriched, and the more 

 thoroughly and deeply must it be tilled. It is also to 

 be observed that the small varieties admit of closer 

 planting than the large. 



To guide the cultivator in pursuing the investiga- 

 tion of this subject, the table given on pages 130 and 

 131 may be of some service. It exhibits twenty-one 

 different arrangements for planting, with three several 

 results for each per acre. These results are given in 

 bushels,* omitting fractions. 



The average weight of shelled corn per ear is 

 about five ounces. In the table, therefore, three 

 ounces are taken as the estimate for a small ear, five 

 ounces for one of medium size, and seven ounces for a 

 large ear. The fifth column indicates the yield, sup- 

 posing the stalks to contain, on an average, but three 

 ounces of corn each ; the sixth column gives the yield 

 for five ounces, and the last column for seven ounces. 



* The bushel is taken at 56 Ibs., that being the legal weight in most 

 of the States. 



