1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



57*= 



down this proposed new plan of levying contribu- 

 tions on the credulous, for charity's sake; andihe 

 good-nature of most editors even assisted the plan- 

 ner, by republishing gratuitously his advertisement, 

 and some, also, in oflering their additional eulogies 

 of the corn, the charitable scheme founded thereon, 

 and the great public benefactor who had discovered 

 the one, and planned the other. But since the nu - 

 merous crops have been made from the ears sold at 

 25 cents, and even .^1 each, editorial as well as 

 other censures are appearing, which if less harsh 

 than ours, will at least amount, in the language of 

 our brother editor copied below, to Mr. Thorburn's 

 getting for his reward, figuratively, "more Uicks 

 than coppers." But the "coppers" are in his poc- 

 ket, tangible and available — and (he "kicks" are 

 but figurative, and administered at such a distance, 

 that their force is wasted in '-thin air," and are 

 neither felt nor regarded by one who is so encased 

 in brazen armor, as to devise, and conduct to a suc- 

 cessful issue, the "Chinese tree corn," humbug. 



We copy below editorial articles from three dif- 

 ferent agricultural journals, which have been late- 

 ly received. 



^'Chinese tree corn S,'c. — We have seen several 

 crops of this corn, and our opinion ol' it is (iir less 

 (iivorable than that of our correspondent. It is in 

 our judgment, not only absolutely but relatively, 

 worthless. It bears nocomparison in value to several 

 other varieties cultivated here. We believed it a 

 humbug from the first, and refused to plant a grain 

 of it. Whether it is bona fids of Chinese origin 

 or not, is of no importance. The quality of ilie 

 product is all in which we (eel any interest". Does 

 the "Chinese tree corn" answer the description of 

 Mr. Thorburni All that we have seen iiills far 

 short of it. There arc some suckers shooting up 

 from the ground, some of which, as is the case 

 with the suckers of all varieties of corn, produce 

 some grains, almost a nubbin if you please, at the 

 end of the shoot. But is this bearing a ear at the, 

 end ol" the tree-like branches? We have seen it 

 side by side with other corn, and all we can say 

 for it is, that it has no peculiarity but its worth- 

 lessness. How easy it is to humbug and be hum- 

 bugged! What is to be the great humbug of next 

 year? There must be one or more; and we have 

 been looking out for their announcement. In a 

 month or two we shall certainly hear li-om them. 

 Mr. Thorburn, if he can derive no other gratifica- 

 tion from his patriotic distribution of this rare corn, 

 can at least enjoy that of counting the money he 

 received for it — or, it may be, in referring his con- 

 science to the receipt given him by the secretary 

 of the charitable institution to which it was under- 

 stood he was to give the proceeds as a gratuity. 

 The receipt no doubt, is carried in the nearest 

 proximity to his conscience— in his pocket.— I^ranh- 

 lin Farmer, Aug. 31. 



'■'•Tree corn. — This corn has been planted to a 

 considerable extent and by a great many persons 

 in parts of the state which we have visited. We 

 have seen fields of it containing a quarter of an 

 acre, and some more. It does not appear adapted 

 to our climate, and there is a general disappoint- 



ment in respect to it. We nmst not judge the 

 case until the hearing is through; but much of it 

 will require two seasons to ripen it, and we advise 

 the cultivators to take it up, as is recon)mended in 

 the case of the morus multicaulis, and set it out 

 again next spring. If it lives and docs well, we 

 think it likely, or as the Dorchester schoolmaster 

 said, "we presume to venture to hazard a guess," 

 that they may get a crop next autumn. VVe 

 are sorry that our agricultural friends are so 

 disturbed with \X. It seems to have "roiled" (?) 

 the most philosophical. For his Withinirion 

 wheat and his tree corn, we hope our friend Thor- 

 burn will not get as many "kicks as coppers." He 

 has got the coppers — we are afraid liom indica- 

 tions which we have seen, that he would get from 

 some of our friends the rest of the change, if he 

 should come too near to them. Brother fiumers, 

 keep cool! We cannot believe, we will not be- 

 lieve, that our friend Thorburn designed to impose 

 a bad article upon any one, certainly not with any 

 knowledge of the fact. The seed of this tree corn 

 seems to have muliiplied in the country like the 

 pieces of the original cross in Europe, of which 

 there is no doubt, that many, many cords have 

 been sold by the priests as genuine, and "no mis- 

 take." — New England Farmer, Sept. 4. 



H. C." 



* * * (c^\^g yjQ anticipated, the China corn is 

 a complete deception practised upon the credulous 

 and confidinff public. 



The evil done in playing olFthis money-making 

 game is of a serious nature in its effects, and de- 

 serves the severest reprehensions. The price of 

 the corn, and even the expense of cultivation add- 

 ed, which is much more, is but a trifle of the loss 

 sustained by the community. The public is de- 

 ceived, and this will lead to suspicions v.'hen [new 

 productions are announced, which might lead to 

 agricultural improvement. 



VVe believe that there is no such thing as the 

 China corn, as described by Mr. Thorburn, to be 

 found in the country — no corn of so large a size 

 that will be fit to boil in two months from planting, 

 under the most favorable circumstances of climate, 

 season, soil and culture. We challenge any man 

 to produce from any part of the world such corn. 

 Some corn obtained, as we are imlijrmpd, directly 

 from Mr. G. Tiiorburn, is far later than he stated, 

 making all due allowance lor climate, season, &c. 



We have some of the humbug corn, (this is a 

 more appropriate name,) and it is as late as the 

 Virginian, and is doubtless the same; we have 

 seen much of it, and have had many accounts of 

 it from different parts of the country, and it evi- 

 dently is the southern corn. We saw some three 

 and a half months after it had been planted in a 

 favorable situation, and it v/as but just spindled. 

 Other corn by its side was a month earlier, and 

 yet this last was not so early as Mr. T. said the 

 China corn was. 



JMr. Sanford Howard, who ably con<lucls the 

 agricultural dei>ar!inent of the Zanesviile (Ohio) 

 Gazette, says he planted a part of two parcels of 

 corn, both from Thorburn'' s seed store, New York, 

 and that one kind was ten days later than the 

 other; that the earliest was as late as that usually 

 cultivated in that state, and there was no ap[)ear- 

 ance of its branching out like a tree as stated by 

 Mr. T. Some farmers observe that it will require 

 two years to mature this corn." — Yankee Farmer. 



