No. 6. 



Hog Manure — Topping Corn. 



183 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 Hog Manure* 



For aiding the growth of many plant?, and 

 particularly corn, we have never found any 

 manure the application of which produced 

 such effects as that from the hog pen. I^ast 

 year we had a field of corn dunged in the hill, 

 part of it with alternate loads of hog-pen 

 manure, and common good stahle manure. 

 Each load planted about five or six rows. 

 From the commencement of their growth, till 

 the ripening of the corn, the rows manured 

 from the pig-pen had the advantage, and at 

 harvesting they yielded a much larger quan- 

 tity of corn than the others, though all was 

 excellent. A neighbour, the last spring, in 

 planting his corn, used good stable manure, 

 except for some few rows, for which the 

 stable manure falling short, he substituted a 

 load or two from his hog-pen. The differ- 

 ence in the size of the corn from the first, 

 was such as to arrest the attention of every 

 passer by, and though the year has been un- 

 favourable for corn, it has given a handsome 

 product compared with the other. Other in- 

 stances have this year fallen under our notice, 

 the results of which were precisely similar, 

 and have established, in our opinion at least, 

 thesuperiority ofthis manure over every other. 

 Its greatest efiect, however, so far as our ex- 

 perience or observation has extended, is pro- 

 duced on soils of a loamy or sandy texture, 

 and on vegetables that require active manures 

 to bring them forward rapidly. 



It appears to us, then, an object of consid- 

 erable consequence to the farmer, that he 

 should avail himself of this resource for fer- 

 tilizing his soil, as far as possible, and that 

 methods should be adopted by him to preserve 

 and increase the amount at his command, as 

 far as may be, and not allow the avails of his 

 pig-pen to be lost to the farm, as is not un- 

 frequently done. Where pigs are allowed a 

 small yard to run in from the pen, they may 

 be made to produce a large quantity of good 

 manure, by frequent additions to the material 

 in the yard, of straw, weeds, turfs, muck, or 

 even good common earth, to absorb the fluid 

 partof the manure, and preserve its salts from 

 escaping. In this frequently renewed mass, 

 the pigs will love to work ; and if any disin- 

 clination is manifested m them to stir this 

 compost heap, a few handfuls of corn scatter- 

 ed over the surface, will speedily overcome 

 it, and set them busily at work. If the pigs 

 cannot leave the pens, the stye should he fre- 

 quently clf-aned, and care should be taken 

 that the dung so thrown out is not lost to the 

 premises. A load of muck, or vegetable 

 mould, occasionally mixed with, or thrown 

 upon the heap, will, when the time for usino- 

 jt in the spring of the year arrives, be found, 



from this absorption of salts, and combination 

 with the manure, an a])plication of much 

 greater value than common stable manures, 

 tor most of the crops cultivated by the farmer. 

 Fresh manure of any kind should not be ap- 

 plied directly to crops of grain ; as they are 

 apt to produce too much straw and endanger 

 the formation of a good berry. Manure 

 i should be first applied to roots, or to corn, and 

 grain follow ; by which the danger of a too 

 rapid growth is avoided. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Topping Corn. 



Will the Editors indulge a subscriber with 

 propounding, through the niedium of the 

 Farmers' Cabinet, some queries which he 

 believes to be of much importance to corn 

 growers, and perhaps to others, inasmuch as 

 every thing which tends to increase the quan- 

 tity and quality of food for man or beast, must 

 be in a measure interesting. The object of 

 the writer is to call the attention of such of 

 the readers of the Cabinet as may be compe- 

 tent to make experiments, and communicate 

 the result through that medium, thinking, as 

 he does, that the best mode of securing corn 

 is of much importance, both as 1o the quality 

 of the grain and also of the fodder, that one 

 practice might generally obtain instead of 

 several ; some now plant one kind, some 

 another; some top their corn, some cut it 

 near the ground ; others leave it standing 

 until ripe, and after husking cut it for fodder 

 — each practice has its advocates, who all 

 think tlieirs the best. The being differently 

 circumstanced as respects soil, as also in re- 

 gard to the convenience of foddering, will 

 warrant a continued difference in practice, 

 both as to the kind of grain planted, and the 

 manner of securing the fodder; unlei^s it can 

 be made satisfactorily to appear that the grain 

 is more valuable when secured in one way 

 than the other. The writer is of opinion, that 

 by toppinc", the sun and air has a more free 

 access, and that the corn ripens earlier than 

 if left without topping ; that it does not pre- 

 vent the sap from passing from the roots to 

 the ear so far as is required, in order to the 

 1 full maturity of the crain, and fi-equently pre- 

 I vents the corn from being blown down by the 

 I autumnal winds. When I top my corn I 

 j have the fodder put under cover as soon as 

 j perfectly dried, which renders it, in myopin- 

 1 ion, of twice the value which it would be if 

 left exposed, as is very generally the case 

 j with that which is cut up and husked in the 

 j field ; and flirther, I am enabled to feed it to 

 \ the cattle in their stalls, which could not be 

 ' done if cut up, especially if the corn was 

 i large; and in order that there may be no 

 i waste of fodder or litter, the retnaining part, 



