640 



THE FAKMERS' REGISTER. 



Bufficient distance isf given. By lessening the dis- 

 tance, or leaving two stocks to the hill, a portion oC 

 the nutriment that would otherwise be imparted 

 to the ear will be drawn away to support the in- 

 creased quantity of stock and the blades thereon, 

 and more fodder but less corn will be made there- 

 by. 



Added to this is another reason why I give 

 that distance to my corn. I never take oti' the 

 suckers, and I leave it to nature to relieve each 

 siock of any superabundance of nutriment in the 

 soil, by throwing off as many suckers as it can 

 support. This last reason may be a very in- 

 sufficient one to most planters, and I may have 

 given rise to another ^'disputed question in agri- 

 culture,^'' but I am fully convinced that nothing 

 is gained by removing the suckers from corn, of- 

 ten injury is dooe, and always time is lost in the 

 operation. So that though I leave my corn very 

 wide apart at first, it becomes somewhat thicker, 

 and just where I want it— in the best spots ; and 

 I have the distance better regulated by that means, 

 than by the most judicious management of my 

 own. On the propriety of leaving the suckers on 

 corn, I could supply some interesting details, and 

 perhaps some useful information, but I would 

 thereby extend this article to two great length; 

 and I will now, very briefly, in reply to the second 

 branch of the above inquiry, state my method of 

 cultivating corn, without, however, claiming lor it 

 the best mode, or that which will produce the 

 greatest net profit. 



The land intended for corn should be broken up 

 deep, some time belbre it is planted. Just before 

 planting, it should be thrown up in three furrows 

 (with the shovel plough) and crossed (deep) with 

 one furrow of the same plough. If manured, it 

 should be trenched as follows. The hands em- 

 ployed in dropping the manure should use a 

 basket for that purpose that will hold about a 

 bushel. They should walk upon the three fur- 

 rows, and at each check place one foot, and drop 

 the manure on each side of the foot, and then 

 gently ease up the foot, which will leave an open- 

 ing in the manure at the bottom of the furrow 

 for the reception of the corn, which should be im- 

 mediately dropped, and covered. This may all 

 be useless detail to most planters, but I have often 

 seen corn drupped on the manure or covered with 

 it, with decidedly bad effect. 



As soon as (he corn is fairly up, and attains 

 some three or four leaves, it should be ploughed 

 as deep as it will admit of. All the subse- 

 quent lending should be superficial. After the 

 first ploughing it should be moulded with the 

 hoe, and then ploughed four times afterwards with 

 the sweep plough, and bedded with the hoe, when 

 the corn is just getting in ear. This may seem 

 a very great deal of work to many, who tend 

 their corn with much less, but I have endeavored 

 to answer the question, according to my own me- 

 thod and my belief, " by what modes of culture, 

 corn will produce the most net profit." 



I had intended to reply to the inquiry, "Whether 

 it is injurious or beneficial to cut the roots of corn 

 during its growth?" but I have already extended 

 this puper to a greater length than I thought I 

 would do in setting out, and I must reserve for 

 soaie future numbers the result of my experience 

 on that "disputed question." Cotton. 



STATISTICS. 



From the Kentucky Farmer. 



We copy from the Farmers' Register an arti- 

 cle, alleging great errors in the census returns 

 taken under authority of the general government. 

 We have heretolbre hinted our own doubts of the 

 correctness of those returns, and have, conse- 

 quently, been rather shy of publishing tables 

 drawn from them. Of the utility of lull and ac- 

 curate statistics in relation to the multifarious ar- 

 ticles of production and consumption, every intel- 

 ligent man is perlectly convinced ; and there is not 

 a statesman in the nation who has not deplored 

 the want of this valuable kind of inlbrmation. 

 But the essential value and utility of statistical 

 tables depends upon their fulness and accuracy. 

 As they are taken for guides in legislation and in 

 beginning, enlarging and reducing numerous im- 

 portant branches of productive industry, they do 

 a positive disservice, it not substantially correct. 

 It is better even to grope in the dark than to be 

 misled by a false light ; as in the former case there 

 is a possible chance of hitting the mark, while in 

 the latter there is none. When legislation is 

 guided by false facts, mischiefs and miseries must 

 ensue. So, if an enterprising merchant, manu- 

 facturer, or larmer embarks in some new, albeit le- 

 gitimate pursuit, under the guidance of statistics, 

 presumed correct but really false, his prosperity is 

 extremely precarious, if indeed his pecuniary ruin 

 is not inevitable. 



In reference to the census returns, we are well 

 satisfied it will not do to rely upon them, especi- 

 ally in regard to the various productions of the 

 country. There are probably some districts accu- 

 rately reported, but the mass of errors in others 

 must vitiate the whole. Possibly the returns of 

 population may be sufficiently accurate for gene- 

 ral purposes ; but those relating to other matters 

 ought not to be relied on. We do not mean to 

 specify particular items of error when there is so 

 much reason to doubt the correctness of any por- 

 tion of the returns. We may however allude to 

 the returns of hemp and corn, on which no intelli- 

 gent man could lor a moment rely. 



Whether the incorrectness of the returns be due 

 to inherent delects in the system of their collection, 

 or to extraneous causes impossible to be foreseen, 

 and consequently not guarded against in framing 

 the necessary laws, is not for us to say ; but that 

 there are errors, of a character so serious as to 

 render the returns dangerous, rather than useful 

 guides, admits of clear and indisputable proof. 

 We are fully aware of the great difficulty of 

 framing and executing efficient laws for the pro- 

 curement of statistic information, and that the 

 most correct returns are to be regarded only as ap- 

 proximations to truth ; but still they may be made 

 to approximate so nearly as to serve as useful 

 guides for general purposes. 



SEVEN TONS OP GREEN FODDER TO THE 

 ACRE. 



From tlie Maine Farmer. 



At first blush, one would suppose that an acre of 

 ground which at any one moment should yield 

 seven tons of green fodder, must be exceeding 



