454 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



taking levels and making plans for the irrigation of 

 several hundred acres belonging to different no- 

 blemen and gentlemen in Sweden; but from the 

 numerous cases already mentioned, I consider it 

 unnecessary to give any more examples, as from 

 them the reader must be convinced of the great 

 value of these improvements; I shall, therefore, 

 conclude this essay with a short summary of the 

 advantages to be derived from irrigation. 



The crops on water meadows are produced at 

 the least expense, and with the greatest certainty 

 of an early return. On water meadows that are 

 well managed, the grass is the earliest and of a 

 superior quality, well adapted for the feeding of 

 ewes and lambs;* and the hay, when properly 

 made, is equal to the best clover hay, and supe- 

 rior to any other kind for milch cows. When the 

 herbage of dry porous soils is impoverished for the 

 want of moisture, and the rich spungy land by its 

 remaining too long stagnant, both of these evils 

 are remedied. Another great advantage attend- 

 ing irrigation, is the extra supply of manure it 

 yields to the arable part of a farm, especially 

 when the lands are lying (which is often the case) 

 at so great a distance, that it is almost impossible 

 to procure it for money. 



The success of improving land by irrigation, 

 perfectly warrants an experiment in the most un- 

 favorable situation. The result will invariably 

 triumph over every prejudice. 



I will conclude this interesting subject with the 

 following extract from Mr. Walter Blith's Survey 

 of Husbandry Surve\ r ed. London, 1653, 4to. 

 (Page 25.) 



"Thou hast also another great advantage here- 

 by having water drawne over thy land, thou art 

 in such a capacity that, in case of drought in time 

 of summer, thou needest not to feare it. Thou 

 mayest now and then wet over thy land in the 

 heat thereof, where grasse, if it have but moys- 

 ture, will grow far faster in so hot. a time than any; 

 but be sure not to soake thy ground too much: 

 keepe thy land rather in a thirsting condition, not 

 glutted ready to spew it up again, so mayest thou 

 preserve thy land greene and iruitfull, when others 

 are scorched all away, then may a wecke's grasse 

 or a load of hay possibly be worth three or four. 



"I myselfe, by these opportunities, have cut 

 twenty- four load in a meadow, where I cut but 

 five or six the year before, when hay sold at a 

 great value. The directions exactly followed, I 

 Avill lose my credit if thou faile of the effect pro- 

 mised." 



INDIAN CORN MADE WITHOUT TILLAGE AF- 

 TER PLANTING. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



By experiment, I have arrived at some con- 

 clusions in regard to the culture of Indian corn, 

 which I think are of importance to planters in the 



* If the late Sir George Montgomery, Bart, of Mag- 

 biehill, had not had recourse to his water meadows in 

 the cold backward spring of 1826, his numerous flocks 

 would undoubtedly have starved; but by putting them 

 on the water meadows from the middle of April to the 

 first of May, he not only preserved the most of his 

 lambs from perishing, but, in the same year, cut nearly 

 three hunched stone of hay per acre. 



southern states. I communicate them for the use 

 of the public with great hesitation, because they 

 are directly at variance with the received opinions 

 on the subject. 



The early part of my life was spent in agricul- 

 tural pursuits — and hence, if there were no other 

 reason, I feel a-deep interest in every thing rela- 

 ting to agriculture. I noticed, very early, the 

 great difficulty in transplanting successfully the 

 young corn plants. Whence comes this, but from 

 breaking the roots in taking the plant up? How 

 is it then, that intelligent planters affirm the doc- 

 trine, that one chief object of ploughing corn, is 

 to cut its roots? If breaking the roots of young 

 corn in transplanting it, is really fatal to its future 

 growth, must, not breaking its roots with the 

 plough, when it is older, and the season hotter, be 

 a serious injury to it? Any other conclusion seems 

 to me to be at variance with the general economy 

 of nature. It seems to me that there can be, in 

 truth, but two reasons for ploughing or hoeing 

 corn — 1st, to destroy grass and weeds — and 2nd, 

 to keep the soil loose, that the roots may penetrate 

 easily, in search of their proper food. But in ac- 

 complishing these two purposes, great injury must 

 be done to the corn, by breaking its roots. Can 

 we not accomplish both these ends, and at the 

 same time keep clear of the attendant mischief? 

 I think we can. 



Last spring I planted a small piece of poor 

 ground — first breaking it up well. The rows were 

 made three feet apart, and the stalks left about a 

 foot apart in the drill. The ground had been very 

 foul last year with crab grass, whose seed m at u reel. 

 The corn was not well up this spring before the 

 grass began to appear. When the corn had about 

 tour or five blades, the young grass completely co- 

 vered the ground, and the corn was turning yel- 

 low. I spread a small quantity of-stable manure 

 around the corn, and covered the whole ground 

 three or four inches deep with leaves from the fo- 

 rest, taking care to do this when the ground was 

 wet, and the leaves also, that they might not be 

 blown away, and to leave the tops of the young 

 corn uncovered. In ten days there was not a par- 

 ticle of living grass to be found, and the corn had 

 put on that deep blueish green, which always beto- 

 kens a healthful condition of the plant. 



From the day the corn was planted until after 

 the fodder was pulled and the tops cut, nothing 

 more was done with it, and the result is a product 

 at the rate of forty-two bushels to the acre — 

 about one-third of the stalks having two ears on 

 each of them. 



I noted, in the course of the summer, the fol- 

 lowing facts: — 



1st. The corn treated thus, was always ahead 

 of some planted along-side of it 3 and treated in 

 the usual way. 



2nd. It ripened at least ten days sooner than 

 other corn, planted at the same time. 



3d. During the hottest and dryest days the 

 blades never twisted up, as did other corn in the 

 neighborhood. 



4th. In the dryest weather, on removing the 

 leaves, the ground was found to be moist to the 

 surface, and loose, as deep as it had been at first 

 broken up. 



5th. The heaviest rains had scarcely any effect 

 in washing away the soil, or making it hard. 



It certainly will require less labor to produce com 



