1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



747 



numerous cars ; whilst tlie latter was, in the first 

 trial, and has been in ihc second, the tallest corn 1 

 ever saw — shooting much higher in both trials, 

 than any of our common varieties, and haviniz; 

 smaller ears. The Dution corn, of the present 

 year, has grown as tall as any kind except the Ba- 

 den, which it fully equals in the size and number 

 of its ears, although neither has any thi ng lo 

 recommend it in this respect. In tins nial I 

 have noticed two things which haveslruckme with 

 much surprise. One is, that the Dution corn, al- 

 though the earliest, has been considerably changed 

 by the Baden ; for it has many white grains in- 

 termixed wiih the yellow, whereas the latier has 

 no yellow grains mixed with the white. But a 

 still more remarkable Ikct is, the proofexhibited by 

 one ear of the Dution, thai the change in the color 

 of the grain commences in the outer end o( each 

 instead of ihe small end next ihe cob, with which 

 the silk directly communicates. This circumstance 

 jn the physiology of the corn plant is, to me, alto- 

 gether unaccountable and 1 should be much 

 gratified at seeing some rational explanation of ii. 

 What I have further to say of the two varieties 

 just mentioned is, that my two trials of then) induce 

 me to conclude that neitlier will suit our climate 

 and latitude. Great as the difference has been in 

 the results of these trials, both have (iilien im- 

 measurably short of the characters wiiich some 

 of our newspapers have given of the two va- 

 rieties. But it is possible that I might not have 

 obtained the genuine kind in either case ; lor such 

 is ihe unprincipled cupidity of a vast proportion 

 of seed and plant sellers, that the moment they 

 discover the slightest indication of an oj^porlunity 

 lo make a profitable humbug of any thing in their 

 line, they leave no art, however knavish, untried 

 lo effect their purpose, even to the substituting of 

 one kind of seed or plant lor another, wherever 

 they can do it without the risk of detection and 

 exposure. The most barelaced thing of ihe kind 

 that I ever knew, occurred last spring or winter. 

 One of these humbuging gentry, not content with 

 the popular title of " Baden corn," in advertising 

 some which he wished to sell, called it '-the true 

 twin Baden or tree corn,'''' although he must 

 have known perfectly well, that two of these tides 

 belonged to other and distinct varieiies. This 

 most shameful and truly dishonest practice not 

 only greatly discourages us from making experi- 

 ments, either with corn or any thing else, but of- 

 ten deleats entirely our object in making them, 

 which is to ascertain the best and most profitable 

 crops to cultivate. For this evil there is but one 

 cure, and that is, to save our own seed whenever 

 we can, and when we cannot, to buy only of 

 seedsmen whose characters are irreproachable. 

 My second corn-experiment was with the mix- 

 ed seed of the lour Ibllowing varieties, to wit: — 

 twin-corn, (Jarmichaefs improved dci. — Alsop's 

 and Baden's — all of them while, and somevvhai 

 resembling each other in character. The only 

 visible efiecl was an increase in the sizeof the ears 

 but not, so fir as I could judge, in the product per 

 acre. And here 1 beg leave to express an opinion 

 founded on my own experience, corrobated by that 

 of all the best corn-planters with whom [ have 

 conversed on the subject. It is, that the larger 

 the ears of corn are, the iewer there will be on a 

 etalk, and the less will be the proportion of urain 

 to the quantity ol' cobs, and the size of the stalks, 



compared with the smaller eared varieties, which, 

 in all the instances that 1 have noticed, have ri- 

 pened sooner, had more ears, with much less cob 

 to ihe grain upon each, and conseciuently have 

 produced more per acre, and shelled out more to 

 the granary in which they were housed. To these 

 iacis there has been no excej)iion in five trials, as 

 accurate and lair as 1 could possibly .make ihem, 

 t)etwecn five distinct varieties ol laige eared corn, 

 three of which trials were made this year, and the 

 twin corn which I first obtained fioni Governor 

 Lloyd, ol' Maryland, but have greatly improved 

 since, by carelul selection. The latier has, in 

 every case, produced many more ears, more grain, 

 and weighed n)ore per bushel than all the other 

 varieties but one, vvliirh was a large-eared corn 

 called Richardson's, the seed of which I procured 

 I'rom Spoltsylvania. This it exceeded in measure, 

 and e(|ualled m weight. Even in llie best land, 

 whereon I have tried the large kinds, they have 

 rarely had more than one ear on a stalk, whereas 

 Ihe twin-corn in similar soils, lias very seldom had 

 less than three, and not unirequentiy Irom lour to 

 six, sometimes even seven or eight, although these 

 of course were small. In my crop of the present 

 year, which is chiefly of uvin-corn, 1 have noticed a 

 growth of so extraordinary a kind, thai I should 

 have some hesitation in mentioning it, if 1 had not 

 exhibited a proui'of it to you, at our last anniversary. 

 i have jbund sever^^l stalks with two distinct ears 

 growing on a loot-stalk or branch liom one joint ; 

 two 1 lound with three ears, and one wiih lijur, all 

 separate, and on ihe same branch Irom a single joint. 

 The last has three other ears grov.'ing on Ibot-stalks 

 or branches from other joints. This circumstance I 

 have mentioned lo many old corn planters, but 

 have not met wiih one wlio had ever seen or 

 heard ol' any thing of Ihe kind. 1 myselt deem it 

 so remarkable, that I shall send the bes! specimen 

 to that very good tiiend o!' our cause, Mr. Ells- 

 worth, the Commissioner oi" Patents, who is ma- 

 king a collection of every thing rare and excellent 

 which can contribute in any way to promote the 

 agriculture of the United Slates. I avail myself 

 of this occasion to announce his object, which is 

 truly patriotic, that all who sincerely love their 

 country may zealously aid him in attaining it. 



To you, my breihern, who know me so well, 

 no disclaimer of selfish motives, I trust, will be 

 necessary in regard to any thing 1 have said in 

 lavor of the twin-corn. But many lo whom 1 am 

 an utter stranger, may probably read it, and pos- 

 sibly may rank vie among those coniem()iible 

 wretches, now so common, who are ever seeking to 

 make a profitable humbug of anything, however 

 worthless, if they have the lidntest hope of exci- 

 ting credulity enough in the public to efiect their 

 purpose. They are true swindlers in spirit, if not 

 in fact, and have lately become so numerous and 

 successful, thai I could not blame entire strangers 

 lor suspecting me of wishing to jjlsy the same 

 game with a grain which i liave so highly com- 

 mended. 1 liiereljre deem it necessary, should 

 there be any such persons, lo assure them that I 

 have not the slightest desire nor design lo offer 

 my twin-corn fur more than my neighbors ask lor 

 tiieirs, neither do 1 wish lo sell iiin small parcels, 

 which is always very tl■ouble^^ome. 



But there is another error in regard to myself, 

 against which it may perhaps be well to guard 

 even you, my old and mlimate associates. It is 



