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Vol. VII. 



JANUARY 31, 1831). 



No. 1. 



EDMUND RUFFIIV, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF CORN. 



Read before tlie Agricultural Society of Fredericksburg, and 

 ordered to be published in the Farmers' Register. 



The corn crop is so important to the tide water 

 portion of Virginia, that observaiions upon its 

 cuhure, however trite or desuhory, run hardly fail 



preserve as much as possible, the natural surface- 

 in the tide-waler district, the corn crop is so de- 

 cidedly superior, that it cannot be sacrificed to any 

 other crop. The five-feet beddinfr exposes the 

 land more efiectually to the action of frost in win- 

 ter, and of the sun and winds in spring. The 

 crop can therefore be planted earlier, comes up 



to be productive of some benefit! The tbilowing find p:rows ofi" more rapidly, sooner matures, and 



are ofiered as the rusult of twenty years' experi- has a better chance to escape our frequent and se- 



ence, by one who has been a corn-firower l()r that ^ere drouirhts. Ailliough good crops are made by 



' .11 ri __ . ^,- ... earlier and later planting, the proper time for that 



time, and probably as successlijl as most of the 

 larmers who live in the same section of country, 

 and own similar land. 



The field intended for corn should be ploughed 

 up as early as possible. My usual practice is, to 

 give the team a week's rest after the fall weeding 

 is finished, then to start as many ploughs as I 

 can, and to keep them at work whenever the wea- 

 ther will permit. I am thus eiial)lo(l to get 

 through with the wet and stiff land l)y Cliristmas, 

 and to finish the residue of the field early in the 

 spring. If wet land is postponed luiiil ilte spring, 

 it is often so late m dryin<r, that the litrmer becomes 

 impatient, ploughs it out of order, injures the 

 land and iails in the crop. As the plougliinnr ad- 

 vances, the small artificial drains to be fbuiui in 

 most large fields should be well opened. If they 

 are permitted to reniain filled up with the earth 

 thrown into them by the plougii, sm;t!l ponds of 

 water, soaking through and injuring the land con- 

 siderably beyond their limits, will be liinned dur- 

 ing ifit^winter; which spots, being iiisufHt-iently 

 dried when planted, will put fbrih sickly, nnihrifiy 

 plants, and yield a very inadequate rtMurti. The 

 depth ol'the furrow, must depend upon ihf cliarater 

 of the soil. I believe the proper limiis to he from 

 three to six inches, having been satisfied from ex- 

 perience, that deeper ploughing son)Ptimes injures 

 the land, and always the team, without any be- 

 nefit to the crop. A two-horse plough is full}' 

 adequate to such work, is less expensive, more 

 easily managed by the ploughman, and less wor- 

 rying to the team, than a larger one. .Some other 

 benellts resulting fiom this early ploughino-, are, 

 that tlie heavy work is done when the weather is 

 cool and the days short, the plough hnrses are 

 easily kept in good order, the land is loose and 

 friable in the spring,and the farmer gets f^uiiiciently 

 advanced to be [)repared for untoward occur- 

 rences and emerL''encies. This last ad vdiiifi^xe ap- 

 plies to all agricultural operations, and is so liighl}' 

 estimated, that I am not aware of any thing of 

 more constant iipplication or greater Aaliie to the 

 fiirmer, than to admonish him to be beforehand 

 with his work. If he starts or gets behindhand, 

 he keeps so, and every thing, afterwards, is done 

 out of time, or evinces a hurried and slovenly 

 execution. 



The field is ploughed in five-feet beds. I ^^ay this 

 in reference to tlie corn-crop, and a level surface 

 only. If wheat is the staple, other systems are 

 probably preferable; and when the lanil is- rolling, 

 I have found no means so efiectual, not fir pre- 

 venting, but for diminishing the great da.mage oc- 

 casioned bv lieavv raii'i^. a^io avoid beddiu:' and to 

 Vol. VJI.-l. 



operation is certainly the month of April; in (he 

 first half of the month, if the soil be sandy, in the 

 latter half; if it be stifli". The modes of planting 

 are various; but after frying most or all, I have 

 given the prelerence to the plan of opening the 

 beds longitudinall}^, with a single furrowof a 

 ploiifrh, drawn by one horse, as deep as he can 

 encilj' do it, dropping the grain by a line marked at 

 the intended distances, each planter following his 

 mark and covering with his foot. I prefer this 

 method, because a horse goino- along the beds will 

 do nearly twice as much work as when he crosses 

 them, because every hand, (the two excepted who 

 carry the line.) is a planter instead of being merely 

 a dropper, because idlers are compelled to keep up 

 with the industrious hands, because all are iinme- 

 dlately under the eye of the overseer, because the 

 grain is rarely covered too deep, as is often done 

 by the hoe, and because fewer clods are left over 

 it, llie loot either pulverizing or rolling them of]. 

 Some exceptions to this practice will occur to 

 every one. Very rough portions of the field must 

 of necessity be covered with the hoe, and manur- 

 ed land cannot receive the longitudinal furrow 

 without turning up a large part of the manure. 



Experience has convinced me of the propriety 

 of leaving at least two stalks to the hill. One 

 half the labor of planting and thinning is saved, 

 and, as the plough and cultivator can work across 

 the beds, the team can perform much of the work 

 usually done with the hoe. I believe the crop of 

 corn is increased. Any one who will make a fiiir 

 experiment, will find that corn planted five feet 

 by six, with two stalks in the hill, will withstand 

 the dry hot spells of our summers much better 

 than if planted five by three wiiii a single stalk. 

 Last year, which was not a good one for corn, f 

 made a trial on a large part of my field. Tlie 

 single-stalk corn fired earlier and more throughout 

 than any other part of the crop, not excepting the 

 portions containing many more stalks to the acre; 

 and when si ripped ofi', blade and top showed an 

 evident inle-riority. This conviction has induced 

 me to plant thicker than is customary. The usu- 

 al distance on thin soils of five and a half feet by 

 three, will give 16| square feet to each stalk. I 

 plant such land five by five, vvifh two stalks, giv- 

 ing 25 to the two, or 12^ to one. There are of 

 course nearly one-lburth more stalks to the acre ; 

 and if| as I believe, each double hill vvill, in all re- 

 spects, be at least proportionately equal to each 

 single one, there must be a gain of nearly a fourth 

 in the amount of" product. Under these impres- 

 sions, I invariably plant my thinnest land, except 



