652 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



greater sagacity, as well as a more rjgid economy 

 in the management of business. It makes us 

 more saving of labor, and more careful of the 

 lieaUh of the laborer. It leads to the adoption of 

 labor-saving machines, and to the gradual substi- 

 tution of animal power lor human power. 



The maintenance of the animals introduced by 

 this change of system, is a practical question ol' 

 great importance, and upon this point I propose to 

 submit a i'ew observations. 



It is believed that the average crop of corn and 

 oats in Georgia and South Carolina, does not ex- 

 ceed twelve bushels per acre. Upon this, and the 

 fodder gathered from the corn, we place our de- 

 pendencs^. lor the sustenance of the animals em- 

 ployed in our agriculture. To produce a suffi- 

 ciency, we are compelled to enlarge our plantinirs 

 of these exhausting crops, and we devote to these 

 purposes land already impoverished and requiring 

 rest. Among the ultimate consequences of such 

 a system, are abandoned plantations, and emigra- 

 tion. To mitigate this evil, and to assist in the 

 maintenance of our animals, I propose a ibdder 

 patch, that is, the cultivation of Indian corn ex- 

 pressly lor the stalk, and not for the ear or blade. 

 I propose this stalk fodder, not as a substitute for 

 gram, but as a valuable auxiliary — rendering, in 

 tact, the grain given more efficacious, and ena- 

 bling the animals to do with less. For the last six 

 years, I have devoted to this purpose a small lot of 

 land, and I estimate the product so highly, that 

 nothing: would induce me to abandon the cul- 

 ture. "At the usual corn planting season, this lot 

 is trenched four leet apart, with a buli-longue 

 plough, and in these trenches we sow the com- 

 mon'^lndian corn, at (he rate of two bushels and 

 upwards to the acre. During its growth, this c irn 

 receives two or three ploughings, and this is all the 

 culture it geis— it is neither hand-picked or hoed. 

 At every plougliing, the earth is thrown fearlessly 

 towards the corn, which would be buried and de- 

 stroyed, vvere it not that the mass of plants, grow- 

 ing in the trenches, enables it to resist the pres- 

 swe of tlie earth thrown against it. Ey this treat- 

 ment, ever<' particle of grass growing at the root 

 of the corn is completely destroyed. 



When the fodder corn betzins to tassel, we begin 

 to use it, and not belbre. The reason is manifest. 

 It is a well known law of vegetable lite that when 

 plants are in bloom, then their mucilaginous, sac- 

 charine, and nutritive properties, are most fully 

 developed. This is proven by the fact that if 

 herbs be gathered for distillation, or grass be mown 

 for hay, belbre the appearance of the blossom in 

 both instances, they yield no valuable products. 

 To this law Indian corn constitutes no exception, 

 and hence our reason lor waiting until it tassels 

 before we commence using it. If gathered before 

 Ihit time, my persuasion is that the stalk is of lit- 

 tle or no value. 



We wait then until it tassels before we begin to 

 use it. The ploughman, with a short scythe or 

 sickle, cuts it up at the root, takes it by large arras- 

 full to the cuttine box, and when cut it is mixed 

 with chopped oals, and given to our working ani- 

 mals, 1 lt?.el satisfied, when a sufficiency of this 

 chopped corn stalk is mixed with their oats, that 

 plo\igh horses and n)ules will do with one-third, 

 perhaps one-hall less grain. Besides, while using 

 it, no other loraiie is required, and this is no trifling 

 convenience. When planted at the usual season, 



the fodder corn begins to tassel about the 20lh 

 June. It comes in at a time when there is fre- 

 quently a pressing necessity lor fodder — when the 

 ploughs are in lidl action — when animals require 

 food of the. most nutritive kind, and when fre- 

 quently the blade crop of the preceding year is to- 

 tally exhausted. 



We continue to use this fodder corn as long as 

 it lasts, and it has this great recommendation, 

 that the lonser it stands, until actually killed by 

 frost, the more palatable it appears to become to 

 animals. After the tassel has dried up, when ev- 

 ery blade hangs down, and has become colorless, 

 when in fact from external appearance, we would 

 pronounce the plant actually dead, the stalk will 

 be found to be still perfectly green. I have satisfied 

 myself of this fact, by repeated observalii;n. i 

 have gone into this fodder patch for several years 

 in sucession, as late as the middle of October, and 

 have invariably found the stalk of the corn green 

 and more rich in itsnutrive properties, than at any 

 preceding period. The juices of the plant, after 

 being elaborated in the leaves, appear to be con- 

 centrated in the stalk, and it contains at that time 

 so much saccharine matter, that it approximates 

 its taste to the upper joints of the sugar cane itself. 

 That this protracted vitality of the stalk is owing 

 to the fact, that the plant is never deprived of the 

 blade, I have not a shadow of doubt. At the 

 very time in October when I found the stalk of 

 this fodder-corn green, crisp, and juicy, the stalks 

 of the crop-corn from which the fodder had been 

 gathered at the usual season, were dried up and 

 dead, I infer fi-om these fiicis, that the early 

 gathering of Ibdder is a pernicious practice — be-: 

 cause, by impairing the vitality of the stalk of the 

 corn plant, when in the very act of perlecling the 

 ear, it necessarily interferes with the complete ma- 

 turity of the grain. I advance this as no novelty, 

 but only to reiterate an impor'ant agricultural truth. 

 It has been demonstrated by repeated experiments 

 among the farmers of the middle and north- 

 ern states, that "topping corn" seriously dimin- 

 ishes the amount of the crop. By parity of rea- 

 son, the abstraction of the fodder belbre the ma- 

 turity of the grain, must be attended with conse- 

 quences proportionably injurious. It is the general 

 impression of planters, that the ear of the In- 

 dian corn is completely matured at the time of 

 gathering the fodder, and hence that no injury re- 

 sults fi'om taking away the blade. I greatly 

 doubt the correctness of this impression j Indian 

 corn being an annual, the whole energies of the 

 plant are directed to the perfection of the ear, all 

 the other parts of the plant are but the ways and 

 means provided for the accomplishment of this 

 end. Now, it seems to me reasonable, and proba- 

 ble, that as long as the leaves and stalks remain 

 trreen, they continue to impart somethmg of value 

 to the ear. The strong sympathies which are known 

 to-^ubsist between the ear, the stalk and the 

 blade, go to confirm this opinion, li' the green 

 ear is destroyed by a ' squirrel, the leaves oi' that 

 plant soon become discolored, and it prematurely 

 dies. If the blades be stripped when the corn is 

 in mutton, the stalk perishes, and the ear is shriv- 

 elled and light. You can mutilate no one part 

 of the plant, without inflicting serious injury on 

 the o'her two. 



Could we abandon the gathering of fodder, we 

 should in many respects be greatly the gainera. 



