5?66 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



*'the best in the worlii ;'■ and one variety of the 

 yellow kind called " Dutton," which seems to 

 have borne off' the palm ol' superior excellence 

 " down east," and as far south as New York. 

 All the kinds were planted alongside ofeach other, 

 on the lOih ol" last April, and as well as I could 

 judge, m similar soil of equal fertility. Although 

 J knew they would mix from such proximity, and 

 of course that the least productive would derive 

 some benefit li-oiii that which was most so; yet I 

 did not believe it would be so great, in one trial, as 

 entirely or very nearly to equalize their products, 

 or prevent a s.tiislactory development of their 

 characteristic ditierences. Hut here again ihe 

 excessive drou<rlii and heal disappointed me. All 

 suffered so much that no conclusive comparison 

 could be (uade in regard to more than one or two 

 of their peculiar qualities. The Dution corn 

 showed tassels and shoots on the 20th of June 

 and silks on the 29th. None of it grew more 

 than jbur or five leet high, and gave so little pro- 

 nnse lor a general cro[) that all of it was used at 

 our table. This single trial, I acknowledge, is 

 insufficient to justify an unqualified condemna- 

 tion ; but so far as it goes, it authorizes the con- 

 <-lusiun, that it will be fir less productive in our cli- 

 mate than any of the large varieties yet cultiva- 

 ted among us. h is certainly wliat wesoutheriiers 

 ■call a "dwaif corn," — none of wliich kinds, al- 

 though numerous, have ever yet proved very pro- 

 lific, and are not cultivated, except lor early use in 

 ?he umipe state, '{'he golden Sioux, first intro- 

 duced among us by Mr. Skinner, the editor of the 

 American Farmer, has heretofore proved the ear- 

 liest. But the Dutton, for aught I know, may 

 have a better ciaim to preference, and iheretbre ! 

 will say nothing to impede a fuller and fairer trial 

 of a corn with such hiirh pretensions — only addinc 

 ihe caution, not to try it on a large scale. 



As to the white varieties tried in my experiment, 

 a lew tassels were seen, on the 9lh of July, upon 

 what I shall call the Carmichael corn, that being 

 the name of a gentleman in Queen Ann's count}', 

 Maryland, who sent it to me, and who is the sarne 

 that first brought into notice the twin-corn, which 

 1 have cultivated tor three or lour years, in pre- 

 ference to any other I know. This" kind also he- 

 <jan to tassel and shoot on the same day — the 

 other four varieties not until seven or eight days 

 Jater, and then so nearly together that I did not 

 ■mark the difference m time, it being too small to 

 be worth noticing. Of thestr last four, it is proper, 

 by way of caution, to mention, that the Baden 

 corn was one. It is the kind so widely distributed 

 last spring by members of Congress, under the 

 •one name of "i>flc/c/(," although in the parcel 

 sent to me, I counted ibur distinct varieties, show- 

 ing that little or no care had been taken in select- 

 ing the kind so called, although all perhaps had 

 been sold, in the first instance, under that name, 

 and at a higher price than con\mon. I know well 

 the difficulty of keeping any variety pure, for no 

 grain mixes so readily nor at so great a distance 

 «s corn, but I also know that it may be done, as J 

 have seen several instances of it, ami Ihe Dutton 

 corn is one, for out of a quart of seed sent to me I 

 did not find a single gram of a different kind. 



I made no attempt to ascertain, as I had first 

 intended, the relative productiveness of the differ- 

 ent kinds used in my experiment — the drou»hi 

 having rendered it impracticable, as it did every 



other fair comparison I wished to make of their 

 other qualities. In regard to the Dutton corn, I 

 was satisfied from this trial, as well as by several 

 others reported to me last year, that it never pro- 

 bably can become a general crop in Virginia. To 

 judge however, I'rom appearance, it is heavier 

 than any of our white corns, except the Madeira, 

 so called from the circumstance of its being culti- 

 vated many years ago, chieffy lor the Madeira mar- 

 ket. Why llie culture is not continued, I cannot 

 imagine, as it is a variety which is both very early 

 and very productive, at the same time that it bears 

 thicker planting than our common kinds. But 

 since corn is the chief staple in the greater portion 

 of Virginia, the greatest produce per acre is evi- 

 dently the principal, although not the only thing 

 to be diligently sought after and ascertained, lor 

 the most productive will always be found the most 

 profitable. That this variety will be known in the 

 course of a few years, I think there is every rea- 

 son to hope, from the numerous trials now making 

 to determine this point ; and that it will be found 

 among the while kinds, I have no doubt. All of 

 these are early enough for the tide-water portions 

 of the slate, which is the corn region ; and most 

 of those that I have noticed are more productive 

 than any yellow variety of which I have any 

 knowledge. Those kinds have never, I believe, 

 sold more than ten per cent, higher than the 

 whites, and that only in the northern and eastern 

 markets, whilst the best of the latter kinds will be 

 found, unless I am greatly deceived, to exceed the 

 yellow in productiveness, more than twenty per 

 cent. ; and in taste, (W southern palates were to 

 be the standard,) double or treble that amount. 

 Suffer me here, to give a word or two of caution 

 to buyers, against those who claim to be the lucky 

 discoverers of the best kinds of corn. If they ask 

 some two or three hundred per cent, more ihan 

 the general price of our common varieties, the 

 purchasers may be perlectly sure — either that they 

 are humbu<rged, or that the seller is one of those 

 Sh3'lock fellows who would see you and yours 

 starve to death, without the least compunclion, 

 if he could only make money by it, and escape be- 

 ing tried lor murder. » # # # * 

 (To be continued.) 



For the Fanners' Register. 

 MONTHLY COMMERCIAL UKPORT. 



The business of the past year has terminated 

 much more satisfactorily than that of its prede- 

 cessor. 



The commercial operations in Virginia have 

 been peculiarly fortunate. Shipments of its prin- 

 cipal staple, tobacco, yield larger profits than 

 have been realized for any previous year since 

 1820, and more than counterbalance the heavy 

 losses attendant on the convulsions of 1837. This 

 result has been produced, however,by the extensive 

 lidlure of the crop of 1838, and, fi-om present ap- 

 pearances, the small quantity produced will yield 

 as much money as a full crop would in ordinary 

 limes. The present range of prices is $7 to 16, 

 including all sorts. 



Cotton has advanced about one cent in price ; 

 and the present quotations in Petersburg are 11^ 

 to 12^ ciis., including none of fine quality — the 



I 



