88 



^l)c laxintt's iUontl)li) bisitor. 



take tlie follo\vin<r: Tlie Noiir.se cow, ownetl in 

 Noilii S:ik'iii, tiiiide 20 |ioini(ls of butler in one 

 week, and averajred 14 ponnds per week for four 

 Buceessive inontlis. 



A cow owned by S. D. Colt, of PittsfieUl,from 

 Dec. 1 toA|)ril 2G, 148 days, produced l'J3 pounds 

 of butter. 



Fotn- cows belonging: to Jesse Putnam, Dan- 

 vers, Mass., in 1830 averaged more than 208 lbs. 

 butter eacli fur tbe season. Highly fed. 



A cow owned by S. Hensliaw, SprinL'fielil, pro- 

 duced 173 pounds butter per week, and in one 

 case 21 pounds of excellent butter. In 4i days, 

 that is, 4 days and 1 milking, she produced 14 

 pounds 3 ounces of butter— at the rate of 22i 

 pounds per week. 



" Kaalskill" received the first prize of the New 

 York State Agricultural Society as the best dairy 

 cow exhibited, in Pouglikcepsie, in 1844. We 

 are unable to refer to the original statement fur- 

 nished tlin Society by IMr. Donaldson in regard 

 to the produce of this cow, but can say that sat- 

 isfactory evidence was given that she had yielded, 

 when kept oji grass only, 38d quarts of milk i.er 

 day, and that iiom the milk given btr in two 

 days, Ci jiounds of butter were made, being at 

 the rate of 225 pounds per week. Her appear- 

 ance fully corresponds with the accoinit of her 

 produce. It is proper to state that while her milk 

 was measured for the purpose of accurately as- 

 certaining the quantity, she was milked four tiines 

 every twenty four hours. 



American Institute"Farmer9' Club—Indian 

 Corn. 



Mmj 5th, 184G. 



J. S. Skinner, in the chair. 



Mr. Meigs — Remarked that the term Maize 

 was, when spelt Mayse, used by some of the 

 northern people of Europe, to deiioininale bread. 

 Maize was of the genus of plants called Zea by 

 the botanists. 



That the tertn Samp was Indian, and meant 

 corn coarsely broken, boiled in milk. The lerni 

 Hommony was Indian, and meant corn coarsely 

 broken, bniled iii water. And that it was con- 

 ceded that Indian corn was a native of America, 

 unknown to Eiiro|>e or Asia before the discovery 

 of this continent. 



As to Indian corn, the qualities of it vnry much 

 in the different sections of the United States. 

 Tbe breail made from Sonihern corn is dry and 

 very palatable; that froiii Northern corn is more 

 moist and heavy. The (pialiiy of bread made of 

 any corn depends as much on tbe modes of 

 cooking it as upon the kind ot corn used. I 

 think that the success of the experiineiil of in- 

 troducing the use of Indian corn into England, 

 will depend upon these circumstances of quality 

 and cooking. 



Co!. Edu-ard Clark— Oar Northern corn seems 

 to contain more silicions matter in its composi- 

 tion, than the Southern corn. It requires much 

 longer immersion in water before it is sufficiently 

 softened. Our lliiil corn has its name from its 

 hardness. Our Southern corn is easily |iounded 

 or ground, and is much more easily cooked. 

 When cooked with milk, or with a portion of lard 

 in it, it is excellent food. 



Judf^e I'lin Jl'ycic — Indian corn helps the soil 

 on which it grows for sncceeding crops of grain. 

 It is an exec'llent crop to precede one of wheal. 

 The soil for corn must be rich — for it is a com- 

 mon saying — Corn is a grass-feeder!— niH\ the 

 cultivation necessary in a crop of il, has the ef- 

 fect of leaving the soil in fine condition for wheat 

 or any other grain. Corn is one of the strongest 

 and best fi)ods for man, and still more so for 

 many animals. !t has more of the flesh making 

 |iro|)erties in it than any kind of wheat. Oats and 

 corn ground logelher form a fei'd which fiittens 

 animals more rapidly, than any feed given to 

 them. 1 believe that the Southern corn for some 

 purjioses is preferable to the Norlhcrn. ll makes 

 a lighter bread and is more easy to cook, lint 

 the Northern in a stronger food than the South- 

 ern. The stalks of corn fid to cows give the 

 best milk and more of it than any hay. This 

 effect is probably duo to the huge amount of 

 saccharine contained in the stalks — sugar is made 

 from the juice. The roots of corn extend far, 

 and great care ought to be taken not to injure 

 them in ploughing or other cultivation. 



Mr. Hovghlon, of Kahway, New Jersey — Our 

 Northern corn, if judged by its price in market, 



is to be preferred to any other, for it brings al- 

 ways t«o cents per bushel more than any olher 

 corn ! 



Col. C/or/i— Our Northern corn weighs six 

 Iiounds per bushel more than the Southern 

 corn. 



Mr. Wakcman — OiirNorlhern hard corn is oily, 

 and « hat is termed Pop Corn, owes its peculiar 

 pro]ierty to its oily nature. 1 read the following 

 remarks f ioiii an intelligent writer. " Of the grain 

 stufls, rice and corn differ in this, that the former 

 contains tbe least fiitty iriatter, atid corn the most, 

 and ranging between these exliemes we have 

 wheat, oats, rye, barley, &c., all diflerent, and yet 

 are capahh^ of being applied to the conditions 

 best suited to them. It is on account of the fatty 

 nature of Indian corn that it is such a strong kind 

 of food, and that persons unaccustomed to it can- 

 not at first endure it. The nations which fi-ed 

 chieHy on rice, are not near so robust as those 

 which use Indian coin, as the blacks at the Soulh 

 niosily do. Persons nnaecuslomed to this kind 

 of food, therefore, will do best to commence with 

 the white Indian meal, in preference to the yel- 

 low, as it is not so rich. This preference has 

 already occurred in England, where the article is 

 new. There is only one more observation which 

 I wish to make. As Indian corn mt>al contains 

 so much fit in it, if kept too long it is liable to 

 become rancid, and it is Ihen more or less unlit 

 for use. In the shipments made to the West 

 Indies, the meal is conimonly kiln-dried, to obvi- 

 ate as much as possible this lenilency to rancidi- 

 ty. For reasons just detailed, the white corn 

 meal will keep rather better— and from its being 

 lighter and niilihr, it is as much preferred (or use 

 in warm climates, as ihe yellow fijr similar in- 

 ducetnents, is in cold." 



Mr. Hyde — The discussion of this question 

 here, ought to be carelully conducted ; for it may 

 have sou;e influence on public opinion abroad. 

 There are two kinds of Southern Gourd Seed 

 Corn — one white and the oilier yellow. Onr 

 Norlliern w hite and yellow corn have more gluten 

 and less starch than the Southern corn — so has 

 the corn of our Western country. The differ- 

 ences of qualily are almost as distinguished as 

 the latitudes in which they are produced. 1 have 

 raised the Canada corn in Missouri, and its growth 

 was there so rapid that il was fit for eating liy 

 the first day of July. The white corn of Rhode 

 Island has more starch than most Northern corn. 

 Jersey corn has more yet, and makes better bread. 

 Our Western com lias yet more starch. Our 

 Tuscora corn has most starch of any corn. And 

 I have known persons find it quite difliciilt on 

 exaniiiiini: fine bohed meal ji'orii the Tuscnra 

 corn, to dislinguish it fii)m wheat flour! Our 

 sweet corn has little, if any starch — it is only 

 good to eat when green, it is then very sweet and 

 delicious. The Canada corn is insipid — Rhode 

 Island corn is somewhat so. The Sweet corn 

 grows all over our countiy without alteration in 

 its peculiar properties. 



Mr. JMtigs — I have planted almost all the va- 

 rieties of Indian corn. When Lewis and Clark 

 relnrne<l from their visit to Oregon, they brought 

 with lliem a small corn, which had been fl'oin 

 time immemorial cultivated by the Maiidali na- 

 tion of lridi;ius, and have Itir years ciiltivaled lliat 

 corn in my garden, and have distributed its seed 

 lor years. The plant attained about three fectol 

 height and ihc ears of green corn were usually 

 lit to eat about the (ourlli of July. 



J)Ir. Hydc—\Vc can raise Indian corn in our 

 country for twenty cods a bushel I we can have 

 fiom tliirly to fifty liushels pi'r acre with a very 

 nioderati; amount of labor when conqiared with 

 olher grain. Our wheat may average some twen- 

 ty or twenty two bushels per acre — so that we 

 can easily have twice as much corn as of wheat 

 on an acre. In our Western world, corn is raised 

 by the plough aloin; — the hoe is almost entirely 

 unused by our people, and it is not necessary to 

 use it. Corn pounded in a mortar coarsely, or 

 ground coarsely in an iron mill, and judiciously 

 cooked, is universally esteemed. 



Mr. Jirotrne — I exhibit here the pop corn and 

 the rice corn ; the grains of the latter of the si/e, 

 and nearly the figure, of grains of rice. The 

 rice corn has of all, the least portion of starch. 

 In lhe!o grains the oil is the cause of the pe- 

 culiar efleet of heat in turning the grain inside 

 out, called popping it, from the slight explosion 

 which results from the decomposition of the oil 



of the grain. In order to produce this result in 

 the best manner, have a box uf wire gauze of 

 small meshes, hohfing about two (piarts; put in 

 the po|i corn and expose it to heat, often turning 

 it about, and very soon every grain will explode 

 and be turned inside out. Tlie gases cannot burn, 

 nor can the corn be hurt by the fire, for it acts on 

 the same principle with Sir Iluuiphrey Davy's 

 Safety Lamp! A Light House on Lake Erie lias 

 used oil made from corn for burning. Some 

 sixteen gallonsof the oil have been obtained from 

 one hundred bushels of corn, ami it is believed 

 that llie oil is of a superior ipialiiv. 



The various a[iplieations of Indian corn are 

 very valuable in rural eeonomy. Those kinds 

 which yield the most starch are best for bread. 

 Those which contain the largest portion of oil 

 are best calcidaled for feeding poultry. 



Prof. Mitpes — Corn is supposed somelimes not 

 to flourish, fiir want of the presence of phos- 

 phates in the soil. I low to supply such deficien- 

 cy in the soil— hone dust is well adapted, for 

 bone dust contains eighty five [ler cent, of phos- 

 phate of lime and filieen per cent, of gelatine. 

 The fish called Moses Riiiiker, used for manure, 

 is valuable principally on account of the super 

 phosphate of lime in its bones. It is the chemi- 

 cal element to wliieh its fertilizing jiotters are 

 due. — Farmer and .Mechanic. 



Prepared Manures and their Effects on Crops. 



The substance of the following remarks, which 

 we copy (Voin the American Agriculturist, was 

 lately delivered at the meeting of the American 

 Agricultural Association, in New York, by R. L. 

 Pell. 



Mr. Pell rose and said : Uy analysis il is known 

 that all cereal grains, cruciferous ami leguminous 

 plants, trees and shrubs, require in the soil the 

 same chemical substances, but in diflerent qntin- 

 tities. These are eleven, viz : potash, soda, lime, 

 magnesia, alumina, oxide of iron, oxide of man- 

 ganese, silica, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, 

 and chlorine. If one be absent, the soil will not 

 grow any cultivated plant, llence analysis of 

 soils is necessary for a proper and economical 

 applicati<in of niaiiure. Ill a barren soil one 

 necessary ingredient alone might be absent. If, 

 then, ten ingredients be added and the eleventh 

 kept back, the soil is still barren. Hence the rea- 

 son why so much of New York will not grow 

 wheat, and yet will grow other grain ; the requi- 

 site quantity of some one or more chemical in- 

 gredients necessary for wheat is absent, but in 

 sufiicieut ipiaiitity for rye, &:c. Wlien, at last, 

 cultivated plains cease to grow, the five finger 

 vine ap|ieais, a> it requires slill less of then'. In 

 such a stale it is not rare that an expense of three 

 dollars per acre will eii;ible the soil to produce 

 thirty bushels of wheat. 1 produced seventy- 

 <^ight and tliree-ipiarler bushels of wheal on a 

 piece of worn-out ground, by fifty cents worth 

 of two ingredients. Like produces like ; and 

 hence if straw of wheat be given to the ground 

 it will produce wheal; indeed, wheat may bo 

 grown on a pane of glas.s, if the seed be covered 

 with wheat straw in a decomposing state. Hence 

 the firmer may sell the grain but not the straw. 

 The farmer who sells straw becomes poor, lie 

 who buys it grows rich. 



I apply straw lo the cattle yard; it absorbs the 

 liquid oxiuemeni, anil rots. W hat is long, or 

 partly unrolled, I apply to hoed crops; what 

 is fine I mix wiili ihe eleven requisites ami 

 apply as n top dressing. It may be advisable to 

 apply the straw to the ground and plough it in 

 w hen unrolled. To grow grains, give the soil 

 straw of its kind ; for polatoe.», their vines ; grapes, 

 their vines : to apples, their branches, and so of 

 all. The droppings of calllc are the best uiaiiure 

 to grow grasses, as they ftcil on grass; those of 

 horses fed on grain, for the growth of cereals. — 

 Onions are grow n year aficr year, by only relum- 

 ing the tops to the ground. In Virginia, bad the 

 refuse of the tobacco plant been returned lo the 

 soil, she would not now be barren. The bad 

 firmer is injured by the vicinity of well manured 

 land, as manure hasanafliuity fin- oxygen, hydro- 

 gen, ammonia, \c., floating in the air, and at- 

 iraets them to the provideni fiirmer's land. 



Formerly, I applied compos'sof various things 

 and had wonderful resnlls. I dared not omit any 

 one, as 1 knew not which had produced the re- 

 salt. Now, science, by analysis, shows what is 

 neceesnry. By these composts I grow a squash 



