THE GENESEE FARMER. 



339 



while mine was exceedingly thin. On examining I 

 fouiul that none of mine vegetated except that deep- 

 est in the ground. Then it at once struck me that 

 if .;I had diilU d, the year previous, it would in all 

 probability have gained me 500 or GOO bushels of 

 wheat. However, this year wc have had plenty of 

 rain since the 18th ult., and my wheat is all right, 

 and I prophecy a good crop next season. But I will 

 drill in wheat after this. (>ld as 1 am, I still learn. 

 I expect my wheat will yield about 12 bushels per 

 acre. \V'hen at Canandaigua last week, I found 

 many farmers who said Ontario county would not 

 average six bushels per acre. 



The barli-y crops are very unequal, many won't 

 give over 10 bushels per acre. Where the land was 

 drained and otherwise well managed, it has given 

 from 25 to 30 bushels per acre, and I know in one 

 instance, where the land was summer fullcwed and 

 sown with barley in the spring, 40 bushels per acre 

 were obtained. The owner said he thoroughly un- 

 derdraiued the land. 1 know of another instance of 

 40 bushels of winter barley being raised to the acre. 

 The land wus partially (not fully) underdrained, and 

 was thoroughly fallowed, and sown early in Septem- 

 ber. 



0;)ts gave a large crop where not drowned out. 

 One farmer, 14 miles south of this, told me that he 

 had a field of oats, one half of which was drained, 

 (not near thoroughly) ; the drained part gave 25 

 Dushels more per acre than the undrained, and those 

 on the drained land weighing 7 lbs. more per bushel 

 than those on the undrained. He said, '• Johnston, 

 " we don't need you now to tell us draining will pay, 

 "as we now have proof positive, by our own experi- 

 " ence." He said almost every farmer around there 

 wa.5 doing something at draining, and if he only 

 could borrow the money he would have all his farm 

 drained in two years. 



Our corn crop is mostly all ripe, and not a bad 

 crop. The gt ubs thinned mine very much, but the 

 ears are fine. John Johnston. 



Aear Geneva, JV. Y., Oct. 6, '57. 



TOPPING VS. CUTTING UP COSN. 



Yesterday, when going to town to take out some 

 friends who have been visiting us, we passed several 

 fields of corn which had been topped, i. e., the stalks 

 cut OiFjust above the ear, bound, and stacked. Some 

 of the party inquired "tvhy that M'as done," but I 

 could hardly find reasons for the practice. I said I 

 supposed it caused the corn to ripen sooner, and that 

 the part of the stalks saved, escaped injury from 

 frost, and hence were more valuable for fodder. It 

 was less labor, also, to secure the corn fodder, as 

 there was less of it, and a large bulk of the portion 

 left was fit only for manure. These were about all 

 the reasons I could mention in the favor of topping, 

 and I propose now to leave it to the advocacy of 

 those who practice it, and say u-hy I always cut up 

 my corn. 



When corn is fairly glazed, it is then fit to cut up 

 at the root, and thus all the fodder is secured, that 

 portior^ " only fit for manure" included, but it is in 

 its place, along with the other manure, and >-)f some 

 value there, which can hardly be said of it when it 

 stands as topped until plowed under. If a severe 

 frost comes before corn glazes, the sooner it is cut 

 Hj the better, but a slight frost often occurs of little 



injury to the fodder during the time of glazing. As 

 long as the stalks are full of juice, the leaves perfifl-m 

 their functions, and the corn remains umipe, the lat- 

 ter receives additional supplies from the former, whe- 

 ther standing on the hill or cut up and placed in the 

 stack, — hence topping injures the perfection of the 

 crop, and hence my second reason for cutting up is, 

 that I get more and belter corn. 



Another reason for cutting up is, that it leaves iho 

 field ready for the plow and the succeeding crop. 

 Such stalks as we raise would totally prevent fall 

 plowing, and spring plowing would be difficult unless 

 some means were taken to remove the stalk.s, were 

 the corn only topped above the ears. 



The labor of securing corn fodder — indeed, that of 

 harvesting the entire crop, is rather hard, but as 

 nmch so in the case of topping as of cutting up, 

 nearly. We cut two rows at a time, placing about 

 six hills together on the ground, to be taken up by 

 the binder following, and tied with a wisp of straw. 

 These bundles are afterwards placed in stooks of from 

 five to eight bundles, and bound with two bauds, a 

 single and a double one, and are then prepared to 

 cure in good order, or even to stand for months, if 

 necessary. But as soon as dry, we husk out, re])la- 

 cing the bundles in the stooks until finished, and then 

 storing them in the barn or stacking near the barn- 

 yard. It is very poor farming to feed them out 

 around the field, in lanes or back yards, where they 

 will be wasted as manure. 



I have noticed that corn fairly ripened on the 

 stalks was heavier than that husked before i: became 

 properly dry, and that there was some gain in grain, 

 though accompanied with a loss in the value of the 

 fodder, when the corn was well dried in the hill, be- 

 fore cutting. But my story is already too long, so I 

 will close with a caution about stacking corn-stalks. 

 Put them up in small stacks. They keep better; are 

 fed out more conveniently, and are less exposed to 

 injury from storms after the stack is opened for feed- 

 ing. A. S. B. 



Niagara Co., JY. Y. Oct., 1857. 



NOTES FROM INDIANA. 



Messrs. Editors: — I do not think that " B.," of 

 Niagara, and " S. W.," of Waterloo, have read my 

 article in the September number understandingly. 

 The idea I wished to convey was this, that it is a 

 good plan for the improvement oj land to sow tur- 

 nips among corn after the last plowing, and leave 

 them to be eaten olf by stock {sheep especially) du- 

 ring the winter. T said nothing about " growing 

 turnips successfully among corn" as a crop to be 

 gathered, but I say now that I have raised good 

 turnips in tliis. manner, and have now among my corn 

 as good a prospect for a good crop as -where they 

 are sowed by themselves in a soil four feet deep, of 

 vegetable mould, mixed with sand composed princi- 

 pally of lime, with some quartz and silicia, and per- 

 haps feldspar and mica. So " S. W." will know by 

 this that our soil is alluvion, a sort of detritus washed 

 in, and depo.'^ited from both granite and limestone 

 foimations. All the rock we have hereabout are 

 boulders, here and there on the prairies; on the north 

 side of the hills or blulTs, and along the river. There 

 is no limestone, as such near the surface, nearer than 

 the Wabash. I would respectl'ully ask S. W. if he 

 knows what he means by the " coarse wild grass of 



