190 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Apbil 



think they would do well as near as a foot. The 

 strongest cuttings I could get were from the use of 

 wood three or four years old, and set them a foot 

 to fifteen inches in the ground, and three to four 

 above ; but unless the ground is moist, many of 

 them will die in this way ; it is better to cut the 

 tops shorter. If it does well, in four or five years 

 it will make a pretty good fence. Cattle will not 

 browse it much only on the sides. A great deal of 

 good willow for basket-making could be raised in 

 this way on division fences. I have some such 

 fence, but I planted poor sorts of willow years ago, 

 before I was posted up in these matters. 



JVewton Centre, Jan., 1856. J. F. c. H. 



NINTH LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL MEETING. 



Reported for the Farmer by H. E. Rockwell. 

 The ninth Legislative Agricultural meeting was 

 held Tuesday evening, as usual, in the Hall of the 

 House of Rejiresentatives. The meeting was called 

 to order by Dr. Fisher, of Fitchburg, at half-past 

 7 o'clock, who announced that the subject for dis- 

 cussion would be, "Indian Corn, as a grain and as 

 fodder." He then introduced Hon. Jonx Brooks, 

 of Princeton, as the Chairman of the meeting. 



Mr. Brooks spoke of the relative importance of 

 the corn crop, which he considered quite as valua- 

 ble, as a crop in Massachusetts, as in any other 

 State. The average crop in this State is from thir- 

 ty-one to thirty-five bushels to the acre, and th£ 

 price at which it is sold makes it more profitable 

 here than in Illinois, where they raise on an aver- 

 age not more than thirty-six bushels to the acre. 

 He then urged gentlemen present to give their views 

 on the subject as annoimced, or to state any fact 

 having a bearing on the subject of corn culture, 

 every fact being of importance to farmei-s. 



Mr. Fay, of Lynn, stated some of the results o 

 his experience. He considered com as a hungry 

 feeder, and therefore he wanted to have the land in 

 a high state of cultivation. Generally, he planted' 

 on land which had been in grass; and he plowed in 

 the fall, and in the Spring put about twelve cords 

 of manure to the acre. He planted about three 

 and a half feet apart in drills, striking out the drills 

 with a plow, and dropping the corn without refer- 

 ence to hills ; and he did not hill up the corn by 

 hoeing, but used a cultivator. The best manure 

 was that which had been comjjosted in winter, or 

 plowed in to the ground in the fall preceding, so 

 that it might compost in the soil. 



The addition of plaster, at the rate of one hundred 

 pounds to the acre, or of ashes, will always increase 

 the crop, even though the ashes have been leached. 

 He had found little difference in the effect, whether 

 the ashes were applied after the corn had come up, 

 or were put in the hills before. 



As to the time of cutting, he said he cut as soon 

 as it is glazed, and stacked it up in shooks and al- 

 lowed it to cure in that way. After it is brought 



into the barn, and the corn removed, the stalks are 

 salted when put away for fodder. In feeding it out, 

 he cut the stalks very fine, added a little meal and 

 water, and allowed it to stand and ferment forty- 

 eight hours. He had never seen cattle kept on so 

 little fodder as by this method of feeding. Cattle 

 of all kinds feed upon it greedily. 



Amasa AValker, of Brookfield, was glad to be- 

 lieve that more and more attention was being paid 

 to the cultivation of corn, and especially to the use 

 of stalks for fodder. There is a necessity for pro- 

 vichng something to meet the failure of the grass 

 crop by drought, which often occurs in August ; 

 and corn is well adapted to the purpose. The ma- 

 nure best suited to corn is that which has been some- 

 what fermented. Barn cellars for composting, were 

 becoming very common in his ncinity, he said, and 

 more efforts are made to secure all the manure 

 possible. He said that during the last year he had 

 tried phosphate of lime, which had a wonderful ef- 

 fect, making a hundred per cent, difference in the 

 crop. The phosphate used was that manufactured 

 by DeBurg. Many farmers in his vicinity had 

 tried it, and in all cases it proved successful. He 

 had found it valuable on grass land with a clay soil. 

 The line where the phosphate of lime was sown 

 was perceptible as far as the field could be seen. 

 He found that its effects appeared to be increased 

 in proportion to the amount applied, which is not 

 the case with guano. The first crop of grass was 

 from twenty-five to thirty per cent, better where it 

 was applied ; and the second crop was a hundred 

 per cent, better. If the quality of phosphate can be 

 kept as good as that used in his vicinity, it would 

 prove exceedingly valuable as a fertilizer. In an- 

 swer to an inquiry, Mr. W. said he applied four 

 hundred pounds to the acre of corn, putting it into 

 the hill with the corn. The great argument in its 

 fovor is that it is so simple and easy of application, 

 and much more safe than guano, there seeming to 

 be no risk in its usfe. 



Mr. MosELT, of Westfield, spoke of his experi- 

 ence in the use of guano. Five years ago he got a 

 ton of genuine Peruvian guano, and sowed about 

 three hundred pounds to the acre on old pasture 

 land, as poor as any in the world, and harrowed it 

 in thoroughly, and then brushed the land, and then 

 planted his corn. He did not think a hill foiled to 

 come up, and by its api^Kcation he got twenty bush- 

 els more to the acre. The next year he sowed 

 one hundred and fifty pounds to the acre, and it 

 gave him twenty-three bushels to the acre addition- 

 al. He had found three hundred pounds to the 

 acre better than a hundred loads of manure. If he 

 was to have one hundred dollars worth of common 

 manure or three hundred pounds of guano offered 

 him, he would prefer the guano. He had found 

 it useful when appHed to corn for two years in suc- 

 cession. He cautioned those present to be sure to 



