No. 8. 



Yield of Indian Corn, 



255 



taken from the same ground in any two suc- 

 ceediii? years previous to laying it down witli 

 the gras::!, after the wheat crop. 



I have not yet tried the system, but send it 

 that Agri'^ola and others may give it due 

 consideration, and with the hope that they 

 will also give us in return, the benefit of 

 their reasoning on the project. 



I may view this offspring of my fancy with 

 undue partiality, but I cannot help thinking 

 favourably of its prospects, if it should receive 

 fair treatment at the hands of those most in- 

 terested in its welfare. 



EXPLORATOR. 

 December 10, 1839. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Yield of Iiitlian Corn. 



What tlioii doest, do well, do thoiouglily, and thou 

 shall have thy reward. 



Our Indian corn crop is unquestionably the 

 most important one produced in our country, 

 and it requires no laboured disquisition to con- 

 vince a farmer of the pre-eminent rank vv'hich 

 it holds amongst the productions of the soil. 

 It famishes an abundance of nutriment, both 

 fo"" man and beast, but it requires a proportion- 

 ate quantity of food, and mucli vigilant care, 

 timely bestowed upon it, to render it reasona- 

 lily productive. It bears starvation and neg- 

 lect with an ill grace, and it is sure to reward 

 the farmer according to his works, whether 

 they be good or otherwise. It is not consid- 

 ered as an exhausting crop in proportion to 

 the quantity of manure which it returns to 

 the soil, provided it is fed on the farm. Al- 

 though some farmers raise from twenty to 

 fifly bushels to the acre, yet I suppose the 

 average crop of the country, east of the nioun- 

 tJiins, don't exceed the former quantity. This 

 is a very small produce compared with what 

 we know the soil is capable of producing under 

 favourable circumstances ; and such circum- 

 stances, with the aid of a season adapted to a 

 fair yield, it does not appear very difficult to 

 command ; at least on a scale of moderate e.x- 

 tent compared with the resources of respecta- 

 ble farmers. A question very naturally arises 

 whether it would not be better to undertake 

 to produce a given quantity of corn on a small 

 quantity of land, rather than to produce the 

 same number of bushels on four or five times 

 the extent of surface, and by that means save 

 four-fiflhs of the labour and enjoy the pleasure 

 of doing something pretty near right in the 

 bargain. As the season for planting will soon 

 be round, I have been thinking and calculating 

 how to raise as much on an acre as is gene- 

 rally raised on five ; that is to plant one-fifth 

 the quantity, and " work it right," have the 

 same quantity of corn, save the work, and 

 fiave the satisfaction of doing right once in a 



lifetime to boot. Well, every body knows 

 how to make ground rich, and how to plant 

 and dress corn in the best fashion, though few 

 are found who do it. I have made out a ta- 

 ble showing the result of planting in rows of 

 different widths, and giving the number of 

 stalks on an acre under the dificrent circum- 

 stances of planting ; and I suppose each stalk 

 to produce on anaveragehalf a pint of shelled 

 corn, which appears not to be an unreasona- 

 ble yield for good land well tilled. It is sup- 

 posed to be planted in rows at equal distances, 

 the rows to run north and south as near as may- 

 be, in order to give the sun the greatest possi- 

 ble advantage of extending its rays between, 

 and on all sides of it, in the greatest possible 

 degree, so that none of it may be shaded unne- 

 cessarily. Those who object to tiiis arrange- 

 ment may bring the same number of stalks 

 into hills, and dress in both directions as is 

 most common. 



Rows Stalks apart Stalks Bushels 



apart. in Kows. per acre. per acre. 

 Feet. 



by 1 foot 7260 at i pint eapU is 5R 



6 by 9 inches OtJ^O do 75 



5 by 1 foot 8710 do fi8 



5 by 10 inches 104,52 do 82 



5 by 9 inches 11616 do 90 



4i by 1 foot 9680 do 75 



4i by 9 inches 1230G do 100 



4 by 1 foot 10890 do 85 



4 by 9 inches 14520 do 113 



3i by 1 foot 12444 do 97 



3h by 9 inches 16.592 do 130 



3 by 9 inches 10360 do 15'2 



The above is the theoretical result from the 

 data assumed for the calculation. Some will 

 no doubt prefer one scale of distances for the 

 rows and stalks, and others another ; they are 

 given as above with the estimated product 

 supposed to result, in order to furnish a choice; 

 it being presumed that none would consider 

 it proper to go beyond the extremes of the 

 table, and probably the m.ean of four and a half 

 feet by nine inches might be considered, 

 where the ground is made rich, to be about 

 as close planting as would be safe, unless the 

 corn is of a kind that has not a large growth. 

 Now if one hundred bushels per acre should 

 be the yield, would it not be inuch more ad- 

 vantageous to cultivate, say three acres, to 

 produce three hundred bushels, than to plant 

 twelve or fifteen acres in order to obtain the 

 same quantity ! I think no rea.sonable man 

 could reply in the negative. But should it 

 be thought too unreasonable to raise one hun- 

 dred bushels of corn to the acre, though that 

 has oflen been exceeded, try fifly or sixty, 

 you can certainly go that amount without 

 any great trouble or expense, and whatever 

 that may be, you will certainly be richly re- 

 munerated, and obtain some reputation for 

 pretty good farming in the bargain. ■< 



Quere, would not the difference of expense 

 between ploughing the ground and cultivat- 



