PLYMOUTH SOCIETY. 327 



Middleborough, for the best experiment to determine at what dis- 

 tances Indian corn shonld be planted, to insure the greatest 

 crop. Owing to the unevenness of the several lots, occasioned 

 by missing plants, it was somewhat difficult to select four rods 

 of corresponding goodness. The rods selected gave the fol- 

 lowing results: — The corn, planted three feet six inches apart 

 each way, gave 40 40-75 bushels per acre ; three feet six inches, 

 kernels one foot apart, 47 3.5-75 bushels per acre ; three feet 

 apart each way, 60 20-75 bushels per acre ; three, feet apart, 

 kernels nine inches apart, 68 20-75 bushels per acre. 



By this experiment, it appears that corn planted in rows 

 three feet apart, and kernels nine inches apart, yields nearly 

 eighteen bushels per acre, or about fifty per cent, more than 

 corn planted three feet six inches apart each way, with the ad- 

 ditional expense of cultivation, of only one dollar and fifty 

 cents per acre. This is a subject of immense importance to the 

 agricultural community, and should incite to further investiga- 

 tion and experiment. 



The selection of seed corn is an important item in the econ- 

 omy of farming. Seed should be selected in the field, from 

 small, thrifty stalks, that ear out near the ground, and produce 

 two or more ears, that ripen early, and have a small cob. Like 

 produces like, in the vegetable as well as animal tribe. 



As the measurement of Indian corn, as practised by this so- 

 ciety, has been the occasion of newspaper controversy, it should 

 be distinctly understood, that, by a rule adopted by the trustees, 

 seventy-five pounds of corn in the ear is computed a bushel ; 

 that about the usual harvest time, the supervisor visits the ap- 

 plicants ; selects an average rod from the lot entered for pre- 

 mium, which is harvested and weighed, by which the whole 

 field is estimated. When this system is well understood, we 

 can conceive of as little objection to its operation, as to any 

 other system that could be devised by man. 



The season for harvesting the summer grains was unfavora- 

 ble, the protracted humidity not only injured the grain, but es- 

 sentially lessened the crop. Two claims were entered for the 

 best experiment in raising wheat. Benjamin Hobart, of Abing- 

 ton, is entitled to the first premium of fifteen dollars; he rais- 



