1838] 



FARMERS' REGIS T E R 



111 



knows; and it. must follow, as a matter of course, 

 the ilf'ppo.r we cover corn in renson, ilie warmer 

 ami more unifonn ils temperature woukl he. This 

 I say; first cover wiih hoes, then list on it, cover- 

 iiiif It slill deeper, and it will he so warm and kept 

 of so uuilitrin a temperature that it will not rot, 

 and wdl sprout mucli sooner than shallow-covered 

 corn. Again: forward corn is apt to be nipped by 

 late frost. If the corn is covered deep, the frost 

 only bites the top; and 1 have never been able to 

 see that it injured it in the least; cover some plants 

 so that the liost cannot bite them, and in a few 

 days we will see no diiference in what was bit by 

 frost, and what was protected. But where the 

 corn is planted shallow, the irround freezes to the 

 root, and kills it. Whoever will examine, will 

 find that late t>ost extends a very little way down. 

 It is only a thin shell, as if were, that extends 

 deep enontrh to kill shallow-covered corn, but 

 does no injury to corn which is covered very deep. 

 Against this early planting, some argue that 

 nature is a correct guide, if we would observe and 

 follow her; and that corn should not be planted till 

 the trees show young leaves, and weeds, grass, 

 &c. begin to show themselves. When we see 

 the young peaches killed by frosts more than one 

 year in two, and often the leaves in the woods all 

 killed by frost, it certainly gives reason to think 

 that nature is not a sure guide as to the time of 

 planting. But in reality, if we would fillow na- 

 ture close,, she would give us much better direc- 

 tions. It should be considered that the trees are, 

 as it were, planted all winter, and all the seeds of 

 weeds, &c. have been planted all winter; and that 

 we should not consider the time they becrin to 

 vegetate the proper time for planting. They re- 

 quired a time of preparation, and corn should be 

 planted several weeks before, that the corn may 

 also have this time of preparation in the ground. 



All practical planters know that late corn should 

 be covered deep. Every body knows that when 

 covered shallow, if a dry spell happens, the ground 

 becomes so dry that the seed is very long coming 

 up, and then comes up very irregularly; that it is 

 much more injured by birds, squirrels, worms, &c. 

 than when covered deep. The result is a thin 

 stand of irregular corn, and late corn replanted 

 makes very little, every practical planter knows 

 by experience; for the difference is very percepti- 

 ble, that late corn should be planted deep to make 

 good corn. This is a fact s^) plain, that it is a 

 common maxim with practical planters; but the 

 very common theory to explain the fact, is wild 

 and altogether erroneous. They say, as the corn 

 is late, plant it deep that the roots may be deep, to 

 contend with the long dry hot days which are to 

 come. When corn is planted, cover it deep or 

 shallow, the seed sends out the sprout and its 

 roots; the seed and these roots nourish the plant 

 till it grows perhaps four inches high. It then 

 sends out a circle of horizontal roots, just under 

 the surface; and as soon as these roots are suffi- 

 ciently extended to nourish the plant, all below 

 them dies; so that whether the seed is one inch or 

 six inches deep, by the time the plant is six inches 

 high, the roots are of the same depth, and wholly 

 unconnected with the seed, and all the first roots 

 that came from it. I once pulled up some stalks 

 of corn, and showed an old planter that all below 

 these horizontal roots died as soon as they were 

 extended a little in the ground; he said he was 



obljired to confess that he had always reasoned 



wrong respecting the roots of deep-covered corn 

 being deeper than shallow-covered corn; but said 

 he cared not for reasons; he knew the li'ct from 

 the experience of a long file, that the later corn 

 was planted, the deeper it sliould lie covered. If 

 this is liict, which all will admit, that late corn 

 covered deep will produce much more corn than 

 shallovv-i)lanted ; ami this is fact, which every one 

 can satisfy himself of by pulling up a stalk of corn 

 six inches high, that it does send out this cir- 

 cle of horizontal roots just under the surface, and 

 all below them dies immediately. Why is deep- 

 planted corn better for a lar<re crop than shallow- 

 planted, but because we thereby have a more for- 

 ward start and a better stand? 



Robert R. Harden. 

 Jpril 13, 1838. 



THE MARL DEPOSITE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Bristol, Pa. February 27th, 1838. 



In your last number, I observed that until re- 

 cently, you did not ap[)ear to have been well ap- 

 prised of the existence of shell marls in South Ca- 

 rolina. The localities are very numerous;, amongst 

 the most noted, at the time I resided in thai state,, 

 were Santee Canal, Eutaw Springs, Dr., Jamie- 

 son's, near Orangeburg court house, iVlr. Darby's,, 

 St. Matthew's parish, Godfrey's ferry, on Pede© 

 river, Givhanf s ferry, on the Edisto, &c. &c. 

 They form a part of the great bed of tertiary de•^ 

 posits, which extends from New York through the 

 whole of the Atlantic states, south Florida, Ala- 

 bama, &c. on the Gulf— not always perceptible- 

 at the surface, from a covering of more recent 

 products. 



Lardner Vanuxem. 



[We were not unacquainted with the general geolo- 

 gical fact, that the great deposite of fossil-shells, or 

 marl, extends through South Carolina. But, until re- 

 cently, we had been entirely uninformed as to the bed 

 being visible, or easily accessible, in any particular 

 localities, or of the facilities offered by its position and 

 richness, for its being used profitably as manure. 

 Judging from the contents of both the articles from 

 which we derived such information, the existence of 

 this richest treasure of South Carolina, is yet as little 

 known in that state, as its value is appreciated. We 

 earnestly hope that this strange degree of neglect and 

 inertness will not long continue. 



Mr. Vanuxem is one of those now charged with 

 miking the geological survey of New York.— Ed. F. R. 



From the New York Farmer. 

 MELONS GROWN OVER WATER. 



At the last meeting of the Horticultural Society, 

 amongst the fruit from the gardens were two me- 

 lons, grown over water, into which the roots de- 

 scend, a plan by which it was found that this fruit 

 would arrive at earlier if not at better maturity. 



