F A R M E R S ' REGIS T E R 



[No, 



i 



when changed for experiment, five feet by five, 

 two stalks to the hill. This distance has been di- 

 minished on better land to five by four and a hall, 

 by lour, by three and a half, by ihiee, according 

 to quality, always preserving the double stalks. 

 The observation of the two last years has satisfied 

 me, that whenever i have reduced the narrow dis- 

 tance to less than four feet, even on the licliest 

 land, I have lost by it, and has determined me in 

 future to increase tlie number of stalks in the hills, 

 rather than decrease the distance between them. 

 When hills of corn are two and a half or three 

 feet apart, the circulation of air is more impeded 

 than if they were of double that distance ; and an 

 artificial heat is thus produced far exceeding the 

 common lempc-rature. This may be a reason for 

 the superiority of the double io the single stalk 

 planting. I have little hesitation in asserting, 

 that during the last summer, our crops of corn 

 sustained fully as much injury from the long spell 

 of excessive heat, as from want of rain. In my 

 neighborhood, the only long interval without good 

 rains, was one of a month, between the 11th of 

 July and lOlh of August : and ihis interval was 

 slightly relieved by occasional showers. I have, 

 several times in my lilo, made very good crops, 

 with droughts equally long, the corn retaining its 

 color throughout. On the 11th of July, a very 

 heavy raia Itjll, and yet within two weeks the crop 

 was fired. This must have been owing to the 

 extraordmary heat of the weather, and not at that 

 time to drought. 



As soon as the corn begins to come up, i start 

 as many single horse ploughs as I mean to work, 

 running one iurrow on each side of the row, along 

 the beds, and with the bar to the hill. They are 

 started thus early, to diminish the depredations oi' 

 the feathered tribe, as well as in accordance with 

 the rule of keeping ahead. Crows and black- 

 birds may be seen travelling along the newly 

 made furrows, dividing their attacks between the 

 worms and msects turned up, and the younsf corn 

 plants, but giving the prelerence to the former. 

 Having gone over the field, a cultivator is then 

 used, going in the opposite direction, nr across the 

 beds, twice in a row if the distance between the 

 hills is as much as five feet, and once if less. The 

 hoe Ibllows rapidly, as noihing need be touched, 

 but a small space around the hill. Much of the 

 thinning is done in weather too wet for ploughing 

 or hoeing, and the residue during the progress of 

 the first hoeing. The next operations are, to return 

 the earth, or greater part of it to the corn with the 

 single plough, and again to follow slightly and ra- 

 pidly with the hoe. This process is completed by 

 harvest, and althoutrh it requires two hoeings, 

 they are both so slight as not to exceed, in manual 

 labor, what is necessaryibr the single one, when 

 one only is given. If the land has been well bro- 

 ken up, I preltir these frequent, rapid, and slight 

 workings, to fevv'er but deeper ones. During har- 

 vest, the plough finishes the narrow slip left in 

 many of the rows, and the cultivation may be 

 considered as over, so far as the crop of corn is 

 concerned. A. very shallow working afterwards, 

 with the skimmer, or cultivator, and hoe, is usual; 

 but rather designed to aid the seeding of wheat, 

 than to benefit the corn, unless the latter is unusu- 

 ally backward. This year I could perceive no 

 difference between that portion of my crop which 

 received this past-harvest-culture, and that which 

 did not. 



The kind of corn cultivated, I believe to be of 

 greater importance than is generally supposed. 

 Any Virginian who has travelled northwards, 

 must have observed the difit>rence between their 

 crops and ours. He must have seen that the 

 stalks diminish in size, while the crop, per acre, 

 obviously increases; and yet ours is notoriously 

 the soil and climate lor growing corn. I think 

 the diflerence may be attributed to the kind of corn 

 cultivated, a kind which enables them to plant 

 much thicker than we do. Here, most of us plant 

 a large gourd-seed corn, shooting up a tall large 

 stalk, bearing generally one, occasionally two ears, 

 and not admitting thick planting. There, the 

 stalk is low, is planted very thick, and bears two, 

 three, and fbur small flinty ears. Not farther north 

 than Pennsylvania, I have seen corn planted fi^'e 

 feet by four, with three and lour stalks to the hill. 

 Counting three stalks at this distance, and allow- 

 ing three ears to each, any given space, there, will 

 yield seven or eight ears to our one; small ears 

 certainly, but still, large enough to account for the 

 great superiority in the product per acre. I com- 

 menced with the old lull bred Virginia gourd-seedy 

 and stuck to it ibr six or eight years; but finding 

 that, on common land, many stalks were too late 

 in curing, or did not ear at ail, determined to 

 change my seed. My next variety was the "Tal- 

 iaferro white fiint." This sort is touched with the 

 gourd-seed, but is superior to it in having a small- 

 er stalk, ripening earlier, bearing more ears, and a 

 harder and heavier grain. I then tried what is 

 called the '-Alsop corn," resembling the Taliafer- 

 ro in other respects, but somewhat smaller in 

 stalk, and superior in number of ears, olten pro- 

 ducing two, three, and sometimes a greater num- 

 ber of ears. This corn I still plant. I made one 

 experiment with the Maryland twin corn, and 

 thought it as prolific as the Alsop; but the grain 

 being lighter, and the stalk taller, it was abandon- 

 ed. Last winter I purchased in Washington a 

 small quantity of "Baden" corn, and planted with 

 it a rich lot of about two acres. It came up and 

 grew off" well, was the tallest corn I ever saw, 

 averaged five or six shoots to the stalk, and pro- 

 mised at one time to make a great crop. But it 

 suffered nearly twice as much as the rest of my 

 corn, from the heat or the drought of the summer, 

 and was broken ofi' by a wind in August, which 

 did very little injury to the rest of the crop. It did 

 not of course, fill or ripen well, and 1 fed it to 

 hogs. But as it certainly had more shoots than 

 any corn I ever saw, I have saved a small portion 

 to plant again. Its great fault is, its extraordina- 

 ry height. If it can be brought down to a proper 

 standard, retaining its great number of shoots, it 

 will probably turn out to be a very prolific variety. 

 It will readily be seen that I consider thicker 

 planting than common, essential in making heavy- 

 crops of corn per acre. But think planting with a 

 large kind is out of the question. At the same 

 time, it must be borne in mind, that as we in- 

 crease the number, we diminish the size of the 

 ears, and add to the labor of gathering and husk- 

 ing. Every judicious farmer will decide, from ex- 

 perience, how far he can carry this process; and 

 will stop as soon as he begins to doubt whetlier 

 he is paid lor his additional labor. Dismissing all 

 speculation on this point, I believe we may safely 

 plant any small variety of corn at the rate of one 

 stalk to every ten square (eet on tolerable land, 



