310 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



The northern corn, when cultivated in our cli- 

 mate, cannot be relied on to make a crop. The 

 very early varieties, which produce soft corn lor 

 the table in July, may be planted for that special 

 purpose with evident advantage. But lor ag- 

 ricultural purposes, no variety of northern corn 

 can proiluce an abundant yield in this climate 

 The hardening of the grain takes place in the 

 month of August, the most critical period in the 

 whole season. Those who attempted the cul- 

 Jivalion of the famous Dution corn, a few years 

 ago, may recollect how utterly it perished during 

 the heats oCeummer. 



The northern wheat might be introduced here 

 to great advantage. The influence of the seed 

 extends through two or three generations, and 

 the maturity of the crop is hastened by at least 

 several days. Wheat usually ripens by or soon 

 aller the accession of hot weather, so that the 

 effect of a change of seed is more beneficial than 

 in the case of corn. While it is desirable to ac- 

 celerate the ripening of the one, it is far from 

 being so with tlie other. September is the pro- 

 per season here lor corn to mature. 



All early vegetables are grown with decided 

 advantage from northern seed. Gardeners who 

 would have the earliest peas, beans, squashes, 

 and other spring or early summer vegetables, do 

 well occasionally to renew their seeds from re- 

 liable sources. But by exercising the greatest 

 care in saving the earliest perfected seeds from 

 their own erounds, most varieties may be pre- 

 served in their purity lor a length of time. 



The wiiter of these remarks has frequently 

 exchanged seeds, both of useful and ornamental 

 plants, with his correspondents at the north, and 

 occasionally with those at the south. He has 

 also received plants from various parts of the 

 country. The facts above elated are derived from 

 actual experience, and they are submitted as a 

 practical illustration of the physiological princi- 

 ples asserted by Professor Bronn. P. 



SOWING CORN FOR FODDER. 



From the New Genesee Farmer. 



Mr. Co/man— In the Farmer for JNlarch, your 

 correspondent, Ledyard, asks information on the 

 subject of sowing corn, broadcast, for winter fod- 

 der. I was, at first, surprised at the inquiry, but 

 on reflection, concluded he must have been a stran- 

 ger to your paper, probably just then commencing 

 an acquaintance with it. I ask leave, therefore, 

 to refer him to your number for July, 1S41, page 

 109. He will there find an article on the subject, 

 that will, 1 think, in a measure satisfy his inqui- 

 ries. I have been for twenty years accustom- 

 ed to this culture, and have there given the result 

 ofmy experience. I do not ft;el as ill could say too 

 much in its favor. The product per acre, on a rich 

 soil, and in a favorable season, will be very great. 

 1 have never had occasion to ascertain with accu- 

 racy the amount. But have considered, or esti- 

 mated the amount, on different fields and in differ- 

 ent seasons, to vary from five to seven tons, or 

 more per acre. I have carried well a very large 

 stock, rising lOUO sheep, and many cattle, far into 

 January, with very little hay. 



I would by no means sufier the corn to stand to 



let the ears ripen before harvesting. 4t should be 

 cut when most juicy, when the juice is richest and 

 sweetest. This will be, 1 suppose, at the time 

 when the kernel has become nearly or qui'.e full of 

 milk. When sown 2.} bushels of seed per acre, 

 the quantity which I recommend, and from which 

 I would not vary, it will stand so thick and the 

 stalks be so slender, that but few ears will set. 

 Cut up at the time I propose, it will be so extreme- 

 ly succulent, that it will need to stand in small 

 stouts to cure, during the dry and hot weather ; 

 and should be put into stacks, as recommended in 

 the article reli^rred to above, just before the fall 

 rains commence. 



The idea suggested in the Farmer for March, 

 page 34, " that weeds will check its growth, if 

 the land is rich, and fill the ground with seeds," 

 I cannot think correct. It is entirely at variance 

 with my experience. The ground is eo deeply 

 and perfectly shaded, that I have found nothing 

 could live or grow among it, save the Canada this- 

 tle ; and this would shoot up a slender, pale, weak, 

 and sickly stalk, unable to produce or sustain a 

 blossom. 



I have been pleased, after taking off the corn, 

 with the condition of the ground for cross-plough- 

 ing and sowing with wheat. 1 recommend to sow 

 corn early, that it may be harvested early, and 

 thus have the full benefit of the dry and hot wea- 

 ther, lor the process of curing the stalk. If cut 

 late, it will be more difficult so to cure it as to se- 

 cure its safety. I once lost a large quantity, sup- 

 posed well cured, by stowing it away in a large 

 and solid mow. Ol' course, I prefer stacking it, 

 as recommended in the article referred to above, 

 around a pole, the length of a sheaf only from the 

 pole, so that the butts shall all be exposed to the 

 air. A Farmer. 



April, 1842. 



SLUGS DESTROYING THE COTTON CROPS. 



A new enemy to the cotton planter has made its 

 appearance in Panola and De Soto counties. Miss., 

 in the shape of innumerable snails, which eat up 

 and destroy the plant, commencing with the leaf 

 and ending their repast with the bud. They are 

 apparently the common-sized snail without a 

 shell, such as may be found adhering to the bark 

 of trees in wet weather. Several entire cotton 

 plantations have been ruined by them. — Compiler. 



This new and most destructive ravager, the 

 naked snail, or slug, may be effectually and 

 cheaply checked by sowing a lew bushels of 

 quick-lime to the acre, on the fields infested. See 

 an article copied from an English journal, giving 

 fiill directions, at page 216, vol. ix. Farmers' Re- 

 gister. This is one of the many cases, in which 

 a little book knowledge, as much despised and 

 disregarded as is such knowledge by farmers' and 

 especially by cotton planters, might save hundreds 

 or thousands of dollars to individuals, and millions 

 to the country at large. — Ed. Far. Keg. 



