244 



FARMERS' REGISTER— CUTTING CORN TOPS. 



journal, or likely to promote the interest of New- 

 England farmers, you are at liberty to jjublisli all, 

 or a part, as you shall think best. 



For a lew years past, I have not cut ray com 

 Btalks until the corn was harvested, guessing that 

 it was a course preferable to the one commonly 

 pursued in this part of the countr}^, of topping the 

 Btalks while in a green state. But ibr the purpose 

 of settling this point more clearly, and with as 

 little trouble as the case would admit, I selected, 

 about the 5th of September, a row of corn in a 

 field of about five acres, intending to take one that 

 would average in quality equal to the field 

 throughout, that I might at the same time be able 

 to ascertain with tolerable certainty, the product 

 of the whole field. The manure having been 

 sjiread on the suriace of the ground and harrowed 

 in lengthwise of the fiirrows, and the corn jjlanted 

 across the furrows, made it apparently less ditficult 

 to select an average row. On this row I cut the 

 stalks from half the hdls; beginning at one end 

 and cutting the first hill, then leaving the next un- 

 cut^ and so proceeding alternately, cutting one and 

 leaving the next uncut, through the row. I had 

 intended to confine the experiment to this row, but 

 finally w<as led to extend it so far as to include fbwr 

 rows, and numbering them agreeably to the order 

 in which they were standing in the field, this row 

 may be called No. 2. There were ninety-two hills 

 in the row, and the stalks were cut from forty-six 

 hills, all of them in the manner that is here termed 

 jointing, (i. e.) cut off between the ear and the 

 first joint above the ear. I thought they were 

 somewhat more ripe than is usual at the time of 

 cutting; a few of them were nearly dry. The soil 

 was a sandy or gravelly loam, anciently covered 

 with pine, oak and chestnut. In hoeing the corn 

 no hills were made, but some care was taken that 

 the surface of the ground should remain as level 

 as possible, through the season. 



My estimate of the number of hills on an acre, 

 was made in the following manner, and if I am 

 wrong in my calculations, I shallbe corrected by 

 Bome of your readers: 



In an area of 200 feet square, (or 40,000 square 

 feet,) there were sixty-two rows, with fitly-four 

 hills to a row, making 3,348 hills. This isequal 

 to 3,646 hills per acre, each hill occupying nearly 

 12 square feet of surflice. There were about four 

 Btalks of corn in a hdl. In estimating bushels, I 

 have allowed the lawful weight of fifty-six pounds 

 to the bushel. 



At the time of harvesting, the corn was husked 

 in the field. The forty-six hills from which the 

 stalks had been cut, gave forty-eight and a half 

 pounds of ears; and the forty-six hills on which 

 the stalks had not been cut, gave sixty-two pounds 

 of ears. The number of ears in the two cases 

 was about the same; those from the uncut hills 

 were evidently the best filled out and the most 

 hale; on a large proportion of them the kernals 

 were so closely wedged in, as to make it difficult to 

 bend the ear at all without breaking it. There 

 was very little mouldy corn in either case, a few 

 ears were gathered, mostly from the cut stalks, 

 but the whole quantity was so small as to make it 

 questionable whether cutting the stalks had much 

 efi'ect in this particular. 



Both parcels were carefully laid aside in a dry 

 chamber for about six or eight weeks, at the expi- 

 ration of which time they were again weighed, 



and the ]3arcel of ears from the uncut hills had 

 lost in drying about two per cent, more than the 

 other; affording some evidence that the sap con- 

 tinued to circulate for a greater length of time, in 

 the uncut than in the cut stalks. Tlie uncut hills, 

 gave 42 lbs. 8 oz. dry shelled com, equal to 14 oz. 

 I2^ grs. per hill, or 60 bushels and 8 pounds per 

 acre. The parcel from the cut hills gave 33 lbs. 

 7 oz. equal. to 11 oz. 10 grs.. per hill, or 47 bushels 

 and 18 pounds per acre; making a loss of 12 bush- 

 els and 46 pounds per acre, by cutting the stalks. 

 Conclusive evidence, that while the sap is in cir- 

 culation, nature does not assign the stalks an un- 

 profitable office. The product of this whole row, 

 taken together, cut and uncut hills, was equal to 

 53 bushels and 41 pounds per acre. 



The product of row No. 3, taken by itself, (con- 

 taining ninety-two hills, on one-half of which the 

 stalks were cut on the same day the others were,) 

 would not show the practice of cutting stalks quite 

 so destructive in its efiects, as that exhibited in 

 row No. 2, its whole produce was 77 lbs. 9 oz.dry 

 corn, equal to -55 bushels and 10 pounds per acre, 

 or 1 bushel and 25 pounds per acre more than row 

 No. 2. 



Not satisfied with resting the experiment here, 

 I gathered the corn on rows No. 1 and 4, (i. e.) 

 the rows each side, next adjoining No. 2 and 3, 

 and on which none of the stalks had been cut. 

 These rows, taken together, contained 186 hills, 

 and their product of dry shelled corn was 171 lbs. 

 13 oz. equal to 14 oz. 12^- grs. per hill, or 60 bush- 

 els and 8 pounds per acre, precisely the same 

 average yield as that part of row No. 2, on which 

 the stalks had not been cut; this exact coincidence, 

 however, I think may be numbered among those 

 cases which rarely happen. 



The difierence between the two rows on which 

 half the stalks were cut, and the two rows on 

 which none of the stalks were cut, was 5 bushels 

 38^ pounds per acre. If this difference arose from 

 cutting half the stalks, (and I know of no other 

 reason,) then cutting the whole, Avould have re- 

 duced the crop 11 bushels and 21 pounds per acre, 

 or from 60 bushels and 8 pounds to 48 bushels and 

 43 pounds per acre. 



To recapitulate: row No. 2, on which the expe- 

 riment was commenced, taken by itself, is as fol- 

 lows, viz: 46 hills on which the stalks had not been 

 cut, gave 42 lbs. 8 oz. dry shelled corn, equeil 

 to, |)er acre, 60 bush. 8 lbs. 



46 hills from which the stalks had 



been cut, gave 33 lbs. 7 oz. dry 



shelled corn, equal to, per acre, 47 " 18 " 



Loss by cutting the stalks, per 



acre, 12 bush. 4Q lbs. 



The four rows taken together, stand as follows: 



No. 1 and 4, on which no stalks 

 were cut, gave an average of, 

 per acre, 60 bush. 8 lbs. 



No. 2 and 3, from which half the 

 stalks were cut, gave an aver- 

 age of; per acre, 54 " 25| " 



Loss by cutting one half of the 

 stalks per acre. 5 bush. 38^ lbs. 



2 



On cutting all the stalks, would 



makealoss equal to, per acre, 11 bush. 21 lbs. 



