162 ESSAY ON INDIAN CORN. 



our large towns, so that they can daily carry their produce to mar 

 ket, and can obtain manure without feeding out their crops to stock 

 upon the farm ; but for most of our farmers, who who are in a great 

 measure dependent upon the manure of their stock to enrich their 

 lands, it is better to raise corn than to buy it. 



Taking the average price of corn for the last six years, we may 

 safely estimate that a bushel of ears of corn is worth forty cents. 

 I am aware that it usually costs nearly this sum to raise corn — but 

 then it is one of the best preparatory crops for all others ; and the 

 fodder is of much value. 



The corn crop possesses some advantages over most other crops. 

 The seed costs but little ; it is comparatively sure ; it can be kept 

 for a long time ; it requires but little attention in haying time. 



It will be my object, to show, how the farmers of Essex, by turn- 

 ing their attention to this crop, may prepare their land to produce 

 more hay, thereby enabling them to keep more stock, and conse- 

 quently increasing their supply of manure. 



The main object of most farmers, in cultivating their land, is to 

 prepare it to produce more grass. Much of it, after it has been 

 planted, and sown with grain and grass in the usual way, produces 

 but little more than it did before ploughing. Some of the agricul- 

 tural journals, within a few years, have recommended turning over 

 grass land and seeding it down again, without an intervening crop. 

 On very low, wet land, this is a good method ; but on land that will 

 admit of cultivation, it is better to plant corn, and sow the grass seed 

 among the corn. 



Land that can be ploughed smooth enough to sow on the furrow in 

 August, may be ploughed as cheap for corn in November, or the 

 following spring. The expense for applying the manure will be no 

 more. If we use manure sufficient to produce two tons of hay, we 

 may expect one hundred bushels of ears of corn per acre. The ex- 

 pense for planting an acre, after the manure is put on, will not ex- 

 ceed two dollars — the cultivation, while growing, need not exceed 

 five dollars. The corn fodder, and what hay it will produce more 

 for the next four years, will pay for the extra expense of planting 

 and cultivating, so that we shall have the one hundred bushels of 

 ears of corn as gain, of one method over the other. This method 

 of renovating old grass land, has many advantages over that of seed- 

 ing on the furrow. It pulverizes the soil better, and we have a ro- 



