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IND 



IND 



third week in May ; or a little soon- 

 er or later according to the dryness 

 of the soil, and the forwardness of 

 the spring. The farmers have a 

 rule in this case, said to be borrow- 

 ed fronr» the aboriginals, which is, to 

 plant corn when the leaves of white 

 oak begin to appear. But so much 

 time is commonly taken up in plant- 

 ing this corn, it being tedious work 

 to dung it in holes, that it will be 

 necessary to begin in the driest part 

 of the tieid a little earlier than this 

 rule directs. 



Shell the seed gently by hand, 

 that it may not be torn or bruised 

 at all, rejecting about an inch at 

 each end of the ear. And, if any 

 corns appear with black eyes, let 

 them also be rejected, not because 

 they will not grow at all the con- 

 trary being true; but because the 

 blackness indicates, either some 

 defect in drying, or want of perfec- 

 tion in the grain. Put five corns 

 in what is called ahilKandlet them 

 not be very near together; for the 

 more the roots crowd each other, 

 the more they will prevent the 

 growth of each other. Four corns 

 would perhaps be a better number, 

 if it were certain they would all 

 prosper. The true reasons for put- 

 ting more thmi one in a place 1 take 

 to be, that by means of it, the rows 

 may be so far apart as to admit of 

 ploughing between them ; and that 

 some, labour in hand hoeing is sa- 

 ved, it being no more work to hoe 

 a hill with five plants, than with one 

 in it. 



Some steep their seed. But in 

 general it had better be omitted ; 

 for it will occasion it to perish in 

 the ground, if the weather should 



not prove warm enough to bring it 

 up speedily. If planting a second 

 time should become necessary, by 

 means of the destruction of the first 

 seed ; or if planting be delayed on 

 any account till the begiiming of 

 June, then it will be proper that the 

 seed should have boiling water 

 poured on it. Let it not soak more 

 than half a minute, and be cooled 

 speedily, and planted before it 

 dries. The corn will be forward- 

 er in its growth by several days. — 

 The seed should be covered with 

 about two inches of earth. 



To prevent birds and vermin 

 from pulling up the corn, steep some 

 corn in a strong infusion of Indian 

 poke, or refuse tobacco, and scat- 

 ter it over the ground before the 

 corn is up. White threads stretch- 

 ed over a field of corn, will pre- 

 vent crows from alighting upon it: 

 But I doubt whether this will deter 

 any other birds. 



A handful of ashes on each hill, 

 will nourish the plants, and have a 

 tendency to prevent their being an- 

 noyed by worms. Some lay it on 

 just before the first, or second hoe- 

 ing. It will have a better effect in 

 preventing worms, if laid on before 

 the corn is up. But it is common- 

 ly designed to answer chiefl} as a 

 top dressing ; and for this purpose 

 it would answer better near the 

 third hoeing; for then the plants 

 want the greatest degree of nour- 

 ishment, as they begin to grow very 

 rapidly. Two dressings with ash- 

 es, to answer the two purposes, 

 would not be amiss. 



When the plants are three or 

 four inches high, the plough must 

 pass in the intervals, making two 



