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THE F.IRMERS' REGISTER. 



time around old dwellings, this grass will be sure 

 to appear, and lake possession of the ground, un- 

 less great care be used to restrain its production. 

 To eradicate it effectually, on its favorite soils, is 

 aimosl impossible. It extends its growth not only 

 by its seeds, like other grasses, but still more by 

 its long running or jointed superficial roots, which 

 stretch several feet from the parent stock, and 

 striking in new roots from every joint, commence 

 at each place a new growth. Every joint of these 

 runners, when broken or moved by the plough or 

 harrow, if covered by earth, becomes a growing 

 eel, and new source of supply. The vitality of the 

 roots, even after being taken out of the earth, is 

 remarkably enduring; and they have been known 

 to live and grow, after exposure to dry air, or long 

 immersion in water, which had been deemed cer- 

 tainly destructive. This grass was (and still is) 

 the great pest of Weyanoke, the highly improved 

 farm of the late Fielding Lewis, on James river. 

 And while that admirable farmer and improver 

 carefully saved every other material fur' manure 

 produced by his land, he removed and threw 

 away the enormous amount of wire-grass roots 

 which he had every year to get out of his ground, 

 lest he should increase the evil, if using them as a 

 material lor manure. The running roots abound in 

 saccharine matter, and must contain much nour- 

 ishing aliment for animals, as well as enriching 

 manure for land. The proportion of roots is enor- 

 mously large, (perhaps greater than all the growth 

 of the grass above ground,) and therefore the loss 

 of value as well as the amount of labor, in remov- 

 ing and destroying them is very great. There 

 would be lew discoveries more valuable to improv- 

 ing farmers, than to learn how to subdue this 

 grass, as a weed, economically, and to utilize its 

 undoubtedly valuable material, when necessary to 

 be subdued. — Ed. Farm. Kkg. 



CULTURK OF INDIAN CORK. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Ussex, Feb. 20th, 1841. 

 As the time of planting corn is near at hand, 1 

 will veriiure again to offer you a lew more re- 

 marks on this most useful of all the grains at pre- 

 sent known to us. And this I will do, even at 

 the rirk of being deemed by yourself and your 

 readers, as quite hohbyhorsical on this subject. 

 All, I believe, will agree that there is nmch yet 

 to be learned in retrard to it ; and that corn-grow- 

 ers, eef)eciHlly, should ever be willing^ to encourage 

 every inquiry, the object of which is to ascertain, 

 as far as practicable, what are its distinctive quali- 

 ties, and what its proper culture. Ol this grain 

 we have already a considerable number of va- 

 rieties, and these are increasing every year. Ii 

 becomes, therefore, more and more iu)porlant to 



determine which of them nil is intrinsically best, 

 (if any be so,) in all the three pariiculais whicli 

 render one kuiJ more valuable than another; to 

 wit: greater productiveness per acre, greater 

 weight per bushel, and superior nu'riiive proper- 

 lies per pound. None, I presume, will deny that the 

 variety which is found to possess most of these 

 three qualities, (if any does,) is justly entitled to 

 be prelerred to all others. So far, I believe, there 

 is no dillerence of opinion among corn-growers. 

 But when they come to decide between the vari- 

 ous kinds, we find almost as many opinions aa 

 there are disputants. Opinions, too, which, unfor- 

 tunately, are very olien maintained — not with 

 that calm, investigating temper, which is indis- 

 pensable in the pursuit of truth — but with a de- 

 gree of dogmatism, petulance, and obstinacy, that 

 would be (lisgracelul even among squabbling 

 children. Kach of these wranglers has his fa- 

 vorite, whose claims to superiority he often urges 

 with as much warmth and vehemence as he 

 would use in a political party controversy ; al- 

 though he may not be able to stale a single fair 

 experiment that he has ever made to support his 

 opinion. There is only one thing m which they 

 can agree, and in which I think 1 can prove that 

 they are perl'ecti'y right. This is, the belief that 

 there is a great and radical difference between the 

 varieties in all the qualities of productiveness, 

 weight, and nutrition. 



There are, however, some few corn-growers, I 

 believe, who maintain, that there is no essential 

 difference in the productiveness of the different 

 varieties of corn : in other words, that if one kind 

 is ever liiund to measure more than another, the 

 difference is ascribable to soil and climate, rather 

 than to any innate qualities in the varieties 

 themselves. To support this opinion I have 

 searched, but in vain, for the citation of even a 

 single well conducted experiment ; and am there- 

 fore compelled to attribute the maintenance there- 

 of to that fbiulness lijr odd notions which some 

 men seem to take a most unaccountable and sin- 

 gular pleasure in avowing. To these may truly 

 be applied the old rhyming couplet, 



" A man convinced against his will. 

 Is ot the same opinion still." 



None, therefore, of the foUowins: remarks are de- 

 signed ihr them ; as it would be quite presumptuoua 

 in me to attempt what so many better farmera 

 than 1 am, have failed to achieve. But believing, 

 as I do, that a vast majority ol' us are boih willing 

 and anxious to learn from each other whatever 

 may increase our knowledge of the various things 

 connected with our profession, I will proceed, li>r 

 their sake, to state my experience in regard to ten 

 or twelve different varieties of corn, with which I 

 have been busily engaged, for some years past, in 

 making comparative experiments. All these kinds 

 were in hiyli repute in the parts of the country 

 from which they were procured; and the result 

 of n)y various trials warrants me, I think, in as- 

 serting that there is an innate difference between 

 the lightest, and the heaviest, a difference little 

 if at all affected by soil and climate, of at least, 

 ten pounds per bushel, making fifty pounds per 

 barrel 1 and an average difference in productive- 

 ness per acre of not less than fifteen per cent. 

 This is not mere matter of opinion, but proved by 

 actually weighing and measuring the varieties 



